TheMaterialismofBiologicalEncounters 73
ACulpableBiography
During the 1910s, Mary Mallon, a.k.a. "Typhoid Mary," was
arguably one of the most prominent women then living in the U.S. She
was young, unmarried, and earned her living as a cook for various
familiesacrosstheNewYorkCityarea.Thenamebywhichshecameto
be identified is a media creation and reflects a specific moment in U.S.
history, namely the constellation mentioned above, when the nexus of
biology and migration became part of a revised calculus of national
belonging.
Mallon was a first-generation immigrant from Ireland who
repeatedly moved between various temporary jobs and, in doing so,
unknowingly spread the typhoid she was infected with among the
familiesofheremployers.Inall,47peoplewereinfectedofwhomthree
died while Mallon remained in perfect health. When first confronted
with the charge of infecting others, Mallon refused to believe that she
was a disease carrier and objected to the sequestration imposed on her
by the public health authorities. She said: "I am an innocent human
being. I have committed no crime and am treated like an outcast—a
criminal....WhyshouldIbebanishedlikealeper...?"(qtd.inStowe
180).Againstherobjections,Mallonwasforciblyremovedtoahospital
where she tested positive for the typhoid bacillus. When Mallon filed a
habeas corpuslegal appeal against her imposed quarantine, her case
launched an intense public debate in which the state's obligation to
safeguard the health of the general public was pitted against the civil
libertiesofanindividualperson.Mallon'sappealswereinitiallyrejected
by the courts but she eventually won her release, assumed an alias, and
disappeared. When she was rediscovered, years later, she immediately
became acause célèbre again. The New York Times, for example,
saluted her emergence from self-chosen concealment with the headline:
"'Typhoid Mary' has reappeared... Human Culture Test Tube, Herself
Immune, Spreads the Disease Wherever She Goes" (qtd. in Wald,
Cultures 105). In the years to come, Mallon would be sent into
confinementagain.Allinall,shespenttwenty-sixyearsincustody.
From a purely biomedical point of view Mallon's is indeed a
landmarkcase:shewasthefirsthealthypersoneveridentifiedwhowas
nonetheless the carrier of a communicable disease. Moreover, tracking
her down and quarantining her was the first proven success of the new