Call Number:

508

Repository:

Science History Institute Archives

Extent:

.01 linear feet (1 folder)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Item Description, Anti-Vaccination Pamphlet Collection, Undated, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

Undated

Abstract:

Two pamphlets containing anti-vaccination rhetoric and promoting chiropractic work for the prevention of diseases.

Anti-vaccination activism in the United States has its origins in resistance to inoculation and vaccination for smallpox in the 19th century. In 1879, the Anti-Vaccination Society of America was founded after a visit from the British anti-vaccinationist William Tebb. The Anti-Vaccination Society of America largely focused on opposing mandatory vaccination laws, particularly mandatory smallpox vaccinations. Other societies were formed in the following decades, including the Anti-Vaccination League of America, which was founded in 1908. Like the Anti-Vaccination Society, the Anti-Vaccination League opposed vaccine mandates, particularly in New York and Pennsylvania. These early anti-vaccination activist movements not only opposed compulsory laws, but also called into the question the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

The link between anti-vaccination activism and chiropractic begins with Daniel David and Bartlett Joshua Palmer, the founders of chiropractic. Both men rejected the germ theory of disease, instead postulating that disease originated in the spine. This belief permeated the chiropractic community, with chiropractors well into the 20th century doubting the efficacy of the polio vaccine and opposing compulsory vaccinations in favor of individual choice.

Two pamphlets containing anti-vaccination rhetoric and promoting chiropractic work for the prevention of diseases.This collection consists of two pamphlets which call into the question the efficacy of vaccines and reject compulsory vaccination mandates. The first pamphlet is titled "The Germ Theory of Disease" by Benjamin Bold, B.S. In the pamphlet, Bold poses several questions, such as "Do germs cause disease?" and "Is it not possible to produce disease by injections of germs or their products?" and then offers his own answers. The second pamphlet is titled "Beware of Compulsory Vaccination". The cover includes a breakdown of how many states have compulsory vaccination laws, and which have none or forbid compulsory laws. The text of the pamphlet both questions the efficacy of vaccines, as well as argues for individuals' rights to choose to not get vaccinated. The last page includes claims about the development of the smallpox vaccine, as well as a quite from J.G. Wilkinson, a homeopathic physician and anti-vaccination activist.