Tuesday, May 14, 2013

NOLA Shantytown 1914

For those of you who haven't consulted the National Library of Medicine's Images from the History of Medicine (IHM), we encourage you to take a look. The database contains over 70,000 images from the National Library of Medicine's historical collections. Researchers can browse through the database or search by keyword.

What new features/enhancements would you like to see for the database?  The National Library of Medicine is asking the public to participate in a brief survey regarding the online collection.

The image above most likely was taken about 1914, when a bubonic plague scare in New Orleans triggered the passage of ordinances aimed at widespread rat extermination. These largely focused on rat-proofing buildings, and local architects subsequently received commissions through property management companies to assess structures for compliance. One such architect was Martin Shepard (1875-1962), whose records are housed in the Southeastern Architectural Archive.

Photograph credit:  Bird's Eye View of a Shantytown, New Orleans, Louisiana, c. 1914. Images from the History of Medicine, National Library of Medicine. As viewed 14 May 2013.

1 comment:

John said...

The image of a shantytown is not taken in New Orleans. I found where it was taken a few years back, but can't recall the country, only that it was in Central America.