Join author Nancy Owen Lewis for the third event in our summer series supporting Chasing the Cure to Albuquerque.

During New Mexico’s struggle for statehood, territorial officials promoted its climate as ideal for curing tuberculosis, the leading cause of death in America. As proof, they cited the absence of disease among its native people. Lewis examines the factors that shaped the health seeker movement from 1880-1940—and their unintended consequences. The arrival of thousands of lungers, as they were called, soon engendered fears about exposure and concern that the disease would spread to locals. This led to the creation of a public health department in 1919 and ultimately one of the highest TB rates in the country.