Podcasts · Stuff You Missed in History Class

Mary Mallon & Typhoid Revisited

24 Aug 2026 · 40 min

Mary Mallon became known as Typhoid Mary in the early 20th century. She has often been vilified in in modern references, though her story is actually quite complex.

Research:

• "Mary Mallon." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, vol. 21, Gale, 2001. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631007781/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=23f34010. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026. • Brooks, J. “The sad and tragic life of Typhoid Mary.” CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne vol. 154,6 (1996): 915-6. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1487781/ • Brooks, Janet. “The Sad and Tragic Life of Typhoid Mary.” Canadian Medical Association Journal. Vol. 154, No. 6. 3/15/1996. • Cutter, Laura. “Typhoid Mary/Mary Mallon: An Asymptomatic Carrier of Salmonella typhi.” National Museum of Health and Medicine. 6/18/2020. https://medicalmuseum.health.mil/micrograph/index.cfm/posts/2020/typhoid_mary_mary_mallon_salmonella • “Research Starter: Typhoid Mary.” https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/life-sciences/typhoid-mary • Faherty, Anna. “The cook who became a pariah.” Wellcome Collection. 6/29/2017. https://wellcomecollection.org/stories/WsT4Ex8AAHruGfW_ • Leavitt, Judith Walzer. “‘Typhoid Mary’ Strikes Back: Bacteriological Theory and Practice in Early Twentieth-Century Public Health.” Isis , Dec., 1992, Vol. 83, No. 4 (Dec., 1992). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/234261 • Leavitt, Judith Walzer. "Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public Health." Beacon Press. 1997. • Mallon, Mary. Letter to Dr. William H. Park. June 1909. Via PBS NOVA. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/typhoid/letter.html • Marineli, Filio et al. “Mary Mallon (1869-1938) and the history of typhoid fever.” Annals of gastroenterology vol. 26,2 (2013): 132-134. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3959940/ • Mason, W.P. “Typhoid Mary.” Science. Vol. 30, No. 760. 7/23/1909. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1635174 • Murtagh, Joseh. “David DeKok presents gripping, heartbreaking view into Ithaca’s 1903 typhoid outbreak.” Ithica.com. 4/11/2012. https://www.ithaca.com/visit_ithaca/david-dekok-presents-gripping-heartbreaking-view-into-ithaca-s-1903-typhoid-outbreak/article_943a556c-6b6d-11e0-92b9-001cc4c002e0.html • New York Times. “Hospital Epidemic from Typhoid Mary.” 3/28/1915. • New York Times. “HOSPITAL EPIDEMIC FROM TYPHOID MARY; Germ Carrier, Cooking Under False Name, Spread Disease in Sloane Institution. CAUGHT HIDING IN QUEENS Blamed for Twenty-five Cases of Fever Among Doctors and Nurses -- Now In Quarantine.” 2/28/1915. https://www.nytimes.com/1915/03/28/archives/hospital-epidemic-from-typhoid-mary-germ-carrier-cooking-under.html?eafs_enabled=false • Ogan, ML. “Immunization in a Typhoid Outbreak in the Sloane Hospital for Women.” New York Medical Journal. 3/27/1915. 609-610. • Othman, Amani and William W. Darrow. “The Wall, the Ban, and the Objectification of Women.” The International Journal of Social Quality, Winter 2019, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Winter 2019). https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26948452 • Poczai P and Karvalics LZ (2022) The little-known history of cleanliness and the forgotten pioneers of handwashing. Front. Public Health 10:979464. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.979464 • Prabhu, Maya. “The tragedy of Typhoid Mary.” Gavi. 6/18/2021. https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/tragedy-typhoid-mary • Pusey, Allen. “Precedents.” ABA Journal. Vol. 104, No. 3. March 2018. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26516280 • Sawyer, Wilbur. “The Efficiency of Various Anti-Typhoid Vaccines.” Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol. LXV, No. 17. 10/13/2015. • Soper, G A. “The Curious Career of Typhoid Mary.” Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine vol. 15,10 (1939): 698-712. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1911442/ • Soper, George A. “The Curious Career of Typhoid Mary.” Read May 10, 1939 before the Section of Historical and Cultural Medicine. Bulletin of the New York…

Links in the notes 1

• https://omnystudio.com/listener

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