Social History for Every Classroom

Search

Social History for Every Classroom

menuAmerican Social History Project  ·    Center for Media and Learning

A Doctor Decries the Public Health Danger of Immigrants (with text supports)

Starting in the 1890s, many Americans feared that the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from countries in Eastern and Southern Europe was bad for society. They claimed that immigrants could not easily assimilate, or fit in, and that they were willing to work for very low wages. Some people also believed that these immigrants brought diseases with them and were a threat to public health. Doctors inspected immigrants entering the U.S. through Ellis Island for specific diseases, such as tuberculosis and trachoma (an eye disease). The doctor who wrote this article, however, believed that this was not enough to protect the public from immigrants.


Source | Dr. Allan McLaughlin, “Immigration and the Public Health,” Popular Science (January 1904), 232, 236-237.
Creator | Allan McLaughlin
Item Type | Newspaper/Magazine
Cite This document | Allan McLaughlin, “A Doctor Decries the Public Health Danger of Immigrants (with text supports),” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed March 19, 2024, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1867.

Print and Share