Special Coverage on Footnote: Spanish Flu Kills Millions in 1918

The following was written by Footnote, one of the sponsors of this newsletter:

War and famine are generally associated with the loss of millions of lives. However, the influenza epidemic of 1918 killed more human beings than World War I altogether. One fifth of the world's population was infected by the virus. It killed more people than any other disease on record. The flu not only infected children and the elderly, but also young adults who would typically survive diseases of this kind. The deaths of so many youth contributed to the "Lost Generation" after World War I, resulting in new movements within the 1920s culture. The influenza epidemic has great historical significance, for it was not only a great tragedy, but also resulted in social changes throughout the world.

Click here to view a photo of the Seattle Police Force wearing masks to prevent influenza.

Click here to view a photo of a nurse wearing a mask to prevent influenza.

Comments

[Jean Adele Roth]

My father who lived to be 99 recounted his experience with the flu in 1918. He was 11 and said that he was so weak that he couldn't lift his feet up because his shoes were too heavy. I had several young cousins who died It had great genealogical significance in the many losses within families, especially when the head of the household died. Missing people in the 1920 census may often be found in 1918 death records.

[William Bernard Thiel D.Ed.]

My mothers sister Elva Dixon of Livingston, IL died of influenza in 1918. She was to be married the next week, if she had lived.

Wthiel@wi.rr.com

[Gordon Rainey]

My grandfather died on Nov 3, 1918 of the Spanish Flu at age 28 years, about 5 months before his only child, my mother, was born. He had contracted the disease from comrades returning from WWI. His passing caused substaitial ongoing hardship for my grandmother and mother.

[Michael Ogden]

My great grandfather James Fairbank had a clean bill of health in September of 1918 according to his WW1 draft registration. He died the next month of the flu. October 1918 was the deadliest month for flu deaths in the USA.

[Kathleen Dennison]

What is the best book regarding the Spanish flu?

[Jack]

My wife's grandfather died of the flu leaving 5 children, the oldest 11. The fifth was born 3 weeks after the father died. A widow alone in a foreign country without any relatives. She and her deceased husband left Ireland in 1910. The family stayed together and survived everything including the depression.They all turned out great and raised fine families of their own in Philadelphia.

[Sheila]

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry is the BEST book about the 1918 flu. 560 pages. It is phenomenal !

It explains how medical science developed to be able to deal with the 1918 epidemic. It explains how President Wilson was so focused on winning WWI he did not allow the media to warn citizens. It explains how the military did not deal with catastrophic volume of deaths in the military bases. It also explains how the flu virus mutates.

[ALLEN L. KAREHA]

My uncle died of the flu in France in the WWI and was buried there in 1918 at the age of 24.

[charles nickel,619 clift drive, madison, alabama]

In 1918 my mother lived in the Southside of Chicago with her parents. They survived the flu. My mother said in the coldest part of winter the dead could not be buried as the ground was frozen. The dead were stacked on the sidewalks four feet deep down every street. She said you would walk past and see a neighbor family, mother, father, and children stacked like so many logs.