Governors nationwide have moved to reopen their states, even as the coronavirus crisis continues to grow. This impulse has a precedent: it’s what many towns, including Richmond, Virginia, did during the 1918 flu — a global health crisis that killed more than 50 million people worldwide, and more Americans than all 20th- and 21st-century wars combined. This special segment, offers a snapshot view of Richmond’s experience with the 1918 flu. A 24 year-old soldier — a budding playwright who supported women's suffrage — dies just days after getting a promotion. An African American leader successfully lobbies the governor to provide resources to care for African American patients, who were being treated in a windowless basement. A city health official wavers over when to re-open the city, and then, under pressure, does so too soon.
1918 Flu Pandemic
1918 Flu Pandemic
Despite its name, some have argued that the Spanish Flu actually originated in Kansas. Whether or not they're right, there's no doubt that the epidemic took a terrible toll in the U.S., leaving an estimated 675 thousand Americans dead. This exhibit explores the epidemic's impact in 1918-19, and the way it's been remembered in the years since.
Soldiers and Crowds
View Connections04Caring for the Sick
View Connections14Public Health Responses
View Connections201918 Flu Pandemic
Public Health Responses
A Public Calamity
The ways that authorities in Richmond, Virginia, responded to the 1918 Flu offer a lens onto what – and who – was most valued by those in power there.News and Information
View Connections04Disparate Impacts
View Connections06Cultural Depictions
View Connections06Lessons Learned?
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