"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Friday, May 01, 2009

Letter Reveals Much About 1918 Flu Pandemic

Rather than look at today’s version of a flu pandemic, which involves hundreds of cases at most, I wanted to find out what it was like to live during the influenza outbreak of 1918 when 50 million people around the world died. A visit to the National Archives produced a letter written by a volunteer nurse to her friend at the Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, Oct. 17, 1918.

Along with several photos from the era, I’ve reprinted the text of that letter here. [Note: The content of this letter will surprise you -- guaranteed!]

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