My Great Aunt Ella died in 1918. I
have never found a death certificate for her. She died in the Spanish influenza
pandemic. More than 350 people died in Milwaukee (Wisconsin). Apparently,
record keeping was also a casualty.
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| When Ella died, she left a year-old son, who became my godfather. |
The flu first struck sailors at the
Great Lakes Naval Training Station north of Chicago on September 11. Within a
week, 2,600 men were ill, but furloughs were still being granted. It didn’t
take long for the disease to spread to Milwaukee.
By September 21, the number of sick
in Milwaukee had risen to 100. Two days later, the first death occurred. The
city health commissioner encouraged everyone to avoid crowds and practice
personal care, such as avoiding kissing and handshakes.
War raged in Europe, and the Fourth
Liberty Loan Drive was scheduled that month. Milwaukeeans ignored the no-crowd
warning and staged a massive parade on the 28th. The flu found a
foothold and took off.
The city’s hospitals were taxed
beyond capacity. Compounding matters, most able-bodied physicians were away in
military service. The Milwaukee Auditorium was quickly converted into a
temporary isolation hospital.
The health commissioner adopted
extreme measures. All theaters, movie houses, and dance halls were closed until
further notice. The Milwaukee Sentinel
estimated the seven theaters and 68 motion picture houses lost $120,000 of
daily admissions, depriving the government of $18,000 daily in war taxes.
More closures came. Bowling alleys
and billiard halls, football games and boxing matches, political meetings and
department store sales were all banned. Anyone violating the orders could be
fined up to $100 a day. If they didn’t pay the fine, they could be imprisoned.
Churches and saloons were closed
with certain exceptions. Only near relatives could attend weddings and
funerals. The churches were open for private prayer as long as there were no
large crowds. Assembling in saloons was also not allowed. Customers came in,
bought a drink, and left.
Health care workers and caregivers
wore themselves out. Several nurses died. Idled teachers went door-to-door, and
created an accurate count of the sick. Six thousand official cases were
reported, but the commission estimated the actual count as high as 30,000.
The 1918 pandemic infected over 500 million people worldwide, and killed between 20-50 million, more than all the soldiers and civilians killed in World War I.
Today we are in another pandemic. Like
the Spanish Influenza, this too will pass.
Terri Wangard writes novels that entertain and enlighten. She is a
member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and has won and been a
finalist in various writing contests. Her latest book, Roll Back
the Clouds, featuring the Lusitania, released last month. When not
writing, she’s likely to be reading. Learn more at www.terriwangard.com
Founded by businessmen, financiers, and artists, The
Met received its articles of incorporation on April 13, 1870, with the museum
opening on February 20, 1872 in the Dodworth Building on Fifth Avenue. Railroad
executive John Taylor Johnston was the first president, perhaps prompted by the
fact that his personal art collection seeded the museum. Eight years later, the
museum had outgrown its location twice and moved to the current location. By
the early 20th Century, The Met was considered one of the greatest
art centers in the world.
Every organization needs a mascot, and The Met proudly
hosts “William” a 4,000+ year old statute of a hippopotamus as theirs. The
piece was gifted to the museum in 1917 by Edward S. Harkness, an American
philanthropist, whose father Stephen V. Harkness made his wealthy by an early
investment in Standard Oil. Discovered during the Khashaba excavations in Egypt
in 1910, the statue is nearly eight inches long, three inches wide, and four
and one-half inches tall. 
The fourth most visited museum in the world, The Met
hosted 7.3 million visitors in 2019. In addition to its main facility on Fifth
Avenue, The Cloisters is located in Fort Tryon Park and built using salvaged structures from five medieval French cloisters. Dedicated only to medieval art, the facility was completed in 1938 and filled with a collection originally assembled by George Gray Barnard and purchased in full by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1925 as a gift to the Met.
