Lesson from History

Pandemic, 1918

The 1918 pandemic “Spanish” influenza originated in Kansas. In March 1918, the first cases were reported at Camp Funston, Fort Riley, Kansas. By fall 1918, the virus had mutated and returned to Kansas. In early October, Dr. Samuel J. Crumbine, secretary of the Kansas State Board of Health, advised the governor to issue a proclamation closing schools, churches, theaters, dances and public meetings, and limiting the number of people allowed in stores at one time. 

Emergency influenza hospital at Camp Funston, 1918

The closing order was originally scheduled to last until mid-October, but in many places it was extended until the middle of November. Schools posted homework assignments in post offices and published them in local papers. Ministers published their Sunday sermons in newspapers instead of delivering them from the pulpit. The ban disrupted elections on Nov. 4, 1918. 

When the state ban was lifted, some areas decided to lift local bans. Almost at once, the number of influenza cases began to rise, especially in rural areas. In states where no closings occurred, infection rates were higher than in Kansas. 

Dr. Crumbine was known as a pioneer of public health, sponsoring campaigns to “swat the fly,” to ban public drinking cups and roller towels, and to convince brick makers to imprint his anti-tuberculosis slogan on their bricks: “Don’t spit on the sidewalk.” 

Sources:

Johnson, Judith R., “Kansas in the Grippe,” Kansas History, Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 1992

Kansas Historical Society, Kansapedia

(Research for an article for the April 2020 issue of “Yesteryears”)