How TB Brought My Family From Australia to Missouri (an Essay)
Who are you?
Moira Bailey
What is your project?
I’m writing a long-form essay/feature about how tuberculosis brought my lung doctor father and his family from Australia to a TB sanatorium in the Missouri Ozarks in the 1950s—an essay that began in earnest during the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID, another airborne disease, also prompted a reminder of the uprooting and isolation that had accompanied the era of TB hospitals. I’ve revisited my parents’ story during a decade that represented the advancement of TB treatment and the subsequent decline in numbers of TB sanatoriums.
The story is a tale of two pandemics, pegged to the parallels between the two, but the color in the story is filtered through my family’s lens and experience.
Can we see some photos?
This history was compiled to mark the hospital’s anniversary – and a priceless resource.
Includes images of my Dad at work (at left).
And the doctors’ cottages, housing physicians and families from around the world.
Where can we find your work?
A link to your work: All of the linked segments of the drafts are here - closing in on the final section.
What will you ship at the end of 6 months?
I want to share my completed draft with trusted colleagues to help this find a home – whether online or print publication. I think this is just the first iteration – one that I may well revise and reimagine (possibly in different formats) going forward. This finished draft is the first step in that direction.