The Role of Women and the Flu Pandemic of 1918

By, Annie Jones

 

The 1918 influenza pandemic is commonly known as the Spanish Flu, even though the virus did not originate in Spain.  During WWI, Spain was a neutral country and therefore was allowed to publish information and news updates about the pandemic freely. 

The war unfortunately contributed to the rapid spread of the virus since soldiers would live and train in close quarters with each other and then travel to other places where the infection would spread.  In fact, the Spanish flu (or H1N1) is estimated to have killed at least 50 million people, 675,000 in the United States alone. 

Alfred Crosby’s The Forgotten Pandemic was published in 1975 and gave the first comprehensive historical account of the H1N1 outbreak.  The caregivers during the epidemic were mostly women due to the shortage of labor who went to work as nurses to provide palliative care to the sick.  The efforts of these women went largely unhailed.  Because there were no pharmaceutical interventions that could treat the virus, the most common treatment measures included bed rest, isolation, pain relief, and warmth.  Women working as nurses became the primary caregivers during this time, risking infection to provide patients with nourishment, hydration, and blankets. 

 

Mabel Chilson was a student nurse at Fort Des Moines who wrote about ladies’ decisions to help in her school yearbook: “We wondered, ‘were we helpless or could we fight?  With eager determination we entered the ranks.’”  The accounts of the nurses were told through their diaries and letters, and despite the horrors of war and sickness, they also wrote about the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the welfare of others.  Miss Condell, a nursing student in Boston, said that the experience of ministering to patients taught nurses valuable lessons about endurance, self-discipline, and proper attitude.   

The shortage of male workers in the U.S. due to the combination of the war and the pandemic provided women with access to the labor market.  The number of women in the workforce increased by 25% and by 1920 women made up 21% of total employed Americans.  As they began to work outside the home, women also began to advocate for themselves for equal pay and the right to vote. 

It is interesting when we look back on history to see how the choices we make today could make a world of difference in people’s lives years from now.  I find this to be extremely encouraging and a reminder to be more intentional about the impact I have on others.  We never know how far a simple smile, a kind word, or a prayer may go. 

 

I am very excited to share that one of the historical romances I am writing now features a nurse who works at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Chicago in 1918.  This book will be published next year, so please be sure to follow my Amazon Author page to be notified when it is available for pre-order:

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B08KSFSHX1

In the meantime, I have just published a children’s book about the power and legacy of love.  My 13-year-old daughter did the illustrations!  The paperback includes a coloring book section, positive affirmations, and pages for children to create their own artwork.  You can purchase it here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KSL2NNN/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tpbk_p1_i0

 

 

About me:

 

I work as a disability counselor and feel honored to help people rediscover their wholeness in Spirit and navigate complex medical and legal systems.  I am also a professional book reviewer for Publishers Weekly and run my own blog, Annie's Book Nook, where I talk about upcoming releases in romance, mystery, and faith-based fiction.  https://annies-book-nook.blogspot.com/.  I'll be joining you here as featured blogger and author the 3rd Monday of every month.  

 

I’m excited to be starting my journey as a Christian fiction writer and have multiple historical and contemporary romances scheduled for upcoming publication.  I welcome the opportunity to connect with others so please feel free to “Friend” me on Facebook under my full name:  Anne Kemerer Jones.  https://www.facebook.com/anne.k.jones.555

  

Sources:

1.      The Influenza Pandemic and The War

            http://www.kumc.edu/wwi/medicine/influenza.html

2.     Medical Innovations:  From the 1918 Pandemic to a Flu Vaccine

            https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/medical-innovations-1918-flu

3.     Women:  The Unsung Heroes of the 1918 Flu Pandemic

            https://www.wimlf.org/blog/women-the-unsung-heroes-of-the-1918-flu-pandemic

 

 

Romance and the Great War

There is a reason why in 2012 so many novels about the sinking of the Titanic were published and sought after by readers. That year was the 100 year anniversary of the event. As news and history articles spurred interest, readers picked up novels about the Titanic, its tragedies, its romances and its aftermath.

The 100 year anniversary of the start of World War One, also known as The Great War, is also past. It began June 28, 1914. Although centered in Europe, battles took place across the world. The citizens of the United States, for the most part, spent the early part of this war being their isolationist selves. Only a relatively few Americans joined the French Foreign Legion, or the Canadian and the British military forces. Even the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania also passed on May 7, 1915. This is one event that served as a catalyst for pulling the United States into this war.

However, savvy writers who want to get some timely romances published about the United States soldiers and their sweethearts by important century anniversary dates still have a chance if their publisher will work with them. The 100 year anniversary for the United States entering World War 1 is a little less than two years away. That event took place on April 6, 1917.

Another related event with a 100 year anniversary date coming within the next few years is the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.

Here is an abbreviated timeline of events as they apply to U.S. involvement in World War 1 and the outbreak of the Spanish Flu:

1915  

•   May 7 - The sinking of the British passenger ship Lusitania, by a German submarine, resulted in 1,198 deaths including 128 Americans.

G. F. Hobusch, U.S. Army WW1

1917 

• April 6 - United States declares war on Germany.
• June 26 - American troops begin landing in France.
• December 7 - United States declares war on Austria-Hungary
  

1918 

•  January - Start of the Spanish Flu pandemic. It actually started in Fort Riley, Kansas, but news throughout the U.S., Britain and France was suppressed, so it was attributed to neutral Spain.
• June - Americans' first important battle role at Château-Thierry—as they and the French stop the German advance. 
• November 11 - Germany accepts the armistice terms demanded by the Allies. Hostilities ceased on the Western Front (trench warfare area).

 1919 

Americans in Champagne-Marne offensive- courtesy of Don Troiani

•  June 28 - Treaty of Versailles signed

1920

• December - The flu pandemic finally subsides.

Between all those dry dates and events you had real people with real hopes and dreams that were either achieved or disrupted because of this war. you have the heroism, achievements, illness, injury and death associated with it. In other words, the stuff of which romances are made. 

It was a time when the weaponry, battle techniques, and technology of the nineteenth century were still relied upon even as they were fading from use. At the same time, the armies and navies  struggled to move into the  modern world of mechanized warfare.

It was a time of the development of tanks, submarines and motor vehicles, yet the military still relied heavily on horses and mules.

(U.S. Army horses and mules pulling caissons)

 British soldier transporting pigeons

To read about a monument in tribute to the war horses and  mules (many of which died) used in World War One that was recently erected in the United Kingdom, click HERE.

Other animals played vital roles in this war. This was the age of airplane battles, yet it was another winged wonder that proved essential for effective communications. Homing pigeons were trained to carry messages between the command centers and the front lines.

Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" used in U.S to train fighter pilots

U.S. Navy Nurse uniform 1917-1919

And then there was the expanded role of women due to the war. We associate the "Rosie the Riveter" phenomenon with World War II, but even at the time of the first world war, many women stepped in to do many jobs in the place of the men to went off to fight the war. Whether or not everyone admitted it, it became apparent that women could perform many of those jobs just as well as the men. 

Unlike fifty years earlier during the American Civil War when most of society frowned on women serving as nurses to wounded soldiers, by World War 1 and the flu pandemic that followed, women nurses were in high demand. The use of chemical weapons in this war required a lot of medical care beyond battle wounds.

Now is the time to think about this challenging and exciting period of time in North American history. For more images about this time period, I invite you to visit and follow my Pinterest World War One board by clicking HERE. Start a World War One Pinterest board of your own if you haven't already.

With all these elements, blends of the old with the modern, what a host of possibilities for exciting and interesting romance stories. 

Red Cross Nurse - WWI

Readers, what kind of hero of this time period would you enjoy reading about? The soldier or sailor fighting the enemy? One of the soldiers working with the horses and mules? An airplane fighter pilot? A doctor helping soldiers recover from battle wounds, mustard gas poisoning or the flu? 

 How about your heroine? Would you like her to be the faithful sweetheart waiting and working back home? The foreign girl the soldier falls in love with and brings home to the United States or Canada as his wife? The Red Cross or navy nurse who works to heal and comfort the fallen?

Now is your chance. Leave a comment about what kinds of heroes and heroines you would love to read about in your World War One / Spanish Flu pandemic romances.

 

Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels. The first two novellas in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series, Big Meadows Valentine and A Resurrected Heart, are now available.

The author is a member of Women Writing the West, American Night Writers Association, and Modesto Writers Meetup. She currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She enjoys any kind of history including family history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.

Please visit the Zina Abbott’s Amazon Author Page by clicking HERE.

Zina Abbott Author Links:

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 (Bonus for family historians: If you think you may have Canadian, British, Scottish, Irish or United States ancestors who fought in or may have died in World War One, under my real name I wrote a few short articles for The Family Snoop, the newsletter of the Merced County Genealogical Society, about resources available for finding records on these soldiers. You may access back issues of The Family Snoop by clicking HERE. Scroll down to the September 2014, October 2014 and November 2014 issues.)