Exploring the history of smallpox vaccination and opposition in Pennsylvania

Posted on by Jake Wynn

In 1855 Pottsville, a smallpox scare sparked a fight over school policy, public safety, and personal freedom that feels strikingly familiar. This new piece for Real Clear Pennsylvania follows those early vaccination battles—and why their echoes are so loud in our own time. Read the full story.

“The old story” – A short editorial on opposition to vaccines and its consequences… from Pottsville in 1903

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Amid a smallpox epidemic in Schuylkill County, a newspaper editor threw up their hands at those who refused to be vaccinated, despite very real danger.

A vaccination campaign for schoolchildren in Schuylkill County in the 1850s

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Medical officials and public school administrators worked together to enforce a mandate that students receive the smallpox vaccine in 1855.