NYAS @ WGF [REGISTRATION REQUIRED]: Flying the Yellow Flag of Quarantine! Results of a Preliminary Archaeological Survey at the Philadelphia Lazaretto

This upcoming Monday, February 29th, 7PM, the Wenner-Gren Foundation will host another great New York Academy of Sciences lecture, with Monmouth University’s Richard Veit sharing his recent research in multispecies ethnography. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.

The Philadelphia Lazaretto, located on the Delaware River in Essington Pennsylvania, is the oldest surviving lazaretto or quarantine station in North America.It stands as a physical reminder of the horrific impact that yellow fever, an acute viral disease spread by the Aedis aegypti mosquito, had on society in early America. Construction of the grand Georgian edifice began in 1799, in response to the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793.That epidemic killed 5,000 of Philadelphia’s inhabitants; nearly ten percent of the city’s population. The Lazaretto was one of several public health initiatives undertaken by the Philadelphia city government in an attempt to prevent further outbreaks of disease.In 2015, Monmouth University began a long-term archaeological investigation of the site.Fieldwork is providing new information about the physical layout of the Lazaretto complex and has identified artifact deposits with the potential to provide new information about the lives of the individuals who lived and worked at the site. The Lazaretto is a powerful reminder of how human relationships with other living things, in this case, mosquitoes and the viruses they carry, have shaped and continue to shape society.

There will be a dinner at 6PM (free for students, $20 for others) with the lecture to follow at 7PM. Once again, YOU MUST REGISTER PRIOR TO THE EVENT in order to be admitted to the building.