Bedminster Museum Program Examines Washington’s Fight Against Smallpox

BEDMINSTER, NJ — The Jacobus Vanderveer House & Museum in Bedminster will host a presentation Saturday on how a smallpox epidemic nearly derailed the American Revolution — and how George Washington's controversial response may have saved it.

"Washington's Battle with the Red Death: Smallpox and the American Revolution" is scheduled for 1 p.m. May 16 at the museum, located at River Road Park, 3055 River Road.

Historic interpreter and educator Paula Podgurski will lead the program, exploring how smallpox swept through the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and how Washington made the bold decision to inoculate his troops through variolation — a risky early form of inoculation that drew strong opposition from the Continental Congress.

The presentation will also examine how Washington persuaded Martha Washington to undergo the procedure and how the variolation approach differed from the safer vaccination method that emerged two decades later.

House tours will be available from noon to 4 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Podgurski is a docent at the Vanderveer House and a member of Outwater's Militia, a living history group. She has been a featured speaker at Somerset County's Docent Training program and at the Dey Mansion in Wayne.

Registration is available at https://register.communitypass.net/Bedminster. For more information, call (908) 212-7000 or visit https://jvhbedminster.org.

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