Lady Mary’s Legacy: Vaccine Advocacy from The Turkish Embassy Letters to Video Games

Lisa Rosner

Location: Dittrick Medical History Center, 11000 Euclid Avenue

2017 CLEVELAND HUMANITIES FESTIVAL: IMMIGRATION

On April 1, 1717, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu wrote her famous “Letter to a Friend” from the Turkish Embassy, describing the process of smallpox inoculation. With that letter, she became one of the earliest vaccination advocates, joined over the next three hundred years by celebrities and scientists, pop culture icons and heads of state, patients and game developers. In her talk Lisa Rosner, Distinguished Professor of Historical Studies at Stockton University, will explore the colorful and controversial history of vaccine advocacy, the most successful public health measure its beneficiaries love to hate. 

This event is co-sponsored with the Dittrick Medical History Center.

Free and open to the public.