This thesis examines the history of diphtheria in Ontario between 1880 and 1940. The purpose of this thesis is to look past the bacteriological excitement of the nineteenth century, and the discoveries that have often been reported by historians and popular media and explore why diphtheria remained an enigmatic disease despite the discovery of a single bacterial cause. Drawing on a variety of primary and secondary sources, this thesis also uncovers the social, personal and often fatal consequences that arose following the appearance of diphtheria within communities. The unresolved enigmatic nature of diphtheria allowed for the creation of a conceptual space in which both medical and non-medical members of Ontario’s society often found themselves competing to promote their own conceptualizations of diphtheria. These conceptualizations, combined with the threat diphtheria posed to the health of a community, resulted in further confusion regarding the nature of the disease. Many historical concerns regarding diphtheria and its enigmatic nature have never been resolved.

abstract: This dissertation analyzes the fourteenth-century English and nineteenth-century Hopi experiences with the unwelcomed traveler of disease, specifically the Black Death and the smallpox outbreak of 1898-1899. By placing both peoples and events beside one another, it becomes possible to move past the death toll inflected by disease and see the role of diseases as a catalyst of historical change. Furthermore, this study places the Hopi experience with smallpox, and disease in general, in context with the human story of disease. The central methodical approach is ethnohistory, using firsthand accounts to reconstruct the cultural frameworks of the Hopi and the English. In analyzing the English and Hopi experiences this study uses the Medicine Way approach of three dimensions. Placing the first dimension approach (the English and the bubonic plague) alongside the third dimension approach (the Hopi and smallpox) demonstrates, not only the common ground of both approaches (second dimension), but the commonalities in the interactions of humans and disease. As my dissertation demonstrates, culture provides the framework, a system for living, for how individuals will interpret and react to events and experiences. This framework provides a means, a measure, to identify and strive for normalcy. There is a universal human drive to restore normalcy after one's world turns upside down, and in seeking to restore what was lost, society undergoes transformation. Disease creates opportunity for change and for balance to be restored. This study concludes disease is a catalyst of change because of how humans respond to it. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation History 2014

This study explores the relationship between emigration and cholera in British North American port towns, between 1832 and 1866. It focuses specifically on three established and growing port towns located directly off of the Atlantic Ocean – St. John's, Newfoundland, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick. The pressures of mass immigration from the British Isles, the transmission of highly-feared diseases from emigrant and cargo ships to port towns in British North America, and the dependence, vulnerability and constraints felt by colonial governments and their citizens are three important themes that emerge and are continually challenged throughout this dissertation. This thesis presents the way in which colonial port towns managed the recurrent and unpredictable threats to their health, wellbeing and prosperity during this period, and highlights the increasing strain and growing dislocation felt by British North Americans under colonial rule. The history of cholera in Canada has focused overwhelmingly on Upper and Lower Canada, with little exploration or comparative analysis of the outbreaks in the Atlantic region. The following research examines the interconnected, complex and at times distant relationship between Britain and its North American colonies, under the influence of emigration and transmission of disease from coloniser to colonised. High points of calamity and upheaval clarified the extent to which the colonies were responsible for themselves, forcing many towns to re-evaluate their ability to control emergencies on their soil, with or without the help of the mother country. This study contributes not only to the historical understanding how cholera was managed in British North American ports, but it also provides a unique perspective on understanding the greater struggles of nineteenth-century colonial life.

This thesis offers a detailed account of early polio epidemics (between 1918 and 1945) in Johannesburg, where the disease was particularly severe. At this time, little was known about the poliovirus, and such limited understanding affected the public health and medical initiatives taken during this period. These actions are highlighted in the thesis, along with the responses of the media and lay public to the disease. The effect of war on the management of the disease is also examined, as it siphoned off vital medical personnel and jeopardised disease control. It also lent an emotional overlay to the way the disease was perceived, as `battle' rhetoric became the parlance used against polio, which was personified as the `enemy' of innocent children who were disabled at the whim of the virus. The epidemic of 1944-1945 was the first to be systematically investigated, by Dr James Gear as part of his groundbreaking polio research; he later became part of an international team of researchers who contributed to the development of a prophylactic vaccine within a decade of this epidemic. / History / M.A. (History)

This thesis offers a detailed account of early polio epidemics (between 1918 and 1945) in Johannesburg, where the disease was particularly severe. At this time, little was known about the poliovirus, and such limited understanding affected the public health and medical initiatives taken during this period. These actions are highlighted in the thesis, along with the responses of the media and lay public to the disease. The effect of war on the management of the disease is also examined, as it siphoned off vital medical personnel and jeopardised disease control. It also lent an emotional overlay to the way the disease was perceived, as `battle' rhetoric became the parlance used against polio, which was personified as the `enemy' of innocent children who were disabled at the whim of the virus. The epidemic of 1944-1945 was the first to be systematically investigated, by Dr James Gear as part of his groundbreaking polio research; he later became part of an international team of researchers who contributed to the development of a prophylactic vaccine within a decade of this epidemic. / History / M.A. (History)