History buffs can catch the ‘fever’ Graeme Park
If you’re looking for refuge from yellow fever, head to Graeme Park. There, you’ll discover you have very little to worry about — the epidemic happened 216 years ago. Back then, though, the park’s location was considered a safe haven.
The Friends of Graeme Park will hold a program Aug. 23 about the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. Joan Hauger, Historic Site Administrator at Graeme Park, said the event will be a “living history” program, and will deal with the handful of people who sought refuge at the site.
“The epidemic hit in the late summer of 1793, and was probably the worst and most infamous of all of [yellow fever] epidemics,” Hauger said. “People regularly would leave their city homes and come out to their country homes to get away from the nastiness of the city and the summer and particularly diseases like yellow fever.”
The 42-acre site is home to the Keith House, the former residence of William Keith, the lieutenant governor of the province of Pennsylvania from 1717 to 1726. In the late 1730s, Dr. Thomas Graeme purchased the site. In 1772 Graeme’s daughter, Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson, inherited it, and during the epidemic, Fergusson’s nephew-in-law, William Smith, and his wife sought refuge there.
“In this particular case,” Hauger said, “it was so bad that people were not allowed to leave the city unless they identified that they had some place to go — they were kind of bottled up in the city.”
According to the CDC’s Web site, yellow fever is transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes and affects tropical regions of Africa and South America. Its symptoms include high fever, muscle aches and vomiting, and infection can lead to liver failure and jaundice, which manifests as a yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes.
A close friend of the Graeme family, Dr. Benjamin Rush, stayed at the site during the epidemic as well.
“Dr. Rush’s techniques were credited with saving 6,000 people,” Hauger said. “Though his bleeding techniques were drastic … and there are those who believe he actually killed more people than he saved.”
The living history program — which includes actors in period garb — is almost like a play, Hauger said. It discusses 18th-century medical practices and yellow fever’s impact on Philadelphia and the Horsham area.
The Friends of Graeme Park, a nonprofit organization that supports the site, puts on the production, which lasts between 30 and 40 minutes.
“You’ll get to meet a servant in the summer kitchen as they go about their tasks,” Hauger said. “You’ll get to meet Mr. and Mrs. Smith, you’ll get to meet Dr. Benjamin Rush and Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson … Our visitors will enter various rooms and meet the people who once lived here and learn about what was going on in their lives during the epidemic.”
Hauger said the Friends of Graeme Park held this program once before in March of 2008. It was well received, and the organization decided to hold it again — this time, closer to the time of the August epidemic.
The yellow fever living history program will be held Aug. 23 between noon and 3 p.m. at Graeme Park, 859 County Line Road, Horsham. Admission is $8; $7 for seniors; and $4 for children 3 to 11. For more information, call 215-343-0965 or visit www.ushistory.org/graeme.
The Friends of Graeme Park will hold a program Aug. 23 about the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. Joan Hauger, Historic Site Administrator at Graeme Park, said the event will be a “living history” program, and will deal with the handful of people who sought refuge at the site.
“The epidemic hit in the late summer of 1793, and was probably the worst and most infamous of all of [yellow fever] epidemics,” Hauger said. “People regularly would leave their city homes and come out to their country homes to get away from the nastiness of the city and the summer and particularly diseases like yellow fever.”
The 42-acre site is home to the Keith House, the former residence of William Keith, the lieutenant governor of the province of Pennsylvania from 1717 to 1726. In the late 1730s, Dr. Thomas Graeme purchased the site. In 1772 Graeme’s daughter, Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson, inherited it, and during the epidemic, Fergusson’s nephew-in-law, William Smith, and his wife sought refuge there.
“In this particular case,” Hauger said, “it was so bad that people were not allowed to leave the city unless they identified that they had some place to go — they were kind of bottled up in the city.”
According to the CDC’s Web site, yellow fever is transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes and affects tropical regions of Africa and South America. Its symptoms include high fever, muscle aches and vomiting, and infection can lead to liver failure and jaundice, which manifests as a yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes.
A close friend of the Graeme family, Dr. Benjamin Rush, stayed at the site during the epidemic as well.
“Dr. Rush’s techniques were credited with saving 6,000 people,” Hauger said. “Though his bleeding techniques were drastic … and there are those who believe he actually killed more people than he saved.”
The living history program — which includes actors in period garb — is almost like a play, Hauger said. It discusses 18th-century medical practices and yellow fever’s impact on Philadelphia and the Horsham area.
The Friends of Graeme Park, a nonprofit organization that supports the site, puts on the production, which lasts between 30 and 40 minutes.
“You’ll get to meet a servant in the summer kitchen as they go about their tasks,” Hauger said. “You’ll get to meet Mr. and Mrs. Smith, you’ll get to meet Dr. Benjamin Rush and Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson … Our visitors will enter various rooms and meet the people who once lived here and learn about what was going on in their lives during the epidemic.”
Hauger said the Friends of Graeme Park held this program once before in March of 2008. It was well received, and the organization decided to hold it again — this time, closer to the time of the August epidemic.
The yellow fever living history program will be held Aug. 23 between noon and 3 p.m. at Graeme Park, 859 County Line Road, Horsham. Admission is $8; $7 for seniors; and $4 for children 3 to 11. For more information, call 215-343-0965 or visit www.ushistory.org/graeme.
