Archival Education

Yellow Fever

June 11, 2024
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Grades 4-8. The following unit engages students with archival material related to the yellow fever epidemic during the construction of the Panama Canal. Students will learn about archives, primary and secondary sources through the lens of the yellow fever. They will make connections to other public health campaigns such as tuberculosis and Covid. Applying present day awareness strategies, students will create their own public health campaigns for yellow fever in the form of “challenges,” hashtags, posters, billboard mockups, and bulletins. Support materials are integrated into the lessons, and the selected primary source documents can be found at the end of the unit.

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By: Marissa Vassari
Education Program Manager, Rockefeller Archive Center
Marissa Vassari is Education Program Manager at the Rockefeller Archive Center. She specializes in developing educational outreach project models that build research and information literacy skills. Marissa regularly presents at conferences on her work, and in 2016, she created the Archival Educators Roundtable, which facilitates communication among professionals who use primary sources in public outreach and teaching. She holds a BA in Psychology and Special Education, an MA in Childhood Education, and an MLIS degree with an Archival Studies specialization.

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