The Tuberculosis Hospital That Treated America's Vaudeville Stars

Before films and television became the primary source of entertainment in America, vaudeville reigned supreme. These variety shows—where audiences could see everything from sideshow performers to slapstick comedy to Babe Ruth singing during the offseason, all on the same bill—offered access to the day’s top talent, as well as a glimpse of the glamour of the stage. If a town was big enough to have a small theater or community hall, chances are they hosted a show touring on one of the several vaudeville circuits in operation in the late 19th and early 20th century.

But the constant traveling meant that the living conditions vaudevillian performers faced were starkly different than today’s celebrity lifestyle: Picture damp, crowded boarding houses, cold dressing rooms, and a constant crisscrossing of the United States by train. The grueling schedule and cramped conditions were ideal breeding ground for infectious diseases—tuberculosis, in particular, of death at the time,