Sanitation Introduction

Back-yard and privies in terribly filthy condition, 76-78 Borden Street, Providence, R.I. Owners Wealthy. Location: Providence, Rhode Island. Courtesy of National Child Labor Committee, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Sanitation, broadly, encompases collective practices to create clean and healthy spaces. However, the definition of "cleanliness" has changed overtime as science emerged to understand how unclean environments cause disease. Disease and outbreaks of disease in New Orleans historically led to public responses that changed both public policy and private behaviors.

Archaeologists can find evidence of these changes in the backyards of urban household lots, which historically contained structures that families would utilize for daily sanitary practices. These included privies (also called outhouses) for access to toilets, and cisterns and wells for access to water.