Author Presentation - Carville’s Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice with Pam Fessler
Sunday, June 8, 2025 • 12 Sivan 5785
10:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Following the trail of an unexpected family connection, acclaimed journalist Pam Fessler has unearthed the lost world of the patients, nurses, doctors, and researchers at Carville who struggled for over a century to eradicate Hansen’s disease, the modern name for leprosy. Amid widespread public anxiety about foreign contamination and contagion, patients were deprived of basic rights―restricted from leaving Carville, and often forbidden from contact with their own parents or children. Neighbors fretted over their presence and newspapers warned of their dangerous condition, which was seen as a biblical “curse” rather than a medical diagnosis. One particular patient, Stanley Stein, helped improve so many people’s lives around the world within the confines of Carville. Carville’s Cure demonstrates the necessity of combating misinformation and stigma if we hope to control the spread of illness without demonizing victims and needlessly destroying lives.
A light breakfast will be served. Hosted by Sisterhood and the Blumberg-Zalis Family Library.
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Mon, January 6 2025
6 Tevet 5785
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