American History Hotline
The Surprising History of Vaccines in America with Kathryn Olivarius
03 Dec 2025
Many Americans have turned their backs on the vax, but early Early Americans would literally have killed for some vaccines. In this episode, we explore the history of America's first vaccines, which can be traced to a mandate from none other than General George Washington. Dr. Kathryn Olivarius (author of Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom) explains the surprising story of how vaccines shaped American life — from smallpox inoculations during the Revolution to modern-day debates over public health and personal freedom. We're going to poke and jab at history to see why vaccine resistance isn’t new, and how the fight between science, religion, and politics has defined 250 years of American medicine. GUEST: Kathryn Olivarius, author of Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton KingdomSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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