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Revolutionary Medicine: The Founding Fathers and Mothers in Sickness and in Health
Two Zoom Sessions
Tue., Oct. 21, 28, 2025, 6:30-8:30 pm MT

Before modern antibiotics, Americans regularly faced infections, communicable diseases and early death. As victims of illness who also held positions of political power, the founders played a unique role in developing public health in America. Historian Jeanne Abrams examines the lives of George and Martha Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John and Abigail Adams and their forward-looking perspectives about sickness, health and medicine in their era. Abrams explores how 18th-century medicine was practiced, emphasizing smallpox’s impact on the American Revolution, and the infamous Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. She also examines the founders’ health challenges and the innovative ideas they considered. Explore 18th-century primary sources penned by the founders related to health and the importance of chocolate (yes, you read that right!) for the American Revolution.

“Studying how these founders encountered illness, as well as their viewpoints about health, not only gives us a richer insight into their lives, but also sheds light on the practice of 18th-century medicine,” Abrams says. Perhaps most importantly, Abrams says today’s American public health initiatives had their roots in the work of America’s founders because “they recognized early on that government had compelling reasons to ensure the health of its citizenry.”

Jeanne Abrams holds a PhD in American history with a specialization in archival management and is a retired professor in the Center for Judaic Studies and University Libraries at the ������. She also served as the longtime curator of the Beck Archives of Rocky Mountain Jewish History. She has published extensively in the fields of American, Jewish and medical history. Her latest book is A View from Abroad: The Story of John and Abigail Adams in Europe.