One vital but less-known story from early America is that of Onesimus, an African man enslaved in the colonies who helped change the shape of American medicine. Infectious disease outbreaks were a too-familiar nightmare for the colonists — and in 1721, a particularly serious smallpox epidemic was ravaging Boston. Before knowledge of inoculation had spread to these shores, the practice was well-known in West Africa — and it was none other than Onesimus who first shared this life-changing method of prevention. In this episode of Black History in Two Minutes (or so) hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. — with additional commentary from Margot Minardi of Reed College and Ted Widmer of Macaulay Honors College CUNY — we explore the surprising origins of American inoculation.
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