Activity 2:
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learning objectivesStudents will be able to:
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Background:
When ships from Germany arrived in 1892 carrying passengers ill with cholera, the New York Port health officials quarantined passengers based on their class. First class passengers, who were largely American and Western European, were quarantined on the ships. Steerage, or second class passengers were forced to quarantine on the Hoffman and Swinburne Islands. The majority of steerage passengers were Italian or Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, such as Poland and Russia. The 900 quarantine beds on the Hoffman and Swinburne islands were all filled, and steerage passengers were eventually quarantined in their cramped spaces on the ships.
Quarantine conditions:
Activity Instructions:
Step 1 (5 mins)
Present the section of the slide deck for Activity 2 (slides 56-64). Distribute the worksheet for Activity 2. Review the background information and vocabulary. Then, prompt students to imagine themselves as steerage passengers on the ships from Germany and think about what they would do in those circumstances.
Step 2 (15 mins)
Instruct students to write their own letters highlighting the quality of their quarantine conditions to a public health official. Students can make up their own backstories about why they are coming to America, where they are coming from, how they could have or didn't catch cholera, exactly where they are quarantined, etc. The letter should address the following questions:
Step 3 (5 mins)
After writing their letters, ask students to share out to the class a few things they mentioned in their letters. Facilitate a brief classroom discussion on the following questions:
When ships from Germany arrived in 1892 carrying passengers ill with cholera, the New York Port health officials quarantined passengers based on their class. First class passengers, who were largely American and Western European, were quarantined on the ships. Steerage, or second class passengers were forced to quarantine on the Hoffman and Swinburne Islands. The majority of steerage passengers were Italian or Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, such as Poland and Russia. The 900 quarantine beds on the Hoffman and Swinburne islands were all filled, and steerage passengers were eventually quarantined in their cramped spaces on the ships.
Quarantine conditions:
- People were lumped together in close quarters, facilitating the spread of cholera from those sick to those who were not.
- The island quarters were also not sanitary, with few laundry, sleeping, and dining areas. The water supply was not protected and was vulnerable to cholera contamination, and the bathroom facilities were filthy. Those quarantined were forced to wash their laundry on the shores of the ocean where many relieved themselves, leading to further contamination.
- After the islands were filled, incoming ships had passengers quarantine on their ships. This meant that steerage passengers were stuck in the cramped quarters they were traveling in.
- There were also negative psychological effects from being trapped on a ship for weeks. Passengers were in constant fear they contracted cholera or cholera symptoms, and many had taken the voyage alone and did not have family with them in this stressful time.
- Many more wealthy American passengers protested their ship quarantine conditions (in first or second class cabins with better ventilation and larger spaces than steerage) in letters to the editor to many New York papers.
- Letters from the wealthy, well-known cabin passengers of the ship Normannia protesting being quarantined on the ship were featured in newspapers throughout the country. These Normannia cabin passengers were moved into a hotel on an island for the last few days of their stay due to these protests -- steerage passengers were not provided better quarantine conditions.
Activity Instructions:
Step 1 (5 mins)
Present the section of the slide deck for Activity 2 (slides 56-64). Distribute the worksheet for Activity 2. Review the background information and vocabulary. Then, prompt students to imagine themselves as steerage passengers on the ships from Germany and think about what they would do in those circumstances.
Step 2 (15 mins)
Instruct students to write their own letters highlighting the quality of their quarantine conditions to a public health official. Students can make up their own backstories about why they are coming to America, where they are coming from, how they could have or didn't catch cholera, exactly where they are quarantined, etc. The letter should address the following questions:
- How would you describe the quarantine conditions?
- How would you suggest improving these conditions, and how will you convince the public health official?
Step 3 (5 mins)
After writing their letters, ask students to share out to the class a few things they mentioned in their letters. Facilitate a brief classroom discussion on the following questions:
- How did disease spread during quarantine? Why?
- Why were steerage passengers treated differently from cabin class passengers? Do you think this was just/fair? Why or why not?
Vocabulary List:
Cholera: disease from infected water supply
Quarantine: place where people who have been exposed to a contagious disease are placed
Contamination: polluting or making something impure
Ventilation: fresh air
Steerage: second class passengers
Cholera: disease from infected water supply
Quarantine: place where people who have been exposed to a contagious disease are placed
Contamination: polluting or making something impure
Ventilation: fresh air
Steerage: second class passengers