Unfortunately game night coincides with Nova at 7pm so I have taken to recording one of my favorite PBS shows. After game night we watched Typhoid Mary. I had heard the name in casual conversation (no I don't have weird conversations), but never new the root case. What appears to be the case is that in New York City, when immigrants to the new country were flooding into the city, sanitation could not keep up. One of the main diseases to hit the city was typhoid, which took the lives of many children and adults. If one lived through the disease, then they became a carrier, which is thought to have happened to Mary (or at least she had a very mild case since she claims to have never been sick).

She was found after several affluent families had members of their family get typhoid and one man working for the health department tracked Mary Mallon down and ended up having her quarantined to North Brother Island. During this time there were many other individuals that were found to carry typhoid, but none of them were quarantined (since that would require housing hundreds of people). Finally, she was released after writing many letters to her unfair treatment. Once released the health officials told her that she could no longer cook (and a great cook she was) and set her up with a horrible ironing job (which entailed long hours and little pay). If she had a better job placement I don’t think that she would have gone back to cooking, but back to her trade she did go. Finding another employer’s child ill, Mary was permanently quarantined to the Island until her death.

Such a sad story about such a strong woman who had to overcome great hardships to become a great chef. A department in dire straights decided to make an example out of one lone woman. A very sad story indeed, but it is good to know the truth behind the “typhoid Mary” phrase.