author
Mobile (Ala.). Committee on Causes and Extent of the Late Extraordinary Sickness and Mortality in the Town
This unusual “author” is actually a public committee from Mobile, Alabama, assembled to investigate a deadly outbreak in the town. Their report captures an early American attempt to explain disease through local evidence, public health concerns, and civic accountability.
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Report of the committee appointed to investigate the causes and extent of the late extraordinary sickness and mortality in the town of Mobile
by Mobile (Ala.). Committee on Causes and Extent of the Late Extraordinary Sickness and Mortality in the Town
About the author
Published in the early 19th century, this work is attributed to the Committee on Causes and Extent of the Late Extraordinary Sickness and Mortality in the Town, a group formed in Mobile, Alabama, rather than to a single named writer.
The committee’s report examines a severe episode of illness and death in Mobile and reflects how communities of the period tried to understand epidemics before modern public health systems were fully established. Surviving catalog and library records connect the work with Jacob Ludlow, but the report itself is principally presented as the product of the committee.
Today, the document is mainly valued as a historical source: part medical investigation, part civic report, and part window into how an American Gulf Coast town responded to crisis.