Notice to Indiana University students about school closing due to 1918 flu pandemic.
Source: public domain Wikimedia Commons
Today We Are Well Informed About the Flu
The public these days in warned on television about the possible negative impact of flu on their communities. We are encouraged to get our flu shots. We also are likely to hear about a hospital or nursing home in our area having visitors restricted because of flu out breaks. Our local news reports the number of local deaths related to the flu throughout the flu season. We are a flu aware nation. In 1918 the public was flu aware as well, but with little means to treat the flu outbreaks effectively they tried to stop its spread by quarantine and policies to limit public outbreak.
Typist at work wearing mask to prevent catching the flu. Many schools closed . Movie theaters were closed , but the business world could not close for the flu.
Source: Wikimedia Commons Public Domain.
Statewide Fear of the Flu in 1918
Hoosiers lived in fear of the flu in 1918, as did a great deal of the nation. The Spanish Flu entered the Hoosier state in September of 1918. By the 20th of that month the flu outbreaks were on the radar of public health officials in Evansville. The Spanish flu spread fast and by the 25th of September it had made it’s way to the capitol of Indianapolis. In early October of that year all of Indiana counties were reporting outbreaks of the deadly Spanish flu.
The State Board of Health went on the offensive, looking to other states that had dealt with the outbreak for inspiration. Local county health departments were issued measures that city officials were expected to enforce to stop the spread of the Spanish flu. Some of these measures may seem odd to us in their simplicity; but town officials in most places had a very limited arsenal when it came to controlling outbreaks.
People who did not wear masks were not allowed on public transportation.
Source: Wikimendia Public Domai
When Not Covering Your Mouth When You Coughed Became A Crime
Ordinances requiring that you hold a handkerchief over your mouth when coughing were common. People who had runny noses were asked to leave public meetings. In mid October it was evident that ordinances aimed at possibly ill individuals; would do little to protect the public from the deadly flu. Most cities and towns banned large public meetings. Public officials closed churches and schools. Even large gathering for funerals for the latest flu victims were banned. Mendenhall's Fever and Chill Tonic and Dr. Jones's Liniment flew off the selves of apothecaries. Herbalist who had been deemed quacks by a public increasingly were suddenly in demand.
One in Five Hoosier Flu Victims Died
At the heights of the epidemic over 12% of Hoosiers had contracted the flu. There were very few households that were not affected. The Spanish flu was different from other flu, that many times took the very young and very old. Healthy young adults many times died of the flu within three days of it’s initial onset. Out of 50,000 reported cases of flu in Indiana in 1918 almost 10,000 Hoosiers died.
A one in five mortality rate was a tragedy that would haunt Hoosier families for generations. It spurred public health officials to see pandemics outside of those slower moving ones like sexually transmitted disease and tuberculosis as a public priority. The flu of 1918 led to practical laws being passed to slow future outbreaks common viral diseases. People traveled much greater distances by the early 20th century; and cities were more populous then in the Victorian times. The counrty had always had outbreaks of thingslike yellow fever. Wabash Fever had devastated settlements in the Hoosier state. Yet the Spanish Flu,was the first pandemic that had been so fast moving or deadly to the country.
The solid line is for 1918 flu deaths
Source: Public Domain Wikimedia Commonsebay
There is an excellent online resource to learn about how the Spanish Flu impacted the lives of everyday Americans. It was developed by the Centers for Disease Control to help Americans and public health workers to keep in mind how important national programs encouraging flu shots are. The Influenza Storybook has the personal accounts of flu survivors and their families. It helps put a very personal face on flu outbreaks. The site also includes interview with victims of the 1957 flu outbreak.
My grandfather was in college at Dartmouth in 1918, and his mother so feared that he would become ill and die far from home she made him return to Ohio. The flu impacted almost all Americans who were already disheartened by the horrors of modern warfare. In the world of mustard gas and deadly flu that took so many of our young people; the optimism that had driven many Americans toward progressive ideals faded. Young folks now knew life was short and to be enjoyed and they would soon roar into the 1920’s with death of destruction of the past drowned out by a few stiff shots of bathtub gin.
http://1918.pandemicflu.gov/your_state/indiana.htm Information on Indianapolis ordinances to deal with 1918 flu and the effect of the state overall.
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/storybook/introduction/index.html: Individual accounts of survivors of the 1918 flu.
