Living in the Shadow of Death: Tuberculosis and the Social Experience of Illness in America

"[T]uberculosis was the leading cause of death in the United States throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. From 1800 to 1870 tuberculosis was responsible for one out of every five deaths. Paying little attention to geography, social class, or age, it struck rich and poor, young and old, and urban and rural residents." These statistics in Rothman's introduction are tragic enough. The narratives that follow are even sadder.Consumption -- as it was known at the time -- was thought to be either inherited or the result of a sedentary life. (The communicable tubercle bacillus wasn't discovered until 1882.) Doctors focused on a three-pronged cure for their male patients of means: daily exercise, a good diet, and travel to a better climate. On the other hand, female patients were told to handle their domestic duties as best as possible and to get assistance from single female family members who could move in temporarily. Invalids and their families eventually dealt with the inevitable outcome and prepared for death. In the twentieth century, patients were sent off to sanatoriums. Chances are good that someone in your ancestry was affected. At the very least, they knew people who were.This book is revealing because it is written from the patient's viewpoint and with the individuals in mind. Letters and diaries of consumptives show that people commiserated with fellow sufferers and exchanged news of symptoms and possible curative measures. The focus of the story-telling is thus very personal rather than medical. It makes for compelling reading."Living in the Shadow of Death" is mandatory reading for anyone interested in life in the United States in the 1800s and early 1900s. Genealogists and academic researchers in the humanities (especially literature and history) should put this title on their to-read list. "The good old days" really weren't.