Student Exhibit Details 1900s’ YS&T Outbreak

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A student exhibit focusing on the outbreak of a contagious eye infection in Youngstown Sheet & Tube workers in the early 1900s is on display now at Youngstown State University.

“Trachoma: A Case Study for Change in East Youngstown, Ohio 1910 – 1913,” a collaboration between YSU’s history department and Melnick Medical Museum, was created by graduate students. It describes the outbreak and traces the actions taken by Sheet & Tube officials to help stop the spread of it.

The company’s response had long-term effects and set in motion modern improvements to public and medical services in worker housing, living conditions and medical care, the exhibit notes.

Students researched the outbreak, created the text, located photographs and artifacts, and worked with YSU’s graphic design center to tell the story of the evolution of health care at Sheet & Tube and Campbell. The Melnick Medical Museum assisted by guiding research and providing artifacts and space for the exhibition.

The exhibition on display in the lower level of Cushwa Hall.

For more information, contact Marcelle R. Wilson, adjunct faculty, at 330 941 1330, or Cassie Nespor, curator, University Archives and Melnick Medical Museum, at 330 941 3487.

Pictured: One of the photographs on display in the exhibit in Cushwa Hall.

SOURCE: YSU News Center.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.