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The Flu Pandemic of 1918

Red Cross workers make masks

Red Cross workers make anti-influenza masks for soldiers, Boston, Massachusetts. (ΝώΔαΛΉΘΛΣιΐΦ³‘ Identifier )

Before COVID-19, the most severe pandemic in recent history was the 1918 influenza virus, often called β€œthe Spanish Flu.” The virus infected roughly 500 million peopleβ€”one-third of the world’s populationβ€”and caused  50 million deaths worldwide (double the number of deaths in World War I). In the United States, a quarter of the population caught the virus, 675,000 died, and life expectancy dropped by 12 years. With no vaccine to protect against the virus, people were urged to isolate, quarantine, practice good personal hygiene, and limit social interaction.

Until February 2020, the 1918 epidemic was largely overlooked in the teaching of American history, despite the ample documentation at the ΝώΔαΛΉΘΛΣιΐΦ³‘ and elsewhere of the disease and its devastation. The 100-year-old pictures from 1918 that just months ago seemed quaint and dated now seem oddly prescient. We make these records more widely available in hopes that they contain lessons about what to expect over the coming months and ideas about ways to avoid a repeat and prepare for what may follow.

Online Exhibit

Masked mailman in 1918The Deadly Virus: The Influenza Epidemic of 1918

A selection of photographs and documents from the ΝώΔαΛΉΘΛΣιΐΦ³‘' nationwide holdings tell the story of the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Photographs

(Click image to view gallery)

Media Gallery

Additional Photographs

Author Lecture

Dr. Jeremy Brown, Director of Emergency Care Research, National Institutes of Health, spoke about his book Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History, at the ΝώΔαΛΉΘΛΣιΐΦ³‘ in Washington, DC, on March 5, 2019.

Archival Film

(stock newsreel footage from CBS)

Blogs and Social Media Posts

Forward with Roosevelt:

Text Message: 

Pieces of History: 

Pieces of History:

Pieces of History:

Unwritten Record:

Today's Document:

Tumblr:

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For Educators

 

 from DocsTeach

At the Presidential Libraries

Truman Library: , referencing the influenza epidemic, and expressing relief that Bess has recovered from it.

Ford Library: 

Ford Library: Ford Library: 

George W. Bush Library: 

Barack Obama Library: 

Barack Obama Library: 

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