By Emma G. Overton ’21
Editor-in-Chief and News Editor
We are all living through the current coronavirus pandemic, but in 1918, the influenza pandemic emerged as a serious health threat that was spread quickly by mass movements of troops for World War I. According to the CDC’s “Past Pandemics” website, “the vulnerability of healthy young adults and the lack of vaccines and treatments created a major public health crisis, causing at least 50 million deaths worldwide, including approximately 675,000 in the United States.” October 1918 was the month with the highest death toll, killing an estimated 195,000 Americans, according to the CDC. Similar to the current response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC noted that “Chicago, along with many other cities across the United States, close[d] theaters, movie houses, and night schools and prohibit[ed] public gatherings.”
In the November 1, 1918 Issue of the Stentor, the editorial board shared the following assessment of the pandemic’s effects on campus.
To view other archived Issues of the Stentor, visit https://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-lfc/Record/lfc_152281 for 1898-1921 and for 1887-1898 and 2003-present, visit https://publications.lakeforest.edu/stentor/
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The “FLU”
“Lake Forest College came out of the influenza epidemic most fortunately. This is probably the reason why little has been said about it and why few realize the extent of our good fortune. Out of twenty-five cases among the men, three of which developed into pneumonia, and five cases in Lois Durand Hall, there were no fatalities. This is doubtless due to the excellent and prompt care afforded in every case. The president’s house was vacated at the most opportune moment and turned into a temporary hospital to which all the men patients were moved and efficiently cared for. The girls were removed on the first sign of illness to the Contagious Hospital south of town. The whole campus was under a strict quarantine for two weeks, which gave many the opportunity of exploring the grounds thoroughly, and partially quarantined for nearly a month after. In a word, nothing was left undone by faculty or officers to insure the safety and comfort of every student in the College.”
