Community Chat

[Marp]

Familiar with the old saying that history repeats itself?  Well, if you have a few minutes and bit of curiosity you might find the linked article interesting.  I'll include a brief excerpt here.

In the late summer of 1918, the devastating second wave of the Spanish flu arrived on America’s shores. Carried by World War I doughboys returning home from Europe, the newly virulent virus spread first from Boston to New York and Philadelphia before traveling West to infect panicked populations from St. Louis to San Francisco.

Lacking a vaccine or even a known cause of the outbreak, mayors and city health officials were left to improvise. Should they close schools and ban all public gatherings? Should they require every citizen to wear a gauze face mask? Or would shutting down important financial centers in wartime be unpatriotic?

When it was all over, the Spanish flu killed an estimated 675,000 Americans among a staggering 20 to 50 million people worldwide. Certain U.S. cities fared far worse than others, though, and looking back more than a century later there’s evidence that the earliest and most well-organized responses slowed the spread of the disease—at least temporarily—while cities that dragged their feet or let down their guard paid a heavier price.

https://history.com/news/spanish-flu-pandemic-response-cities

[Bhvbum]

My grandmother died in the 1918 flu epidemic. It was a terrific hardship for my family and we heard all the stories.

That's why I have taken this flu epidemic very very seriously.  

[millieshops]

@MarpI still marvel that I never remember hearing about the 2018 pandemic until some time 40 or 50 years later.

The next time I remember adding to what I know came in early March.  My widowed BIL came to visit, bringing with him a section of his WSJournal and in that was an article about that 2018 pestilence and how various cities coped.  The info matches that which is in the link you provided, just written several weeks earlier.  

Now as I live through this pandemic, I can only wonder what historians will write about how our nation handled Covid-19.

[pitdakota]

Great article @Marp!

When we first went into the shutdown, our governor frequently showed the graph of Spanish flu curves of both St. Louis and Philadelphia during his daily briefts and discussed  the need for those of us in Ky  to be like St. Louis back during the Spanish flu epidemic.  He made the points frequently that those in St. Louis that took heed and took action quickly fared much better than Philadelphia.  

It speaks volumes that those that really acted quickly with a populace that complied had much better outcomes than other cities that didn't.  

[jeanlake]

Good article. I'm a beliver that WHAT WE RESIST, PERSISTS. Doesn't say much for our stubborn natures. 

Interesting -- Spanish Flu probably didn't begin in Spain. In Spain they called it the French Flu. First case in USA was a military base in Kansas. 

[Drythe]

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

     ~ Santayana

I like to think we can learn from our past.

[SoX]

"Exceptional times require exceptional leadership" ... we didn't have it then ... we don't have it now.

[PA Mom-mom]

@Marp  Our town was on the rail line from Philadelphia and, we seem to have taken very serious measures with masks and social distancing (according to newspaper archives). However, we were hit hard. I think it may have been similar circumstances as today. People just didn't follow the directives.

[Laura14]

My aunt who just passed from Covid lost some of her childhood siblings to the Spanish flu.  How's that for full circle?  

[patbz]

@millieshops : Do you mean 1918 pandemic? I'm confused because you stated "2018" twice.