Bury Me in the Sunshine: The Yellow Fever Epidemics of Memphis by John Vidmar, O.P

Abstract

Reviewed by: Bury Me in the Sunshine: The Yellow Fever Epidemics of Memphis by John Vidmar, O.P Robert Wilson Bury Me in the Sunshine: The Yellow Fever Epidemics of Memphis. By John Vidmar, O.P. (Providence, R.I.: Cluny Media, 2020. Pp. [xiv], 311. Paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-952826-38-2.) The nineteenth-century yellow fever epidemics that afflicted southern cities have been chronicled many times by historians, but John Vidmar takes a different approach to the subject in his book, Bury Me in the Sunshine: The Yellow Fever Epidemics of Memphis. He has uncovered an interesting new primary source: the diary of Father Joseph Augustine Kelly, a Roman Catholic priest in Memphis who survived three major epidemics in the region. The main goal of Vidmar’s project is to address Catholic contributions during the epidemic, but the author also provides a glimpse of the triumphs and trials of many Memphis residents. The book provides a brief history of Memphis and the yellow fever virus, and it does a nice job of describing life during the epidemics of 1873, 1878, and 1879. The contributions of the Catholic Church have often been left out of nineteenth-century stories of a growing nation, and Vidmar’s work hopes to remedy this narrative of exclusion. The author has written an entire chapter on the leadership of Father Kelly before the epidemic, and also shares the heroic accomplishments of the many priests and nuns who stayed to help relieve the suffering of Memphians who could not get out of the city. Vidmar argues that, in part, “the Catholic clergy had to stay because of their commitment to the Sacrament of Extreme Unction” (p. 228). The challenges both Protestant and Catholic churches faced during the epidemics are discussed, but the large number of Catholic priests and nuns who went to Memphis to help in any way possible and died as a result stands out. The strength of the book lies in the information Vidmar has gained from his analysis of Memphis newspapers. He does an excellent job of explaining the delicate balance journalists struck as they reported on the epidemic, while also attempting to prevent human panic and financial ruin to the city’s economy. The job of a nineteenth-century newspaper editor often included promoting and supporting a city, and Vidmar explains how the papers “regarded themselves as watchdogs for the public good” (p. 218). Through the numerous newspaper headlines and editorials found in his research, he provides a glimpse of the confusion citizens must have felt until it was too late to avoid the epidemic. Vidmar even brings this point back to the contemporary story of the COVID-19 pandemic. He argues that things have changed little in this regard, as “countries and cities want to protect their reputation, their tourist industry, their economy—at all costs, even of human life” (p. 203). It is often easy to look back at people who lived in the past and judge them through a contemporary lens, but the author finds parallels in human behavior both past and present. [End Page 173] Bury Me in the Sunshine is a popular history of yellow fever in Memphis and the contributions made by the Catholic Church during the epidemics of the 1870s. The book provides new access to a diary of a man who not only survived three major epidemics but also risked his life to help those in need. The book is not a comprehensive story of yellow fever in southern cities, but in addition to the experiences of Catholic clergy, it does examine interesting topics including quarantine, sanitation, the disease’s connection to cholera, the Howard Association, and nineteenth-century medical care. Robert Wilson University of Missouri–St. Louis Copyright © 2023 The Southern Historical Association