Accompanying the Sick Poor in the “New” City of Boston

Key Points

The narratives of poor migrants reveal the harsh realities of urban poverty and tuberculosis in 1820s Boston.
Many migrants faced overwhelming struggles as they navigated the challenges of a growing metropolis, leading to significant community transformations.
Poverty and tuberculosis were rampant in early Boston, emphasizing the vulnerabilities of migrant populations during this period.
The historical context of these personal stories sheds light on the broader social issues witnessed in rapidly urbanizing cities.

Abstract

Abstract This article recovers the stories of strangers who migrated to the growing city of Boston in the 1820s – and soon succumbed to poverty and its companion ill, the rampant killer tuberculosis. The trials of these poor “consumptives” bring to life the personal experience of encountering an impersonal metropolis, the transformation of community at the heart of a becoming a city.

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Cite This Study

Marcus J. Führer (Mon,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/68d44a4031b076d99fa538c4 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1162/tneq.a.2