HAVE WE been here before?
One hundred and two years ago, a deadly pandemic swept the nation, called “Spanish Flu” or “The Grip.” It arrived in Omaha in the fall, showing up first in the close quarters of military encampments, and pouring out across the rest of Nebraska. Hundreds of thousands were ultimately afflicted, as communities scrambled to stop the spread of the virus and care for the sick. Worse yet, the virus hit while the country was embroiled in the First World War and the economy, community resources, and labor force were already stretched thin.
Now, with arrival of a new and deadly virus in our home state, we take a glimpse back at how Nebraska dealt with a similar threat in a different era. This is a comparative retrospective on Nebraska’s 1918 influenza epidemic, in images and headlines.
As the virus began to claim its first local victims, newspapers gave wildly different accounts of the severity and necessary precautions:
These headlines ran side-by-side in a large Omaha newspaper as the rate of cases began their first rapid climb in Nebraska.
The full force of the virus was felt here in October 1918, arriving in most Nebraska communities over the course of a few weeks. Social calendars and announcements quickly became a roll of the sick members of high society.
“The disease is in an especially virulent form and immediate and direct methods must be adopted to combat its spread if the health and life of our people are to be conserved.”
Headlines and Public Notices (click to view full clippings):
City Takes Step to Prevent Any Epidemic Here
Statewide Health Orders, as published in the Alliance Herald
Spanish Influenza is Epidemic Here
Reporting on closures of schools and universities. Though not mentioned among these, references in other contemporary articles indicate the University of Nebraska closed the week of October 7, 1918.
30,721 Cases of "Flu" Reported in the State
The Omaha World Herald’s coverage of illness rates around the country, via its wire service.
Many Omahans found ways to safely comply with quarantines, closures, and a ban on indoor gatherings:
Outdoor mass held at St. Cecilia’s Cathedral.
The epidemic coincided with World War One, which was used as an opportunity to malign America’s military foes. Commentators suggested naming the illness after the Germans, and masked health officials were compared to Ottoman Turks.
Opportunists sought to profit from the epidemic by marketing their goods to panic-buyers.
For much of the time during Omaha’s initial quarantine orders, Council Bluffs remained open and actively encouraged those in Eastern Nebraska to cross the river to avoid restrictions on public gatherings.
YET WE made it through
Despite misreported news, conflicting expert opinions, profiteers, and those skirting quarantines—most Nebraskans dutifully complied with public health orders and the community recovered. The worst stretch of the illness in Nebraska lasted from October through December 1918, and restrictions were slowly lifted and phased out over many more months. Although the virus ultimately claimed thousands of Nebraskan lives, the concerted effort of many in the community prevented an even worse outcome. It will never be known how many lives were saved thanks to volunteers and medical professionals who worked tirelessly across the state, helping the sick receive care, the poor remain fed, and the community remain safe. This largely thankless work is often forgotten by history.
A group of masked Red Cross volunteers, calling themselves the “Feminine Banditti” went into the community to check on the sick, take donations, and recruit volunteers to receive nursing training. Some of these women had worked as medics near the front lines the World War. Their names were not reported.
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All sources on this page were taken from Newspapers with a local circulation in Nebraska, published between September 1918 and July 1919. A full bibliography is available upon request to any reader.