In 1721, pandemonium swept through Boston. Half of the population had contracted smallpox, and 14% of the infected would succumb to it. Recently arrived Africans, weakened from their months on filthy slave ships, were even more vulnerable. One of them had the solution as the disease swept through the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Onesimus, an enslaved man from West Africa, shared a life-saving practice with his enslaver: inoculation. It was a last resort, but if implemented correctly it would help prevent smallpox. There was just one problem: racism.
“Wicked” and “useless” were the words Onesimus’ enslaver used to describe him. Most Bostonians couldn’t stand the thought that an African technique could save their lives, even comparing it to throwing a bomb into a town. But the enslaver, a physician, had no choice but to try this idea.
The method was not only effective, but also laid the groundwork for the development of the smallpox vaccine in 1796. Today, smallpox remains the only infectious disease to have been fully eradicated.
Onesimus proved that protecting and passing down traditions isn’t just cultural, it’s life-saving. Preserving our knowledge honors our past while preserving the future.