March 24 is World Tuberculosis Day. According to the CDC, “This annual event commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes tuberculosis (TB).”
Before antibiotics were created, tuberculosis was a deadly disease and many people “chased the cure” by moving to locations, such as New Mexico, with high altitude, clean and dry air, and frequent sunshine.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, New Mexico health and healthcare were shaped by the influx of tuberculosis patients and healthcare providers to the state and the advent of tuberculosis sanatoriums.
Some notable people who came to New Mexico seeking treatment for tuberculosis (and stayed) include:
Because of the importance of tuberculosis to the history of New Mexico, HSLIC Special Collections contains many sources about the disease. Some examples are:
Booklet, Southwestern Presbyterian Sanatorium: In the Heart of Health Country, circa 1935.
Dining Hall at Valmora, Valmora Industrial Sanatorium records. TB patients were prescribed calorie-rich diets as a treatment.
Patient draining lungs, Valmora Industrial Sanatorium records. Other pre-antibiotic TB treatments included heliotherapy (sunbathing and directing sunlight into the back of the throat), rest, lots of food, and moving to a sunny, high altitude climate with clean air and low humidity.
0 Comments.