Title:

At the Gates: Our Safety Depends on Official Vigilance

Date:

1885

Description:

This photo print of a wood engraving from Harper's Weekly in 1885 illustrates another forum for public health images provided by the creation of the magazine as a form of mass media in the late-nineteenth century. The image demonstrates disease in metaphorical terms, a technique commonly used by later poster artists. In this case, the shrouded and skeletal specters representing cholera, yellow fever, and smallpox recoil in fear as an angel holding a sword and shield emblazoned with the word "cleanliness" blocks their way through the quarantine barrier at the Port of New York. Over the years serpents, skulls, monsters, thieves, and even extraterrestrial figures have been used as representations of disease. The discoveries by microbiologists inspired new visual metaphors for disease in the 19th century, such as anthropomorphic germs and grotesque bacteria.

Periodical:

Harper's Weekly

Publisher:

Harper & Row, Publishers

Original Repository:

The History of Medicine Division. Prints and Photographs Collection

Rights:

Public Domain

Genre:

Photographic prints
Slides (photographs)

Subject:

Cholera, Yellow Fever, Smallpox, and Public Health

Format:

Still Image

Extent:

1 pages

Language:

English

Legacy Source Citation:

Periodical. At the Gates: Our Safety Depends on Official Vigilance. Harper's Weekly, (1885). Photographic Print. Slide. 1 Image.. Harper's Weekly. Original Repository. History of Medicine Division. Prints and Photographs Collection. 11611. Free Text. This image may also be accessed from the Images from the History of Medicine (IHM).. URL. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/ihm/. IHM Order Number. A012795

Legacy ID:

VCBBBB

NLM ID:

101584655X1

Profiles Collection:

Visual Culture and Health Posters

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584655X1

Story Section:

Brief History