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Red Cross workers make anti-influenza masks for soldiers, Boston, Massachusetts. (National Archives Identifier 45499341)

Online Exhibit
The Deadly Virus: The Influenza Epidemic of 1918
A selection of photographs and documents from the National Archives' nationwide holdings tell the story of the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Photographs

(Click image to view 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 National Archives in Washington, DC, on March 5, 2019.

Archival Film

Nurses make bandages for flu epidemic (stock newsreel footage from CBS)

Blogs and Social Media Posts

Forward with Roosevelt: One of the Millions: FDR and the Flu Pandemic of 1918-1920

Text Message: The "Spanish Flu" Pandemic of 1918-1919: A Death in Philadelphia

Pieces of History: Influenza Epidemic 1918-"Wear a mask and save your life"

Pieces of History: Gesundheit!

Unwritten Record: The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Today's Document: Precautions Against Influenza

Tumblr: 1918 to COVID-19

Tumblr: Influenza Epidemic 1918-"Wear a mask and save your life"

For Educators

Influenza Directive from DC re: treatment and procedures , 9/26/1918

Influenza Prophylaxis Memo from Third Naval District Medical Officer

Documents Related to the Flu Pandemic of 1918

Memo Re: Sanitary Precautions, 9/12/1918

Additional primary sources and educational resources from DocsTeach

At the Presidential Libraries

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

Ford Library: Remarks Upon the Signing of National Swine Flu Immunization Program of 1976

Ford Library: President Asks Congress for $135 Million for Swine Flu VaccineFord Library: Fact Sheet on Swine Influenza Immunization Program

George W. Bush Library: Pandemic Flu: Preparing and Protecting against Avian Influenza

Barack Obama Library: Declaration of Nat'l Emergency - 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic

Barack Obama Library: Press Briefing On Swine Influenza
National Archives COVID-19 Updates
Posts Related to COVID-19

AOTUS Blog: National Archives Operations During COVID-19: Mission Critical Functions Continue

AOTUS Blog: National Archives Donates Protective Gear for COVID-19 Response

National Archives News: National Personnel Records Center Continues Serving Veterans During COVID-19 Pandemic

National Archives News: National Archives Donates Protective Gear for COVID-19 Response

Office of the Federal Register: COVID-19 Procedures

Press Release: Information on NHPRC and COVID-19

Records Management: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Records Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Red Cross workers make anti-influenza masks for soldiers, Boston, Massachusetts. (National Archives Identifier 45499341) Before COVID-19, the most severe pandemic in recent history was the 1918 influenza virus, often called "the Spanish Flu." The virus infected roughly 500 million people-one-third of the world's population-and caused 50 million deaths worldwide (double the number of deaths in World War I).

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The Red Cross and their role in helping aid during the flu pandemic of 1918.

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The Red Cross and their role in helping aid during the flu pandemic of 1918.

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In 1918, the United States faced one of the worst public health challenges in its history. An influenza pandemic - also known as the Spanish flu - infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide, killing 20-50 million people, including hundreds of thousands of Americans.

In response to that crisis, the American Red Cross mobilized countless Americans to assist their fellow citizens. Historical primary sources provide examples of civic virtue -that is, of citizens dedicating themselves to the common welfare, even at the cost of their own interests. By examining such sources, students can reflect on how civic virtue was practiced in the past, and how the concept might apply today.

Introduce students to the Spanish flu by asking them to examine this image of masked men near a Seattle street car.

As they produce observations, reflections, and questions, students may note the face masks and speculate that they are related to an infectious disease. They may wonder why the conductor is holding up his hand or what he is saying to the others. Introduce the caption and invite students to wonder about the extent of volunteer activities led by the Red Cross.

Next, divide students into groups and invite them to analyze an additional source, responding to the focus question: "How did U.S. citizens serve their communities during the Spanish flu?" Some possible sources include:

Each group can then report their findings to the class. Then, point out that the American Red Cross was supported by the government with a mandate to provide public service, but managed privately, as it is today. Ask students to read the article " Red Cross Activities " and list reasons the article gives as to why the Red Cross handled the relief work described, such as their ability to mobilize volunteers and raise funds quickly, while giving citizens an opportunity to act upon their naturally philanthropic impulses.

Conclude by asking students to reflect on how government, voluntary organizations, and citizens worked together to tackle community problems in the past. What lessons about civic virtue emerge? How can these lessons be applied to their own role as citizens?

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Pandemic and Civic Virtue: The American Red Cross and the Influenza Pandemic of 1918

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Historical primary sources provide examples of civic virtue--that is, of citizens dedicating themselves to the common welfare, even at the cost of their own interests. By examining such sources, students can reflect on how civic virtue was practiced in the past, and how the concept might apply today.

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How did they care for the dead and the dying?

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How did they care for the dead and the dying?

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"Please, Let Me Put Him in a Macaroni Box" The Spanish Influenza of 1918 in Philadelphia

In 1918 and 1919 the Spanish influenza killed more humans than any other disease in a similar period in the history of the world. In the United States a quarter of the population (25 million people or more) contracted the flu; 550,000 died. In the early 1980s, when historian Charles Hardy did interviews for the Philadelphia radio program "The Influenza Pandemic of 1918," he was struck by the painful memories as many older Philadelphians recalled the inability of the city to care for the dead and dying. In these excerpts from Hardy's radio program, Clifford Adams, an African American from the South; Anna Lavin, a Jewish immigrant; Anne Van Dyke and Elizabeth Struchesky; and Louise Abruchezze, an Italian immigrant, discussed their shared experience in Philadelphia-shocked by the scale of the influenza outbreak, none could fathom the lack of respect shown for those who had died.

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Clifford Adams: They were stacked up in the cemetery and they couldn't bury them. I was living on 31st St. then. And that was a two-way street then, you know, and it's one-way now. But people that died over this way had to be buried over this way and they used to have a funeral procession coming this way. And they used to be crossing. You had, they had to come to this bridge, coming one way or the other. And people would be there. And I would be layin' in there and I says, I looked out the window and says, "There are two funeral processions. One going one way and one going the other way meeting like that." And that's the way it was. There wasn't a lot of comforts in those days. But it didn't worry me. I was taking care of myself. What I mean, I wasn't thinking about it. I wasn't knowing whether I was going to die or what. I was just figuring it's got me, and eveything else is going on.

Anna Lavin: The undertaker just ran, I don't know how many, into their wagon and took them to the cemetery and that was it and had to dig your own grave. I mean, the families had to dig their own graves. Grave diggers were sick and that was the terrible thing.

Anne Van Dyke: They didn't even bury the people. They found them stuck in garages and everything.

Elizabeth: Yes, oh, it was terrible, the flu.

Van Dyke: You had to go, my mother went and shaved the men and laid them out, thinking that they were going to be buried, you know. They wouldn't bury 'em. They had so many died that they keep putting them in garages. That garage on Richmond Street. Oh, my gosh, he had a couple of garages full of caskets.

Charlie Hardy: Full of bodies?

Elizabeth: Bodies! On Thompson and Allegheny, Schedpa. He used to get the people and take them out and pile them in the garage. And people smelled something and they notified him. There he'd take the people out of the coffin and put them in the garage and give the coffin to somebody else and got paid for it. He lost his license and all. The smell would knock you, it would run down through the alley, so they caught up with him. People used to die. Oh, they used to die. It was an awful disease.

Louise Apuchase: We were the only family saved from the influenza. The rest of the neighbors all were sick. Now I remember so well, very well, directly across the street from us, a boy about 7, 8 years old died and they used to just pick you up and wrap you up in a sheet and put you in a patrol wagon. So the mother and father screaming. "Let me get a macaroni box." Before, macaroni, any kind of pasta used to come in these wooden boxes about this long and that high, that 20 lbs. of macaroni fitted in the box. "Please, please, let me put him in the macaroni box. Let me put him in the box. Don't take him away like that." And that was it. My mother had given birth to my youngest sister at the time and then, thank God, you know, we survived. But they were taking people out left and right. And the undertaker would pile them up and put them in the patrol wagons and take them away.

Source: Interview done by Charles Hardy for WHYY-FM radio program The Influenza Pandemic of 1918, Philadelphia, 1984. Courtesy of Charles Hardy, West Chester University.

See Also:"He'll Come Home in a Box": The Spanish Influenza of 1918 Comes to Montana
"There Wasn't a Mine Runnin' a Lump O' Coal": A Kentucky Coal Miner Remembers the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919

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"Please, Let Me Put Him in a Macaroni Box" The Spanish Influenza of 1918 in Philadelphia

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In 1918 and 1919 the Spanish influenza killed more humans than any other disease in a similar period in the history of the world. In the United States a quarter of the population (25 million people or more) contracted the flu; 550,000 died.

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Survivors share their recollections of the 1918 pandemic

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Survivors share their recollections of the 1918 pandemic

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The staggering statistics associated with pandemics sometime makes it difficult to remember that each number represents a single, human life. In this section, several survivors share their intimate recollections of either their own illness or that of a loved one. All these storytellers are 90-plus years of age and they have carried with them for a lifetime their memories of the 1918 flu pandemic.

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I Survived, The staggering statistics associated with pandemics sometimes makes it difficult to remember that each number represents a single, human life. In this section, survivors share their intimate recollections of either their own illness or that of a loved one.

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Letter from a nurse sharing her experiences 

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Letter from a nurse sharing her experiences 

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Video: What was the 1918 Influenza Pandemic?

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Video: What was the 1918 Influenza Pandemic?

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In all recorded history, no single event has taken as many lives as the 1918 influenza pandemic. The "Spanish flu" swept through crowded cities, small towns, and soldiers' camps alike, then started to fade from public consciousness as its victims either died or recovered. Like all influenza viruses, the 1918 influenza virus was particularly deadly to babies and the elderly-but this virus also killed a disproportionate number of people between the ages of 20 and 40 years.

What made the 1918 influenza pandemic so deadly? In a new video, Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger, senior investigator in NIAID's Viral Pathogenesis and Evolution Section, and Dr. David Morens, senior scientific advisor to the NIAID director, explain how the influenza virus killed its victims and what scientists have learned from reconstructing it from preserved tissue.

Want to hear more from Dr. Taubenberger about why he studies the 1918 pandemic? Watch more of NIAID Now's interview with him here.

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Video: What Was the 1918 Influenza Pandemic?

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In all recorded history, no single event has taken as many lives as the 1918 influenza pandemic. The "Spanish flu" swept through crowded cities, small towns, and soldiers' camps alike, then started to fade from public consciousness as its victims either died or recovered.

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Images
Primary Source Spotlight: Influenza - Citizen U Primary Source Nexus

primarysourcenexus.org

Images may be subject to copyright.

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Please click here if you are not redirected within a few seconds. Images Primary Source Spotlight: Influenza - Citizen U Primary Source Nexus primarysourcenexus.org Images may be subject to copyright.

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How they flattened the curve during the 1918 Spanish Flu

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Social distancing isn’t a new idea—it saved thousands of American lives during the last great pandemic. Here’s how it worked.

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Map image and timeline on the rapid spread of the virus in the US.

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Map image and timeline on the rapid spread of the virus in the US.

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675,000 Americans died
* The 1918 influenza virus killed more than 20 million people worldwide.

* Although the disease that caused the worldwide epidemic was called the "Spanish flu," the virus apparently is a mutation that evolved in American pigs and was spread around the globe by U.S. troops mobilized for World War I.

* In the two years that the epidemic ravaged the earth, one-fifth of the world's population was infected. The flu was most deadly for people ages 20 to 40.

* An estimated 675,000 Americans died of influenza during the pandemic, 10 times as many as in the world war.

* Of the U.S. soldiers who died in Europe, one-half of them fell to the influenza virus and not the enemy.

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The American Experience | Influenza 1918 | Maps

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675,000 Americans died * The 1918 influenza virus killed more than 20 million people worldwide. * Although the disease that caused the worldwide epidemic was called the "Spanish flu," the virus apparently is a mutation that evolved in American pigs and was spread around the globe by U.S.