Transcript

Typhoid Mary | Destroying Angel | American History Tellers

From American History Tellers · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 34 min · 5,944 words · 43 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Typhoid Mary | Destroying Angel | American History Tellers", an episode of American History Tellers published June 26, 2025 (34 min, about 5,944 words). It mentions 10 people, works and ideas, including Mary Min, Typhoid Mary, Sarah Josephine Baker, New York City Health Department, North Brother Island.

What this episode is about

The narrative explores the devastating typhoid outbreak at Sloan Maternity Hospital in New York City in February 1915, where nursing staff grapple with the alarming spread of the disease among patients and hospital staff. As they confront their inability to contain the infection and safeguard vulnerable newborns, an investigator from the city health department is called in to uncover the source of the contagion.

Key takeaways

  • In 1915, typhoid showed us that hospitals aren't just healing places; they can become hotbeds of infection.
  • Mary Mallon: a healthy carrier turned public villain illustrates the ethical dilemma between public health and individual rights.
  • Typhoid outbreaks remind us that even in modern times, hygiene struggles can turn hospitals from havens to horrors.
  • Isolating 'Typhoid Mary' raised questions of justice; should one person bear the burden of collective safety?
  • A century ago, the battle against typhoid reflected how fear can warp compassion in healthcare settings.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Mary Min, North Brother Island, Typhoid Mary, New York City Health Department
  2. – 10:00: Mary Min, Typhoid Mary, New York American
  3. – 15:00: Mary Min, North Brother Island, George Francis O'Neal
  4. – 20:00: Mary Min, New York City Health Department, Ernst Letterly, Sarah Josephine Baker
  5. – 25:00: Sarah Josephine Baker, Mary Min, Typhoid Mary, Sloan Maternity Hospital
  6. – 30:00: North Brother Island, Mary Min
  7. – 34:29: Typhoid Mary, Mary Min, Sarah Josephine Baker, Judith Walzer Levan

Notable quotes from "Typhoid Mary | Destroying Angel | American History Tellers"

  • By May 1909, Mary Min had spent 2 years on North Brother Island in the East River in New York. There, the city's health officials kept her separate from other patients and monitored her.
    about North Brother Island · at
  • With the public off the island and no way of sharing the findings with anyone else until in June 1909, a reporter from the New York American newspaper visited the island and…
    about New York American · at
  • Had been admitted to the New York State Bar in 1907, just 2 months after Min was taken into city custody. O'Neal argued that Min should be released for two reasons. First, she…
    about George Francis O'Neal · at
  • Previously contracted typhoid went on to become chronic, albeit healthy, carriers of the bacteria. So New York health officials knew that the city was home to hundreds of…
    about New York City Health Department · at
  • Being released from her confinement and isolation in February of 1910, Mary Malin swore to give up her occupation as a cook and take measures to protect any and all persons with whom I may come in contact from any infection. New York.
    about Mary Min · at
  • Anxiety. Yes, I understand how stressful this must be. But I am not one to be indirect. You must understand that you are all very much at risk until we find the source of this…
    about Sarah Josephine Baker · at
  • Of great service to humanity. There have been many typhoid carriers recognized since her time, but she was the first charted case, and for that distinction, she paid in a…
    about Typhoid Mary · at
  • If you'd like to learn more about the case of Mary Mountain, we recommend Typhoid Mary, Captive to the Public's Health by Judith Walzer Levan. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for.
    about Judith Walzer Levan · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Mary Min — Person · Central historical figure (typhoid carrier) / subject of episode · 15 mentions · first at
    She is the episode’s main subject: an asymptomatic typhoid carrier whose detention, release, and recapture frame the narrative and the public-health vs. civil-liberties conflict.
  • Sarah Josephine Baker — Person · Referenced investigator / NYC Health Department inspector leading outbreak investigation · 5 mentions · first at
    She is portrayed as the key public-health investigator who recognizes and pursues Mary during the 1915 maternity-hospital outbreak, linking the new outbreak back to Mary’s earlier case.
  • Ernst Letterly — Person · Referenced public official (NYC Health Commissioner) who authorizes release · 2 mentions · first at
    He is described as the new health commissioner who changes policy and releases Mary under conditions, shaping the mid-episode turning point that later leads to her recapture.
    In the country. But it wasn't until early 1910 that Min's case grew more hopeful. That year, the health department got a new commissioner, Ernst Letterly, who was more…
  • George Francis O'Neal — Person · Referenced attorney representing Mary in habeas corpus challenge · 1 mention · first at
    He is the lawyer who argues Mary’s confinement violates due process and civil rights, providing the episode’s legal counterpoint to public-health authority.

Books & papers

  • Judith Walzer Levan — Book · Primary recommendation · 1 mention · first at
    Author of a recommended book about Typhoid Mary, providing historical context and analysis.

Companies & orgs

  • New York City Health Department — Company · Regulatory authority · 3 mentions · first at
    Key organization involved in the containment and investigation of typhoid outbreaks, including the case of Typhoid Mary.

Concepts & topics

  • Typhoid Mary — Concept · Core topic · 8 mentions · first at
    Central figure in the episode, representing the first known asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever in the United States.

Places & events

  • North Brother Island — Place · Setting · 7 mentions · first at
    Location where Mary Mallon was isolated for most of her life, serving as a quarantine site for contagious diseases.
  • Sloan Maternity Hospital — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at
    Site of a typhoid outbreak in 1915, leading to the re-capture of Mary Mallon.
    Anxiety. Yes, I understand how stressful this must be. But I am not one to be indirect. You must understand that you are all very much at risk until we find the source of this…

Media & podcasts

  • New York American — Media · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at
    Newspaper that played a significant role in publicizing Mary Mallon's case and shaping public opinion.

Full transcript with timestamps

Wonder. Imagine it's February 1915 at the Sloan Maternity Hospital in New York City. You're a nurse tending to a sick patient on the first floor. A cool draft from the hallway drifts into the room, but the young woman you're caring for is burning up. You dabbed the sweat from her brow, looked down at her with sympathy. When she first came to the hospital to deliver a baby, she was healthy and full of hope, and her labor was uneventful. But the following day, she came down with a high fever. The doctors suspect she's contracted typhoid. Fortunately, the baby is okay, but you worry whether the mother will make it.

Another nurse enters the room and motions to talk to you. You prop a pillow behind the young woman's head and then step into the hallway to join the other nurse. Did you hear? Dr. Morgan has now come down with the fever. They have him in the sick ward, too. But how can that be? I was just with him in the delivery room yesterday afternoon. I know. He tried to do his rounds this morning, but collapsed. That makes more than a dozen now. But I don't understand. We follow all the proper procedures. How could typhoid spread? I don't know, but it's here and it's getting worse. What worries me are the babies. How can we keep them safe? And this poor woman. You narrow your eyes with concern and peer over your shoulder to the room behind you. How is she?

Weaker. Worse than yesterday, but she's fighting. When she wakes up, she asks for her child. I'm not sure what more we can do. We're supposed to be a place of safety, but look what we've become. They say we may have to close our doors. The city health department is coming for a visit tomorrow. Maybe it's for the best. This is getting out of control. They're sending an investigator, someone who's tracked down typhoid outbreaks before. Let's hope they can help us. Look, I need to get back to my patient. Me, too. Take care of yourself. You, too.

You know your friend is right. If you don't stop the spread of typhoid soon, you may have to stop taking in more patients. But it's not just the closing of the hospital that worries you. It's the very survival of those in your care

from Wondery. I'm Lindsey Graham and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. In February 1915, a deadly typhoid outbreak spread through Maternity Hospital in Manhattan. Doctors and nurses rushed to protect the mothers and newborn babies as cases grew. And when officials learned of the outbreak, they set out to investigate how the deadly disease could have infected the facility. Their visit would lead to a startling discovery. At the beginning of the 20th century, detecting the sources of disease had become a priority for New York health officials. Only 8 years earlier, the New York Health Department had detained an Irish cook named Mary Min after discovering that she had been spreading typhoid bacteria. Health officials determined that Malin was a so-called healthy carrier and that despite exhibiting no symptoms herself, she was a source of the illness. By 1909, Mary Min had been held for 2 years

in isolation on a remote island in the East River. Throughout her incarceration, she insisted that she posed no danger to the public and argued that city officials had overstepped their authority in keeping her against her will. When word of her ongoing detention reached the press, it sparked a media firestorm. And much to her dismay, newspapers began referring to her by a now infamous moniker, Typhoid Mary. But she would eventually manage to secure her own release after promising to never again return to work as a cook in New York's kitchens. She knew that if she did, and she was caught, she risked spending the rest of her life in captivity. This is episode two in our series on Typhoid Mary, destroying Angel.

By May 1909, Mary Min had spent 2 years on North Brother Island in the East River in New York. There, the city's health officials kept her separate from other patients and monitored her closely. She was subjected to regular health examinations and required to provide fecal and urine samples, which they tested in the lab on the island. She was the only typhoid patient there and spent most of her time in isolation, living in a one- room cottage by herself. North Brother Island was first used to house patients with contagious illnesses in 1885 and had since grown to 16 buildings, including Riverside Hospital, where patients suffering from tuberculosis and pneumonia, received treatment. Hoping to discover some way to rid Malin of the typhoid bacteria she carried, doctors force her to submit to experimental treatments. She was given eurotropen, an antibacterial drug primarily used to treat urinary tract

infections, as well as brewer's yeast for her intestinal flora and laxatives in an effort to purge her digestive tract. Min found these treatments harsh and repeatedly sought to end them, saying, "If I should have continued, it would certainly have killed me, for it was very severe." Doctors also continued to urge her to consider surgery to remove her gallbladder, suspecting that typhoid bacteria could be concentrated there. But knowing that surgery could be risky and lead to other infections, she refused, insisting to doctors, "No knife will be put on me." But ever since her arrival on the island, Malin had felt desperately alone and complained that the stress and anxiety of her captivity caused her to have unpleasant physical symptoms, saying, "When I first came here, I was so nervous and almost prostrated with grief and trouble. My eyes began to twitch, and the left eyelid became paralyzed and would not

move. It remained in that condition for 6 months. But despite these symptoms, Min appeared otherwise to be in perfect health. And because she showed no severe signs of illness, she continued to distrust the medical staff who insisted she was a danger to others. Malin doubted their claims that her medical tests consistently showed the presence of typhoid bacteria, so she arranged to send her own medical samples to a private laboratory in Manhattan. The doctors from this private lab told her that the samples she sent were negative for typhoid. Mary felt vindicated by this, but she had very little contact with the public off the island and no way of sharing the findings with anyone else until in June 1909, a reporter from the New York American newspaper visited the island and interviewed Min. Not long after, the newspaper printed a story which revealed Mary Min's full name for the first time publicly, referring to

her as a prisoner for life. This article was printed on a Sunday when readership was highest and included a vivid description of Mallet, but also a shocking illustration of a cook tossing human skulls into a skillet with a parade of human corpses marching across the top banner of the page. But despite this salacious illustration, the article conveyed sympathy for Malin's plight and provided her an opportunity to plead her case. The article quoted her as saying, "I have committed no crime and I am treated like an outcast. It is unjust, outrageous, and univilized. Why should I be banished like a leper and compelled to live in solitary confinement? Other newspaper accounts soon followed, offering a mix of sensational and sometimes exaggerated details about Min and her situation. The socialist press called hers a fight for freedom. And soon, hundreds of thousands of readers across the city were captivated by her

ordeal, and Min began to feel her case gaining momentum. Imagine it's early July 1909 in New York. You're the attorney for one of the most high-profile and controversial figures in the state, Mary Min, the poor woman who was recently dubbed Typhoid Mary by the press. Today is an important one. You have a court hearing and you're hoping to finally secure your client's freedom. But knowing the fear surrounding her case, it won't be easy. A judge from the New York Supreme Court peers down at you sternly from the bench. You adjust your neck tie and begin. Your honor, my client should not be kept in confinement even one day longer. And on what grounds do you challenge her confinement? First of all, she was seized from her place of employment and arrested without a proper warrant. From that moment on, she has not been afforded due process. Her continued seclusion is also a violation of her civil rights. How so? After being

kidnapped, she was taken against her will to be confined in the hospital and then moved to be held in isolation on an island in the East River. She has not committed any crime. She has lost her job, her social connections, her home. Her case is a moral outrage, but she was taken into custody to protect the public as a matter of safety. Yes, but that is flawed reasoning. There is no evidence that keeping her in isolation benefits the public. She is healthy and is not a threat to anyone. Wait a moment. Are you questioning the science as well as the application of the law? I am indeed, most certainly. Miss Malin has been healthy since the day of her incarceration and continues to be healthy to this day. The results of her laboratory tests are contradictory at best. It's the court's understanding from health officials that their laboratory tests confirm she carries the typhoid bacteria, but they are refusing

to consider that the results from the Ferguson laboratory on 42nd Street, the private lab that my client contracted, did not find any typhoid bacteria inner stool samples. But isn't it true that there were only 10 samples tested at that laboratory from let me see August 1st 1908 until April 30th 1909. Yes, that is correct. Meanwhile, the city has tested Miss Min weekly since she was taken into custody more than 160 times, finding a positive result for typhoid more than 70% of the time. That may be so, your honor, but even if we just focus on the results from the city officials, they are still inconclusive, showing both positive and negative results, as you just admitted. And still, multiple times a week, my client is required to submit to invasive testing procedures. I think we've heard enough. Your honor, please have mercy.

Keeping her against her will even one more day would be an injustice. The judge regards you with an impassive expression. You're not sure you've presented a strong enough argument to counter the multiple expert witnesses and doctors that the city has put forward, but you do hope for your client's sake that the court can see the gross injustice of her confinement and finally set her free. In June 1909, after 2 years in isolation, Mary Min brought a habius corpus suit challenging the right of local authorities to indefinitely detain her. The city's health department was forced to bring her before the New York State Supreme Court and defend their actions. Newspapers covered the event with excitement and published detailed accounts of the proceedings. One reporter described the now 40-year-old Malin entering the court looking full of vigor, writing, "She has a clear, healthy complexion, regular features,

bright eyes, and white teeth." Malin's attorney, George Francis O'Neal, was a 34year-old former customs inspector who had been admitted to the New York State Bar in 1907, just 2 months after Min was taken into city custody. O'Neal argued that Min should be released for two reasons. First, she had not been afforded due process in her arrest or during her detention. And second, the health department had not proven that she was a menace to society due to her typhoid carrier status. As part of the case, Malin submitted a written statement in which she described confusing and contradictory medical treatment, which led her to distrust the doctors. She also described the humiliation of becoming a figure of ridicule, declaring, "I've been in fact a peep show for everybody. Even the interns who come to see me and ask about the facts already known to the whole wide world." The tuberculosis patients

would say, "There she is, the kidnapped woman." But the health department defended its actions, calling Malin an incubator of typhoid germs and reaffirming their belief that she was a danger to the public. They confirmed that since coming into city custody, doctors had regularly tested Mallet. And while the lab results often did show the presence of typhoid bacteria, at times the results came back negative. During one period, her test was negative for 12 consecutive weeks. But health officials pointed to the fact that over the course of the 2 years she was held, she tested positive 70% of the time. They dismissed the negative findings from the private lab that Malin had contracted, suspecting that those samples may have been mishandled or contaminated during transport, leading to inaccurate findings. At the conclusion of the case in July 1909, the court sided with the city of New York and ruled that Malin

must remain in the custody of the health department. Outraged, Malin told reporters that there were two kinds of justice in America and that all the water in the ocean wouldn't clear me from this charge in the eyes of the health department. They want to make a showing. They want to get credit for protecting the rich and I am the victim. So against her will, Malin was returned to isolation on North Brother Island. But in the coming months, her case continued to draw public sympathy. And it would soon become clear that she was not the only healthy carrier in New York City. Just one month after Min was sent back to isolation in August 1909, a milkman in Camden, New York was found to be the source of a typhoid outbreak that spread throughout the Bronx and Manhattan. Health officials had inspected the dairy production center where he worked and found milk contaminated with the typhoid bacteria.

And soon other carriers in New York and New Jersey were also found. But unlike Malin, in these cases, the carriers were closely monitored and prohibited from working in food preparation. None of them were placed in isolation. The news that these other carriers were allowed to remain free sparked public outcry and prompted some to criticize Malin's confinement as a double standard. One magazine condemned what it saw as a distinct class prejudice, saying, "There is one common characteristic of carriers. They are always plain people in humble circumstances. Those with more money and influence who could fight back are never pronounced dangerous." Other Malin supporters pointed to a study published the year before in 1908 that found that 2 to 5% of all people who had previously contracted typhoid went on to become chronic, albeit healthy, carriers of the bacteria. So New York health officials knew that the city was home to

hundreds of people who could unknowingly transmit the illness. A daunting prospect to properly monitor and contain. So with the discovery of these other healthy carriers, some began to believe the injustice of Min's confinement was clear. Even prominent figures like Dr. Charles Chapen, a pioneer in bacteriology, criticized the handling of Min's case. Dr. Dr. Tapen believed it was unfair to hold Min against her will and emphasized that while she should not be allowed to work in kitchens or food preparation, she could safely earn her living another way. After all, there were thousands of other typhoid carriers still at liberty in the country. But it wasn't until early 1910 that Min's case grew more hopeful. That year, the health department got a new commissioner, Ernst Letterly, who was more sympathetic to Min's plight. Letterly believed that Min could be allowed to go free while still keeping the public safe. So, he decided

to release her, citing the contradiction in the city's policy toward other carriers like her. But he insisted on two conditions. That Min check in with health department officials to keep them updated on her whereabouts and that she never work again in a kitchen or handling food. Min agreed and signed an affidavit to that effect. Finally, in February 1910, after nearly 3 years, Malin left isolation on North Brother Island and returned to society. Upon her release, Letterly helped her find work in a laundry, telling reporters she was incarcerated for the public's good, and now it is up to the public to take care of her. Many health officials were watching her case closely. They worried that allowing Min and others like her to interact freely with the public could pose a risk. And with typhoids still spreading throughout the city, nothing less than life and death was at stake.

But whether they agreed with the decision or not, Mary Min was now free. And now the health of the residents of New York City depended on her keeping her word to never work in a kitchen again. Before being released from her confinement and isolation in February of 1910, Mary Malin swore to give up her occupation as a cook and take measures to protect any and all persons with whom I may come in contact from any infection. New York Health Commissioner Erns Letterly told newspapers that he had taken a personal interest in her case and reassured the public that the city was doing its best to help her get back on her feet. Min began work in a laundry and initially kept her promise to check in with health department officials as required by her agreement for release. But in the coming months, Min struggled to make ends meet as a laundress. Eventually, she began to bounce from job to job. After a year and

a half, things got so bad that in December 1911, Malin brought a lawsuit against the city and the board of health for what she called false imprisonment, claiming that because she had been unable to follow her trade of cooking since her release, she had lost wages and her chance of making a living had been greatly reduced. But Min's suit against the city was unsuccessful, and she was left to fend for herself again. In September 1912, at a meeting of the International Hygiene Congress, New York City health officials discussed Min's case and stated that they were still monitoring her activities. But at some point in the following 2 years, Min stopped showing up for her check-in appointments, and the authorities lost track of her. By then, Min was just one of hundreds of known typhoid carriers that the New York City Health Department was trying to monitor. The vast majority of them slipped through the cracks as

officials struggled to respond to the spread of the disease. Typhoid was still a fearsome killer, infecting thousands in the city each year. But officials did have one cause for hope. Although a vaccine for typhoid had been developed as far back as the 1890s, it was not proven to be safe and was not widely available. But in 1911, the US Army made a breakthrough. They had improved the vaccine enough to successfully immunize 20,000 soldiers with no negative side effects. This success prompted the military to make the vaccine compulsory for all incoming recruits. It was just a matter of time, health officials felt, until the vaccine could be available to the wider public. But in the meantime, people would still have to live with the fear of the disease. And worryingly, by November 1914, the city admitted to the New York Times that it no longer knew where Mary Min was or where she might be working. Then in 1915, one year after

the city admitted to losing track of Malin, Typhoid broke out at a maternity hospital in Manhattan, where mothers were taken to give birth and newborn babies were cared for during their first weeks of life. Once again, Sarah Josephine Baker, the New York City inspector who had apprehended Mary Min 6 years earlier, was called in to investigate. Imagine it's March 1915 at a maternity hospital on Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan. You're an inspector with New York's Health Department and one of the only female doctors in the city. You've built a reputation for aggressively fighting disease among the city's poor children and young mothers. That's why today you've been sent down to this hospital to investigate an outbreak of typhoid among the patients and staff.

You walk hurdly down the hallway with a nurse who's showing you around. So this is the ward where you've taken most of the patients with typhoid. Yes, ma'am. This all happens so quickly that not all of the cases have been confirmed with lab results, but we suspect that soon they will be. All of these patients are exhibiting symptoms consistent with the disease. How many patients does that make in total? 23. But it looks like it will pass two dozen in the coming days. And you haven't had an outbreak like this before. No, not in all the years I've been working here. This is very unusual. Indeed, I haven't seen anything like it. So far, most of those stricken with the illness have been doctors, nurses, and hospital staff. Caring for them in addition to our regular patients, the women about to give birth and newborn babies is taking a toll on the staff. We've been working around the clock here. Many of us are worn out. You

turn to face the young nurse. Her expression is one of exhaustion and anxiety. Yes, I understand how stressful this must be. But I am not one to be indirect. You must understand that you are all very much at risk until we find the source of this disease. The sooner we find it, the better for all of you and for the public. Of course. Now, where does this other hallway lead? That goes to the staff room. Right. Can you take me there? I want to check your hygiene protocol and ensure there are no problems. You let the nurse take the lead and follow her down another hallway toward the staff room. But as you turn the corner, you see an open doorway to a kitchen where several women are cutting vegetables at a counter. Suddenly, one of the faces catches your eye. A tall blonde woman in her 40s looks up. You see a flicker of recognition, and she suddenly drops the knife in her hand and dashes out a back entrance to the

kitchen. Hey, stop. Wait a moment. You race into the kitchen as the young nurse follows with a confused look on her face. Ma'am, are you all right? What is it? Is this the kitchen for the entire hospital? Yes, this is where the food for the patients and staff is prepared. Who is your lead cook? Um, we hired her last October. Ma'am, I don't see what this has to do with the typhoid cases. The staff room is across the hall. It has everything to do with it. The cook working in your kitchen is Mary Malin. The nurse looks unfazed. You realize she has no idea who you're talking about.

Mary Malin? you know from the newspaper. Typhoid Mary. Now the nurse looks at you with shock and you can hardly believe it yourself, but you're certain you recognize her face and you know she recognized you before she fled the kitchen. You have to track her down again and this time you cannot afford any mistakes. When Sarah Josephine Baker heard of the typhoid outbreak at the Sloan Maternity Hospital, she raced there to question staff and find the source of the disease. When she entered the kitchen, she was stunned to recognize a familiar face. She later recalled, "I went out there one day and walked into the kitchen. Sure enough, there was Mary earning her living in the hospital kitchen and spreading typhoid germs among mothers and babies and doctors and nurses like a destroying angel. But Min fled before Baker was able to apprehend her. She managed to evade authorities until about a week later when a local

patrolman in Queens noticed a suspicious looking woman and notified the authorities. City police rushed to the neighborhood and cornered the woman in an apartment building. The New York Sun newspaper described how a squad of sanitary police surrounded the building while more police and a doctor from the health department waited down a side street. A police sergeant rang the doorbell, but no response came. So they put a ladder against a window on the second floor and the sergeant climbed up. When he poked his head into a semi- dark room, a dog snarled from the shadows and then another dog appeared.

The sergeant then brought up pieces of meat to distract the dogs, but then he heard the muffled sound of a slamming door in the room from inside. He now knew the apartment was occupied and the chase was on. The police ran from room to room in pursuit and at last they pushed open a door to find Mary Min crouching in the bathroom. She admitted who she was and they took her into custody. After her recapture, officials and the public were quick to condemn Min. The New York Sun concluded that she had deliberately disregarded the warning of health authorities and had gone forth on her mission of death and misery. This time they argued she deserved real isolation and no mercy. and health officials pointed out that Min was in violation of her explicit agreement not to return to cooking. They condemned the fact that she had returned to work in a hospital kitchen where she was responsible for spreading typhoid to

vulnerable newborn babies and their mothers. Min they argued knew the risk she was taking and in this case two victims had died. She was clearly a menace to society and a threat to the public. Other newspapers joined in condemning her for putting others in danger and wantingly causing illness. The New York Tribune declared that she had deliberately thrown away the sympathy and freedom she'd been given 5 years before, leaving it impossible to feel much commiseration for her. Min's fate was sealed. Officials returned her to isolation on North Brother Island.

But this time, Min did not fight back, simply retreating to her one room cottage. From the shoreline, she could see the city lights across the river and the barges steaming down the coast. But she held little hope of returning to the life she had known before. Imagine

it's December 1929 on North Brother Island in New York. You're a laboratory technician and a recent college graduate. You're in your small lab where you work to help battle infectious diseases. When you first started working here, the isolation from the city and proximity to contagious patients left you feeling uneasy. But over time, you've developed a close bond with the other staff and even some of the patients. You raise your head from your work just as a tall woman wearing round wire spectacles enters your lab. You smile. She's one of your helpers here.

While you've gotten used to seeing her in a white lab coat, though, today she's wearing a stylish black dress and carrying a handbag. Her gray hair is pulled back in a bun and her blue eyes shine brightly behind her glasses. Mary, it's good to see you. I wasn't expecting you today. I'm sorry to disturb you. I just thought I'd stop by. No, it's no bother. But isn't today your day off? Did you get off the island? Yes, I had a shopping day. Just returned. She lifts a small shopping bag by her side and gives you a smile. You smile back. Well, I hope you had a nice time. When you're back tomorrow, we can finish processing these lab tests. The doctors have asked to have them by the end of the week.

They're working on a new treatment for some of the patients. Yes, of course. She answers politely, but the smile vanishes from her face. Anytime you mention the other doctors at the hospital, your friend gets irritated. You know, Mary, the doctors here work very hard. They're only trying to help people. I'm sure that's how some people see it, but not me. Surely after all this time, you can see that their only interest is in treating those in need who come here seeking their help. Well, that's just it. I didn't come here willingly. I cannot forget that, and I cannot forgive, especially after all this time. You've come to know Mary as a reliable worker and a friend. But you also know there are subjects she will not budge on, and this is one of them.

Well, I suppose we should just focus on the lab results they're requesting. Yes, I'll be back in tomorrow. Anyway, I've brought you something. You're relieved to see the tension fall from her face. She reaches into her bag and brings out a shiny red apple. She holds it towards you. I picked this up for you at the market. They're so delicious this time of year. You manage to smile and take the apple from her hand. She turns and leaves, closing the door behind her. You're left holding the apple. It's taken many months to get her to open up to you, which makes kind gestures like this all the more touching. But you hesitate for a moment, and when you're sure she's left, you take the apple over to the waste basket and drop it in. She may be your friend, but you are also a medical graduate, and you know why she's been isolated here. You don't dare take any chances.

Emma Rose Sherman was a recent graduate of Hunter College when she came to work at North Brother Island in 1929. Sherman ran a small lab and Mary Min, now 60 years old, became her assistant, helping in general cleaning, bottle washing, and preparing urine analysis for other patients. Over time, Sherman befriended Min, later recalling she was pleasant to be with as long as you did not talk about typhoid or her past. Even mentioning the doctors could elicit a sour mood. But otherwise, Sherman said Min was a dedicated worker, and while she was very private, Min did maintain social relationships with some of the other nurses. In Malin's later years, she lived in her one-story cottage just 20 by 20 ft with an elm tree in front.

Over time, authorities permitted her to leave the island on day trips for shopping. Sherman described Melon as wearing all black and looking quite stunning during these trips and returning in good spirits. Sometimes she would bring back an apple as a gift for Sherman, which Sherman admitted to later throwing away, worried about contracting typhoid. 6 years after Sherman came to work at the island in 1935, a reporter from the New York Daily Mirror visited, writing about Malin under the headline, I wonder what's become of Typhoid Mary.

The article described Min's quiet life on the island and featured an illustration of Min wearing glasses, her now gray hair framing a calm face. But Min never ceased to harbor resentment for her confinement. To the end, she remained skeptical of the medical staff and never accepted that she caused illness. Min also continued to harbor anger towards those she blamed for her isolation, writing threatening letters to health department officials like Herman Biggs and Sarah Josephine Baker, who wrote that Malin threatened to kill me if she could get out. But despite the hostility toward her, over time Baker had come to regard Min with a mix of respect and compassion, saying I could not blame her for feeling that way. From my brief acquaintance with Mary, I learned to like her and to respect her point of view. After all, she has been of great service to humanity. There have been many typhoid carriers recognized

since her time, but she was the first charted case, and for that distinction, she paid in a lifelong imprisonment. In 1932, when she was 63 years old, Min suffered a stroke and was confined to a hospital bed. One of the nurses she had befriended returned to the island to aid her at her bedside. 60 years later on November 11th, 1938, Mary Min died at the age of 69. She had spent 26 years in forced isolation. Newspapers covered her funeral at St. Luke's Church in the Bronx. And in her passing, Min left most of her possessions to the nurse who had cared for her in her final days, writing in her will that it was in appreciation of the many courtesies and kindness which she had extended to me during confinement. Min was buried at St.

Raymond Cemetery with a simple gravestone that read Jesus Mercy. At the time of her death, New York City officials had identified more than 400 typhoid carriers just like her. In the years after Mary Min's death, the typhoid vaccine began to be administered more widely, and by 1948, doctors had begun treating typhoid with antibiotics, greatly reducing the death toll of the disease. In the following decades, the case of Typhoid Mary would be remembered by those in the medical field as a cautionary tale about the dangers of undetected sources of illness and a potent reminder of the difficulty of protecting public health. Authorities estimated that during the course of her life, Min was responsible for the illness of some 25 people and approximately 3 to five deaths. Because of this, Min would come to be remembered in the public imagination as a frightening menace, often depicted as a monster intent on causing suffering. But

still, others had come to view her as a tragic victim of her times, forced to endure an unnecessary confinement for the sake of political expediency. Whatever the case, she remains today a flashoint for the ongoing debate over health and freedom. from Wondery. This is episode two of our series on typhoid Mary from American history tellers. On the next episode, I speak with Dr. Sema Yasmin, clinical assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University and host of the Our Big Shot podcast. We'll discuss Mary Min's unique circumstances and the way in which her case informs the treatment of infectious diseases today.

If you'd like to learn more about the case of Mary Mountain, we recommend Typhoid Mary, Captive to the Public's Health by Judith Walzer Levan. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship. Audio editing by Christian Paraga. Sound design by Molly Bach. Supervising sound designer Matthew Filler. Music by Thrum. Voice acting by Joe Hernandez Kolski and Zara Hannerford. This episode is written by Dorian Marina. Edited and produced by Alita Rosanski. Managing producer Desi Bllelock, senior managing producer Callum Clues, senior producer Andy Herman, and executive producers are Jenny Lowour Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron Oclarity for Wondering.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Typhoid Mary | Destroying Angel | American History Tellers"?

Lindsey Graham (Host), Mary Mallon (Guest), Sarah Josephine Baker (Guest), George Francis O'Neal (Guest).

What is "Typhoid Mary | Destroying Angel | American History Tellers" about?

The narrative explores the devastating typhoid outbreak at Sloan Maternity Hospital in New York City in February 1915, where nursing staff grapple with the alarming spread of the disease among patients and hospital staff. As they confront their inability to contain the infection and safeguard vulnerable newborns, an investigator from the city health department is called in to uncover the source…

What is mentioned in this American History Tellers episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Mary Min, Typhoid Mary, Sarah Josephine Baker, New York City Health Department, North Brother Island, Sloan Maternity Hospital. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Typhoid Mary | Destroying Angel | American History Tellers"?

The episode runs 34 min; the transcript is about 5,944 words in 43 timestamped sections.

More from American History Tellers

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 22, 2026.