My grandmother's sister also died in the flu epidemic, and she died in February 1920 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I had questioned her 1920 death as part of the flu epidemic, since most references talk about the flu epidemic of 1918, but indeed there were various "waves" of this lethal flu, extending into 1920. There are numerous and fascinating books on the flu epidemic of 1918, and PBS has a wonderful video about it as well. Here is some information on the books and video that I've read/watched: (Just do a Google search on any of these titles to find and buy them) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- Americas Forgotten Pandemic : The Influenza of 1918 by Authors: Alfred W. Crosby Released: 21 July, 2003 ISBN: 0521541751 Paperback "Between August 1918 and March 1919 the Spanish influenza spread worldwide, claiming over 25 million lives - more people than perished in the fighting of the First World War. It proved fatal to at least a half-million Americans. Yet, the Spanish flu pandemic is largely forgotten today. In this vivid narrative, Alfred W. Crosby recounts the course of the pandemic during the panic-stricken months of 1918 and 1919, measures its impact on American society, and probes the curious loss of national memory of this cataclysmic event. In a new edition, with a new preface discussing the recent outbreaks of diseases, including the Asian flu and the SARS epidemic, America's Forgotten Pandemic remains both prescient and relevant." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History by John M. Barry; Hardcover "In 1918, a plague swept across the world virtually without warning, killing healthy young adults as well as vulnerable infants and the elderly. Hospitals and morgues were quickly overwhelmed; in Philadelphia, 4,597 people died in one week alone and bodies piled up on the streets to be carted off to mass graves. But this was not the dreaded Black Death-it was "only influenza." In this sweeping history, Barry (Rising Tide) explores how the deadly confluence of biology (a swiftly mutating flu virus that can pass between animals and humans) and politics (President Wilson's all-out war effort in WWI) created conditions in which the virus thrived, killing more than 50 million worldwide and perhaps as many as 100 million in just a year. Overcrowded military camps and wide-ranging troop deployments allowed the highly contagious flu to spread quickly; transport ships became "floating caskets." Yet the U.S. government refused to shift priorities away from the war and, in effect, ignored the crisis. Shortages of doctors and nurses hurt military and civilian populations alike, and the ineptitude of public health officials exacerbated the death toll. In Philadelphia, the hardest-hit municipality in the U.S., "the entire city government had done nothing" to either contain the disease or assist afflicted families. Instead, official lies and misinformation, Barry argues, created a climate of "fear... [that] threatened to break the society apart." Barry captures the sense of panic and despair that overwhelmed stricken communities and hits hard at those who failed to use their power to protect the public good. He also describes the work of the dedicated researchers who rushed to find the cause of the disease and create vaccines. Flu shots are widely available today because of their heroic efforts, yet we remain vulnerable to a virus that can mutate to a deadly strain without warning. Society's ability to survive another devastating flu pandemic, Barry argues, is as much a political question as a medical one." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- American Experience, The: Influenza 1918 (VHS) Item no: AMER905 www.ShopPBS.org "In the spring of 1918, as the nation mobilized for war, Private Albert Gitchell reported to an Army hospital in Kansas. He was diagnosed with the flu, a disease doctors knew little about. Before the year ended, America was ravaged by a flu epidemic that killed 675,000 people, young and old, more than in all the wars of this century combined. The disease then disappeared as mysteriously as it began." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- Hope this helps ! Sue Perry Ann Arbor, Michigan ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- From: "Art Clark" <aclar@ncmc.cc.mi.us> To: <MI-GENEALOGY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 10:37 PM Subject: Flu > Patricia : > I am quite sure it was the year 1918 . Anyone that is interested in > burial records for Emmet Co. . I recently purchased a complete set . Oct. > 2004 of the records from the Greenwood Cemetary here in Petoskey, Mi . It > includes all of the county . Hopefully I will have time to look up what > anyone would want from here . Approx. 2000 pages printed both sides . > aclar@ncmc.cc.mi.us . Arthur , Hope this is someones answer. > > > Thanks Marlene, ----- Original Message ----- From: <Saginawsue@aol.com> To: <MI-GENEALOGY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 10:19 PM Subject: Flu > The flu that struck all around the United States in 1918-19 was a world wide > pandemic and killed millions. > > Mary Sue ----- Original Message ----- From: <Patforshort@aol.com> To: <MI-GENEALOGY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 9:34 PM Subject: Flu > Thanks Marlene, > > For all I know it could have been. I'll need to do more digging. Maybe > someone in Michigan can come up with a good time frame. I have looked on the > Michigan web site, but nothing was said about the flu epidemic in their history of > events. > > Patricia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pamela Schaberg" <pamscha@earthlink.net> To: <MI-GENEALOGY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 8:11 PM Subject: MARVIN > My grandfather and a young uncle died about 5 days apart during the Soanish > flu epidemic in 1920. This was in Saginaw Co., Michigan. Pam S. in > Michigan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nancy Keith" <keithnancy@t-one.net> To: <MI-GENEALOGY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 8:05 PM Subject: MARVIN > That flu epidemic killed people all over the nation - probably outside > the U S, too. My dad described people actually dropping dead in the > streets, and that was in Tennessee. I think that you can go into any U > S cemetery and find whole families dying in 1917-18. It was really > scary and so very sad. There was nothing that they could do about it. > > Nancy ----- Original Message ----- From: <MMoodygma@aol.com> To: <MI-GENEALOGY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 7:19 PM Subject: MARVIN > Patricia, > > About the timing of the flu epidemic in Michigan--I'm wondering if it was > around the same time as the flu that killed many people in Iowa, which I > believe was around 1918. > Marlene