To celebrate the History Center’s “Back On Track Indiana” Stage 4 reopening today, we share the following Socially History post that originally appeared in March 2018 to commemorate the centennial of the Spanish Flu pandemic. On March 11, 1918, the first confirmed cases of “Spanish Flu” in the United States were reported in Fort Riley, Kansas. The Great Influenza Pandemic soon reached all areas of the nation as a perfect storm of circumstance. The illness spread more easily because of the massive mobilization of troops from all corners of the globe due to WWI, the lack of available medical supplies and personnel, and the overcrowding of medical facilities due to those who had already been wounded. The pandemic spread throughout the globe and is believed to have reached Fort Wayne in September 1918. The American Red Cross, which had already been active in the community in support of the war effort, stretched their aid even further to treating those stricken with the “Spanish Flu.” Signs and ads were put out by the local government in an effort to educate the public on proper procedure and warn of discipline for improper action. The pandemic subsided in Fort Wayne and Allen County in the summer of 1919. The illness had claimed the lives of an estimated three to six percent of the world’s population. Today we commemorate the nurses, members of the American Red Cross and local health officials who helped fight this deadly pandemic in Allen County. #sociallyhistory
September 26, 1918 - the Indianapolis News reported the first case of Spanish Influenza at military training detachments in and around Indianapolis. The city would be infected with over 6,000 cases of the flu that swept the globe during World War I. With a makeshift hospital, outfitted with 300 beds, Fort Benjamin Harrison cared for over 3,000 patients. Indianapolis leaders presented a united front in halting the flu's spread, shop and theater owners complied despite personal loss, and men and women volunteered their services at risk to their own lives. From this first report until the end of November, Indiana lost 3,266 Hoosiers to the illness. Copied from a September 26, 2018 post with an image of an Indiana State Board of Health influenza poster by the Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook. The origianal source is titled: Influenza: How to avoid it from the Indiana State Library Digital Collection Broadsides Collection, Rare Books and Manuscripts Division, Indiana State Library.
The Great Influenza Outbreak of 1918 published April 6, 2015 by DOCUMENTARY TUBE on YouTube.
It was an unusual pandemic in the United States involving the H1N1 virus which infected 500 million globally resulting in the loss of 50 to 100 million.
Ground Zero in one of the worldâs deadliest influenza pandemics started quietly, inconspicuously. It was winter, 100 years ago. And it was here, in Kansas. The virus began on the windswept Kansas prairie, where dirt-poor farm families struggled to do daily chores â slopping pigs, feeding cattle, horses, and chickens, living in primitive, cramped, uninsulated quarters. It’s not known whether it started in the pigs or chickens or birds flying overhead. But it spread to young farmers who, drafted for World War I, reported for duty at Fort Riley. Copied from How a killer flu spread from western Kansas to the world by Beccy Tanner published February 19, 2018 in The Witchita Eagle on Kansas.com.
â[Influenza] encircled the world, visited the remotest corners, taking toll of the most robust, sparing neither soldier nor civilian, and flaunting its red flag in the face of science.â - Dr. Victor C. Vaughan
Join us on Talking Hoosier History as we discuss the month in 1918 when the Spanish Influenza ravaged the civilian and military population of Indianapolis
Spanish Influenza hit Indiana in September of 1918. While the virus was killing soldiers and civilians affected by WWI around the world, most Hoosiers assumed they were safe that fall. Unfortunately, the mysterious flu was already on their doorstep. On this episode of Talking Hoosier History we examine the havoc caused by the dread malady and the brave nurses and regular Hoosiers who battled the epidemic. Copied from Episode 7 Spanish Influenza: The Dread Malady Hits Indiana 24 minute audio published by Talking Hooseir History on SoundCloud.com.
An October 1, 1918 newspaper says Fireman William Rudolph Hilgeman U.S. Navy was Fort Wayne's first victim of the Spanish Influenza while at the Great Lakes naval training station. He was laid to rest in Lindenwood Cemetery with full military honors. From a September 30, 2014 post on the original Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana page on Facebook.
As many Hoosiers begin scheduling their vaccines, one cannot help but consider the similarities between the COVID-19 pandemic and the 1918 influenza outbreak. Our new #IndianaHistoryBlog post explores Eli Lilly’s efforts to develop a vaccine, various treatments sought by Hoosiers, and theories as to why the flu took the lives of so many healthy, young individuals, including soldiers in World War.
1918 Pandemic Influenza: Three Waves The 1918 influenza pandemic occurred in three waves and was the most severe pandemic in history. by the CDC.gov. More people died during the 1918 pandemic than the total number of military and civilian deaths that resulted from World War I. There were 3 different waves of illness during the pandemic, starting in March 1918 and subsiding by summer of 1919. The pandemic peaked in the U.S. during the second wave, in the fall of 1918. This highly fatal second wave was responsible for most of the U.S. deaths attributed to the pandemic. A third wave of illness occurred during the winter and spring of 1919, adding to the pandemic death toll. The third wave of the pandemic subsided during the summer of 1919.
The 1918 Flu Pandemic: Why It Matters 100 Years Later posted on May 14, 2018 by Blog Administrator on CDC.gov. 100 years ago, an influenza (flu) pandemic swept the globe, infecting an estimated one-third of the worldâs population and killing at least 50 million people. The pandemicâs death tollAmerican soldiers returning home on the Agamemnon, Hoboken, New Jersey was greater than the total number of military and civilian deaths from World War I, which was happening simultaneously. At the time, scientists had not yet discovered flu viruses, but we know today that the 1918 pandemic was caused by an influenza A (H1N1) virus. The pandemic is commonly believed to have occurred in three waves. Unusual flu-like activity was first identified in U.S. military personnel during the spring of 1918. Flu spread rapidly in military barracks where men shared close quarters. The second wave occurred during the fall of 1918 and was the most severe. A third wave of illness occurred during the winter and spring of 1919.
A 1998 Journal Gazette article by reporter Nancy Vendrely outlined the effect of the local pandemic. It may have been this January 19, 2018 discussion of a 1990s newspaper article recalling the 1918 Flu Epidemic was on You are positively from Fort Wayne, if you remember... Archived group only visible to existing members on Facebook.
How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America The toll of historyâs worst epidemic surpasses all the military deaths in World War I and World War II combined. And it may have begun in the United States by John M. Barry published November 2017 in Smithsonian Magazine.
August 10, 2018 Amy Johnson Crow Tweeted about news censorship of influenza deaths including obituaries during the WWI.
October 27, 2018 the DAR posted a Trivia question on Facebook: Why was it called the Spanish Flu? with the answer: During World War 1, many countries including the United States and Great Britain enacted laws preventing anyone from publishing news that would harm morale. This meant many people did not know about the flu pandemic or how to prevent it until it was too late. However, Spain was neutral during the war and had no such censorship, so many people first heard about the flu from Spanish news sources. They called it the Spanish Flu even though the disease originated in Kansas.
World War I claimed an estimated 16 million lives. The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people. One fifth of the world's population was attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history. - Read the rest at The Deadly Virus The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 - NARA National Archives and Record Administration.
October 26, 1918 - state health officials believed that the worst of the 1918 influenza epidemic was over. There were an estimated 350,000 cases resulting in over 10,000 deaths. All public gatherings were banned during the month. For information, documents, and photos about the influenza epidemic on a national and international level, see The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 on Archives.gov or 1918 Influenza Epidemic in Indiana on Indiana.gov. Copied October 26, 2013 from Indiana Historical Bureau on Facebook.
First digital resource explores 1918 flu epidemic - "The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918: A Digital Encyclopedia," created by the Center for the History of Medicine in partnership with the U-M (University of Michigan) Library's MPublishing, documents 50 diverse communities in the United States during fall 1918 and winter 1919âa period when the effects of influenza caused the deaths of an estimated 650,000 Americans (and 50 million people worldwide). See their website Influenza Encyclopedia.
Indiana officials, on recommendations from federal health officials, announced on Oct. 6, 1918, a statewide health crisis. In a telegram to all of Indianaâs county health officers, the State Board of Health ordered local officials to close all schools, churches and public amusement facilities until further notice. ... The flu subsided dramatically in northeast Indiana and other parts of the state in the early part of the new year. That was due in part to the strict public ban that was enforced in most communities. Copied from Flu pandemic hit area hard 100 years ago by Terry Housholder published November 18, 2018 on KPC News.com.
Local officials all but shut the Fort Wayne down between October 1917 and New Yearâs Eve of 1918 ... Fort Wayne was almost like a police state because of government regulations, ... They told you where you could shop, when you could shop, when you could go to work. according to local historian Maureen Gaff when she talked to The News-Sentinel about the pandemic in 1999 in the article KEVIN LEININGER: Hopefully history wonât repeat itself with COVID-19 â but it could published March 5, 2020 in The News-Sentinel newspaper.
A survey by the local Influenza Commission estimated 5,000 people had the illness in Allen County. It was never determined exactly how many people died here during the pandemic. But during the last half of December, there were 47 flu-related deaths in Allen County. ... Todd Maxwell Pelfrey, executive director of The History Center, said ... that this region has survived many frightening epidemics over the centuries.The well-known Spanish Flu Pandemic and other calamitous outbreaks including smallpox in the 1730s and 1750s, cholera in the 1840s and 1850s, and diphtheria in the 1930s steeled our people and fortified a particular brand of communal ruggedness in our community, Pelfrey wrote. Copied from Furthermore ...Lessons of the last pandemic published March 21, 2020 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
The flu struck Fort Benjamin Harrison in September of 1918 and by October 6, U.S. public health service officials mandated a statewide quarantine for Indiana and most other states. Read more in Coping with Quarantine in a Pre-Digital Era by Nicole Poletika posted March 31, 2020 on the Indiana History Blog.
Page 1 December 5, 1918 Journal Gazette newspaper editorial: âThe prevalence of the influenza epidemic in Fort Wayne calls for every reasonable precaution, but the worst thing that could happen would be a feeling of panic because of the great number of gauze masks seen upon the street. Happily we are assured that the disease here does not seem to be so virulent as it has been in other places and was generally in the early stages of its grim progress across the country. The extraordinary precaution taken some time ago no doubt in large part accounts for the fact that it was so long held off from this community. It is but natural that men [sic] should be impatient under restraint. âWe Americans are great for 'our rights.' And among those rights is the perfect right to endanger the lives of other people if that be necessary to the collecting of the coin of the realm. There was much criticism of the board of health when the closing order was issued some time ago. The Journal-Gazette did not join in this criticism then but took the position that if the men responsible for the protection of the lives of the people here thought that extreme measure necessary there should be no complaint. We do not now share in the criticism at the closing of the schools. If there is any one place where the epidemic finds a fertile field it is in the school rooms. âMeanwhile, let us go about our daily tasks, getting as much humor out of our masks as we can, taking much more than ordinary care about getting a cold, keeping calm, and co-operating with the health board as we should. In Indianapolis conditions are getting much better because of the measures taken there â measures very similar to those we have now taken here. The indications are that throughout the winter we shall have sporadic outbreaks of the disease in different communities but this will merely remind us of the experience of some years ago when the grippe swept through the country. Just now a cheerful disposition, calm nerves, and a wholesome sense of humor will help us through the trials of the next week or ten days.â Copied from Prescient words from a century in the past by Professor Steve Carr at Purdue University Fort Wayne published April 11, 2020 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
Businesses, churches and schools ordered to close. People advised to wear protective masks, clean thoroughly and maintain a safe distance between each other. Residents of Fort Wayne have never had to endure so much to defeat a deadly enemy they couldnât see, smell or touch. Right? Nope. History reveals how the cityâs strategy to defeat COVID-19 is remarkably similar â with some very notable exceptions â to its response to the influenza of 1918, which ultimately killed 20 million people worldwide, including about 700,000 in the United States and 9,000 in Indiana. They wanted to get out in front of it and closed public places, which is why the rate was lower in Fort Wayne than other cities in Indiana, said Allen County Health Department Administrator Mindy Waldron, who is something of an historian when it comes to the âSpanish Flu.â Although records are incomplete, it is believed about 91 Fort Wayne residents died from all forms of influenza and pneumonia in 1918, a rate of about 114 for every 100,000 people. Copied from KEVIN LEININGER: Think weâve never been through an ordeal quite like this? Think again published April 11, 2020 in The News-Sentinel newspaper.
âThey closed down the hospitalsâ says historian Maureen Gaff. âNobody could go to the hospital because so many nurses and doctors were sick.â and “Four ladies one night got together and played a game of bridge and they played cards till about eleven o'clock at night,” says Gaff. “The next morning three of them were dead. It came on that fast. You didn't even know you had it you just dropped dead.” copied from Covid19âs Ancestor video by
Eric Olson, 21Country Featured Reporterpublished April 21, 2020 on 21AliveNews.com.
Influenza epidemic of 1918-19: The second and third waves, recovery posted October 24, 2020 on the Archives of Hoosier History Live podcast on Saturdays, noon to 1 p.m. ET on WICR 88.7 FM introduction starts with: Halloween festivities in 1918 were canceled in Indianapolis and other Hoosier cities because of the devastating influenza epidemic. That's been noted during previous Hoosier History Live shows about the infamous epidemic - which is more accurately called a pandemic because the often fatal strain of influenza in 1918 and 1919 spread around the world. Also during our previous shows on the topic - including a program that broadly explored Epidemics in Indiana history and an earlier show focused on the 1918 Influenza Epidemic in Indiana - medical historians discussed how the label "Spanish flu" mischaracterizes the 1918 health crisis. Our guests explained that contemporary experts point to sources other than Spain for the deadly influenza that caused havoc around the globe more than 100 years ago. During our previous shows, we focused on the origins and the initial outbreaks in Indiana, leaving an unexpected and devastating "second wave" in 1918-19 mostly unexplored. So our distinguished medical historians, Dr. William McNiece and Bill Beck, will return for this show to share insights about additional aspects of the epidemic - which even included a "third wave" - as well as the eventual recovery.
1918, family portrait.
