The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and its Local Impact

Wilmington is believed to be the first city in North Carolina hit by the infamous wave of "Spanish Flu" influenza in 1918. Its carrier likely contracted it from a ship in the port sometime before Sept. 19 that year. At the time, the city of around 30,000 people was a manufacturing hub for shipbuilding and a supplier of both wartime materials and young military personnel – all sent to various parts of the world during WW I. [1, 2]

A concrete ship is launched from Wilmington's Liberty Shipyard at the foot of Greenfield Street in 1919. The two ships built there as part of the war effort were launched sideways into the Cape Fear River. The concrete ships soon sank. Photo: NHCPL.

​William A. Wright was the first local victim of Spanish flu, dying on Sept. 21 just a few days after contracting it. The 29-year-old was described in the news as a popular man who left behind a widow and two sons. This virus was called Spanish Flu not because it originated on the Iberian Peninsula, but because Spain remained neutral in World War I, and unlike the Allied Powers and the Central Powers engaged in war, did not suppress the information about the disease.

This hadn’t been the first time a crippling epidemic had snuck into Wilmington under the distraction of war. An epidemic of yellow fever in the fall of 1862 had claimed more than 650 lives in Wilmington while the Civil War raged across the country. John D. Bellamy, his wife and nine children escaped the ravages of the epidemic by leaving town and taking refuge some 90 miles northwest in the town of Floral College. During the Spanish Flu pandemic, the Bellamy family members still living in 1918 -- daughters Eliza and Ellen and sons John, George and Robert -- survived again through that deadly outbreak.

Beyond Wilmington the Spanish Flu (a.k.a. La Grippe), first appeared on American soil in March of 1918 at the US army base of Fort Riley, Kansas. Within five weeks, 1,000 men were infected and 47 were dead. One “preventive measure” as seen in the image above was gargling with salt water.  With no vaccine to protect against the virus, people were urged to isolate, quarantine, practice good personal hygiene, limit social interaction, and wear masks.
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The worst outbreak of the entire pandemic for any U.S. city occurred in Philadelphia. A massive outdoor parade with an estimated attendance of 200,000 had been scheduled to take place on September 28, 1918, to promote the sale of war bonds to the public in support of The Great War. The city’s health director, Wilmer Krusen, refused pleas from medical professionals to cancel the parade, and thousands lined the parade route.

The consequence: 20,000 died in Philadelphia. Deaths mounted so quickly that even burials in mass graves dug by steam shovels weren't quick enough to avoid bodies decomposing in the streets. Families that could find cold storage units waited weeks for undertakers to prepare for funerals. 

The virus was indiscriminate, so all suffered. This included the rich and well-known, as noted in a New York Times article on September 20, 1918:
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“F. D. Roosevelt, Spanish Grippe Victim, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Stricken with Influenza on Shipboard Taken to Mother’s House."
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who has been abroad for two months, arrived in New York yesterday and taken to the home of his mother, Mrs. James Roosevelt, suffering from a slight attack of pneumonia caused by the Spanish Influenza which he contracted on the ship. Mrs. Roosevelt said last night that Mr. Roosevelt was progressing favorably, but it would be several days before he would be able to go to Washington.”

The Leviathan was a WW I troop transporter between New York and France. A fateful voyage on September 29, 1918 resulted in 80 crew members who died from the Spanish Flu while in transit and 2,000 more sickened, including the young Franklin D. Roosevelt. Among the crew as well was Chief Quartermaster Humphrey Bogart!

America would see a flattening in the number of cases after October of 1918, but a second wave during the winter of 1918-1919 resurfaced. When the disease finally abated in 1920, 675,000 Americans lay dead from the influenza, and it is estimated that 50 million died worldwide. The number of North Carolinians was 13,700.

With no clear-cut knowledge of how the flu spread other than being in close contact with individuals, alerts like this one on a Philadelphia streetcar warned of the dangers of spitting.

Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call

The aftermath: World War I ("The Great War") and the Spanish Influenza turned 1920s America inward toward isolationism. Despite pushing for a League of Nations, the United States did not join. Citizens became fearful of the world and what the world seemed to offer - including ideologies like bolshevism and communism. America First rose as a new motto.

The 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote passed, but misogynistic comments didn't disappear in this jazz age … “Bobbed hair! Painted faces! Smoking cigarettes! Hemlines at the knee! Wearing brassieres! Having jobs outside the home! All sure signs of a harlot!” That recently won right of women’s suffrage, to some, was abhorrent. [3]
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Returning African-American soldiers who fought to liberate Europe, now sought to continue their fight for equal rights as American citizens. They were faced with continued federal and state sanctioned government discrimination and Jim Crow Laws, coupled with the exploding growth of the Ku Klux Klan to deny Blacks these inalienable rights. As the decade of the roaring 1920s moved forward, America looked backward to what some believed were the good old days. [4]

Prepared by Wade Toth, Bellamy Mansion Museum Volunteer Committee Chair, during the COVID-19 pandemic (with updates). Original publish date: August 2020.
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Pandemic notes: 
The word quarantine — which means restricting the movement of people or goods — is rooted in the Latin word for “forty days,” a reference to preventative measures taken in Venice during the Middle Ages to stop the spread of the bubonic plague. Ships arriving from areas affected by the “Black Death” were required to anchor for 40 days before the crew could disembark. Centuries later, hundreds of Wilmingtonians were dropping dead from a yellow fever epidemic in 1862, also referred to as the "Black Death."   Both yellow fever and the bubonic plague were infectious diseases spread by bites from two different infected insects (mosquitos vs fleas). Blackened tissue due to gangrene was caused by the bubonic plague while black vomit resulting from internal bleeding was caused by yellow fever, hence the homonym. Learn more about the 1862 yellow fever epidemic here: 
a-scope-into-the-speculation-wilmingtons-yellow-fever-epidemic-of-1862

Prior to the 1850s, most people blamed foul odors ("miasma") and evil spirits for spreading disease. It was not until the second Industrial Revolution in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries that indoor plumbing and sewer systems were becoming increasingly common as advances in microscopy confirmed that microorganisms are passed person-to-person and through contaminated drinking water. Before then, it was typical for raw sewage to flow out of buildings and directly onto city streets. It is believed that John D. Bellamy's son Chesley,  who died while still in college approaching his 22nd birthday, succumbed to viral encephalitis likely stemming from the consumption of contaminated water.

Infectious diseases like typhoid, cholera, tuberculosis, polio, the Spanish flu and, more recently, COVID-19 have had a major impact on the way we live. Today, we take for granted running water and flush toilets, but do you know why homes are built with half-bathrooms, typically referred to as the "powder" room? The latter term originated in the 17th century when aristocratic citizens would use a private space to freshen their wigs. Wigs were often made of real human hair and required regular "powderings" to maintain their appearance. In the early 20th century, as the importance of hand washing to prevent the spread of diseases became well known, these “powder rooms” offered a place for guests to wash their hands as they entered a home, and also for delivery workers dropping off items like milk, coal, and ice to wash up.

Sources: [1] Building Ships for Government, Sept. 2017. NC Dept. of Cultural and Natural resources. https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2017/09/21/building-ships-government
[2] World War I Left Enduring mark on Southeastern NC, Oct. 2013. Star News/Wilbur D. Jones. https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2014/10/30/world-war-i-left-enduring-mark-on-southeastern-nc/30970559007/
[3] National Association Opposed to Women's Suffrage. National Women's History Museum.  https://www.crusadeforthevote.org/naows-opposition/
[4] An Anatomy of Isolationism. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/excerpt-isolationism