David Barnes

I teach history of medicine & public health @ Univ. of Pennsylvania. Writing a history of (& trying to preserve) Philadelphia's Lazaretto quarantine station.

[David Barnes @historyof]

@ClaireClarkPhD @aahmhistmed @NewBooksNetwork I agree with this mini-consensus. I don’t think we’re elitist so much as very slow to change methodologically and in terms of scholarly media. Late adopters, maybe? But I see that changing, thanks in large part to the influence of younger scholars. And it’s about time!

[American Historical Association @AHAhistorians]

A Federal style building of elegant flemish-bond masonry with two hospital wings and a central pavilion, the Philadelphia Lazaretto has its own stories to tell. Read @historyof's #EverythingHasAHistory of the former quarantine station in #AHAPerspectives. https://t.co/m0LYDnSrHH

[David Barnes @historyof]

Perfect weather for the Seaplane Splash-In on the river at the Lazaretto today! Come join us, and while you're there, take my audio tour of the oldest quarantine station in the Western Hemisphere, available at https://t.co/ye6PpkBVPu!

https://t.co/xIbQC7oMMf

[David Barnes @historyof]

#histmed folks: Univ. archivist wants to save patient records from hospital's Dept. of Surgery, but doesn't have room for everything. Is there an accepted standard for sampling patient records? #archives

[David Barnes @historyof]

He knew my students idolized him & he wanted to encourage them to do the hard work. At lunch w/ them, he acted like he & I were best buds & deferred to me as "the TB expert." They looked at me wide-eyed, star-struck. He didn't have to, but he knew the effect it would have.
4/4

[David Barnes @historyof]

When I was at Harvard, he emailed me to congratulate me when my TB book came out, but we never saw each other. After I came to Penn and started teaching about global health to lots of PF acolytes, he came to speak a couple of times, always making time for the undergrads. 3/4

[David Barnes @historyof]

I first met Paul when he spoke at the first conference I ever organized, on "TB Then and Now," in 1995. He had a MacArthur, but was not yet a rock star. I liked a med journal article he had written about TB in Haiti, and he thought history was important enough to humor me.
2/4

[David Barnes @historyof]

On top of everything else—pathbreaking scholar, caring physician, infectious-disease researcher, and global health evangelist—Paul Farmer was a mensch. I only met him in person three times, but he always understood exactly how he could (and couldn't) help in any situation.
1/4

[David Barnes @historyof]

@Dr_C_Thompson Fair enough. He was definitely a self-aggrandizing blowhard. And his anatomy & physiology were … fanciful? But we could all use a lot more attention to the 6 Non-Naturals, esp. during this pandemic. In fact, let's re-brand and bring back the #6Non-Naturals! Who's with me?

[Historic Philly @HistoricPHL]

1920: Port-Air View North from Fitzwater.
https://t.co/svdIJllRZa

[David Barnes @historyof]

I have been asked many times, "How will this pandemic change [fill in the blank]?" My answer is always the same: It's up to us to decide! If we do nothing, powerful institutions will pursue their agendas, as they always do.

[Penn IUR @PennIUR]

Penn IUR Faculty Fellow @historyof discusses past pandemics and #COVID19, via @ScienceMagazine https://t.co/NkkthMNSsd #CitiesandContagion

[Patton Oswalt @pattonoswalt]

You just opened yourself up to a MASSIVE class action lawsuit.

[David Barnes @historyof]

Pandemic Update (History Edition): Exciting things are happening @LazPHL!
Our new website is now live at https://t.co/oxrd3RdJmM, including a self-guided audio tour (narrated by a dashing and debonair history professor) and other fun features. More coming soon! (2/2)

[David Barnes @historyof]

Pandemic Update (History Edition): Exciting things are happening at the Lazaretto @LazPHL!
There are still tickets available for my talk about this pandemic and previous epidemics in Philadelphia at 6:00 TODAY. $15, free for students—get 'em quick! (1/2)
https://t.co/yR6bFJkMzN

[David Barnes @historyof]

See this Instagram photo by @lazphl https://t.co/RujOwNN7na #DoQuarantineTheOldSchoolWay

[The Lazaretto @LazPHL]

Hello twitter! 👋 We're excited to be here and bring news and Philadelphia's public health history to the internet! #philly

[Cassie Christopher @CassieChristop]

Students, assuming we're all doing online learning again in the fall, what do you want your profs to keep doing/stop doing/start doing? (Faculty tweeps, please RT)

[David Barnes @historyof]

@JasonChernesky This is great. Where is it?

[Michelle Silva @SilvaOnAVespa]

Dr Julie Fairman: We are seeing gendered, valorized accts of nurses during COVID, they are romanticized as heroes rather than acknowledged for/called to comment on their daily medical/scientific expertise #Truth #AAHMPandemicHistory