The Fairfield Foundation is hosting an open house, public archaeology dig, and community organization exhibits to celebrate the 170th anniversary of Walter Reed’s birth (September 13, 1851) at his birthplace in Gloucester.
The small dwelling is notable as a rare surviving example of architecture that was once ubiquitous in rural Virginia. Located in the crossroads community of Belroi, archaeologists will continue excavations related to an 1800s store on the site.
Walter Reed led an Army board investigation of typhoid fever. The findings of this board alone would have made Reed famous, but before they were published, he was sent to Cuba in 1900 to lead another Army board to investigate yellow fever. Within months, with the input and assistance of many others, he designed and carried out a series of human experiments that proved the mosquito as the vector of yellow fever. Application of his findings quickly led to the control of yellow fever by killing mosquitoes.
This event is supported in part by a grant from Virginia Humanities.
Contact fairifield@fairfieldfoundation.org with questions.
