Doctors at the Borders: Immigration and the Rise of Public Health

by Michael C. LeMay

Overview

A unique resource for the general public and students interested in immigration and public health, this book presents a comprehensive history of public health and draws 10 key lessons for current immigration and health policymakers.

The period of 1820 to 1920 was one of mass migration to the United States from other nations of origin. This century-long period served to develop modern medicine with the acceptance of the germ theory of disease and the lessons learned from how immigration officials and doctors of the United States Marine Hospital Service (USMHS) confronted six major pandemic diseases: bubonic plague, cholera, influenza, smallpox, trachoma, and yellow fever.

This book provides a narrative history that relates how immigration doctors of the USMHS developed devices and procedures that greatly influenced the development of public health. It illuminates the distinct links between immigration policy and public health policy and distinguishes ten key lessons learned nearly 100 years ago that are still relevant to coping with current public health policy issues.

By re-examining the experiences of doctors at three U.S. immigration/quarantine stations—Angel Island, Ellis Island, and New Orleans—in the early 19th century through the early 20th century, Doctors at the Borders: Immigration and the Rise of Public Health analyzes the successes and failures of these medical practitioners' pioneering efforts to battle pandemic diseases and identifies how the hard-won knowledge from that relatively primitive period still informs how public health policy should be written today. Readers will understand how the USMHS doctors helped shape the very development of U.S. public health and modern scientific medicine, and see the need for international cooperation in the face of today's global threats of pandemic diseases.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440840241
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/29/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Michael C. LeMay, PhD, is professor emeritus of political science at California State University-San Bernardino (CSUSB), CA.

Table of Contents

List of Tables vii

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xvi

1 The Age of Mass Migration, 1820-1920 1

The Old Immigrant Wave, 1820-1880 4

The New Immigrant Wave, 1880-1920 14

Reaction to Change-the Nativist Movement and Growing Restrictionism 26

Public Policy Reactions to Mass Migration 30

Conclusion: Closing the Golden Door 35

2 The Period of Pandemics 37

Notable Epidemic/Pandemic Diseases and North American Immigration 39

Germ Theory and Medical Science Developments to Cope with Pandemics 71

Conclusion 78

3 The Angel Island Quarantine/Immigration Station, 1891-1946 79

A Brief History of the Angel Island Quarantine/Immigration Station 80

The Immigration Station 86

Coping with Epidemics and Pandemics 95

Spreading Innovations 111

Conclusion 114

4 The Ellis Island Station 115

A Brief History of Ellis Island Quarantine Station 116

Coping with Epidemics 139

Spreading Innovations 149

Conclusion 153

5 The New Orleans Station 155

A Brief History of the City and Immigration to and through New Orleans 160

The New Orleans Station 165

Coping with Epidemics and Pandemics at New Orleans 172

Spreading Innovations 188

Conclusion 191

6 Ten Lessons Learned 193

Lesson 1 A Question of When, Not If 194

Lesson 2 Political Exigencies Tend to Trump Medical Advice 201

Lesson 3 Preventive Medicine Is Best 203

Lesson 4 Mission Complexity Hampers Effective Response 206

Lesson 5 As Man Adapts to Nature, Nature Adapts to Man 209

Lesson 6 We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us 213

Lesson 7 The Special Threat of Bioterrorism 216

Lesson 8 The Importance of an Early Warning System 219

Lesson 9 The Necessity for International Cooperation to Face a Global Threat 221

Lesson 10 Plan to Succeed, or Plan on Failing 224

Conclusion 227

Glossary 229

Notes 233

Bibliography 239

Index 253

What People are Saying About This

Donald Kerwin

"In this era of globalization and severe public health threats and challenges, Dr. Michael LeMay raises an extremely timely issue: how to accommodate large-scale migration with its myriad benefits, while stemming public health threats and treating immigrants who may be carrying deadly and contagious diseases. Doctors at the Borders: Immigration and the Rise of Public Health takes as its reference point the courageous work of medical professionals in the quarantine stations at Ellis Island, Angel Island, and New Orleans, who fought the spread of bubonic plague, Spanish influenza, small pox, and other deadly diseases and viruses, saving untold lives in the process and contributing substantially to the emergence of public health procedures and public health as a field of medical practice."

Editorial Reviews

This is a useful book that the general reader can appreciate and policy makers will find useful. Good notes, bibliography, and glossary. Summing Up: Recommended. All public health library collections.” —Choice

From the Publisher