The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 took an estimated 20 million lives around the world, but its legacy was largely obscured by the horrors of World War I and nations eager to forget. But despite the scarceness of records, this outbreak, how it spread, and how people responded to the warnings of health officials may be the most relevant in understanding the pandemic we are facing in 2020 – as a result, there are now many more resources available online than even just a few months ago.
In the IRREGULAR:
ECHOES OF INFLUENZA: Lessons in resilience from the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic | Tre Balchowsky
FLU SEASON IN THE BIG EASY: Louis Armstrong takes odd jobs
Dig deeper:
How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America – Smithsonian Magazine
The Influenza Encyclopedia – University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine
The Flu in San Francisco – PBS The American Experience
In Flew Enza: Remembering the Plague Year in Berkeley – Cal Alumni Association, UC Berkeley
What New York Looked Like During the 1918 Flue Pandemic – The New York Times
The Flu Epidemic of 1918 – New York City Department of Records
(Photo archive) Epidemic: New York in 1918 – Urban Archive, Municipal Art Society of New York
What Happened When Americans Had to Wear Masks During the 1918 Flu Pandemic – Open Culture
Fake News and the Flu – The Wellcome Collection
The Spanish Flu in Japan and Its Parallels to COVID-19 – Unseen Japan
New Orleans & the Great Influenza – Historic New Orleans Collection
Spanish Flu: Nursing during history’s deadliest pandemic – The Florence Nightingale Museum
Artwork from the 1918 Pandemic – The Reformed Broker
Podcasts:
Pandemic: The Story of the 1918 Flu – The Documentary Podcast, BBC World Service
Dispatches from 1918 – RadioLab
Lessons Learned from the 1918 Flu Pandemic – The Takeaway
Pandemic influenza: 100 years – The Lancet, John McConnell, Editor of The Lancet Infectious Diseases
Print:
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, by John M. Barry
On Stage:
Tre Balchowsky: The Phoenix & the Flame | Odd Salon RESILIENT
The 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic struck at a time when much of the world was dabbling in spiritualism, seeking solace in the face of years of battlefield deaths, and longing for the voices of the departed. The flu outbreak proved to be the final hurrah in the age of the seance, spirit photograph, and the height of the the ouija board craze.
In the IRREGULAR:
CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD: The rise of the seance in the wake of war and pandemic | Steen Comer
THAT WHICH THE HUMAN EYE CAN NOT SEE: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in defense of spirit photography
Dig deeper:
Talking to the Dead: How the 1918 Pandemic Spurred a Spiritualism Craze – History.com
A History of Photographing Ghosts – Allison Meier, Hyperallergic
The Spirit Photographs of William Hope – The Public Domain Review
The Strange and Mysterious History of the Ouija Board – Smithsonian Magazine
The Case for Spirit Photography – The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
The Spirit Voice of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – British Library
Zombie flu: How the 1919 influenza pandemic fueled the rise of the living dead – The Conversation
Podcasts:
On Stage:
Annetta Black ~ Spirit Slates, Spiritualists & the Desire to Believe | Odd Salon OCCULT
Christopher Reeves ~ Science vs. Ectoplasm: Your Orifices Aren’t Haunted Odd Salon OCCULT
From 1660 to 1669, Naval administrator Samuel Pepys kept an encoded, personal diary of his day to day life in London. By witnessing and surviving both the 1665 Great Plague of London and the 1666 Great Fire of London, his personal thoughts and day to day activities have been the subject of scholarly inquiry and prurient curiosity for generations after his death.
In the IRREGULAR:
PARALLELS TO A PLAGUE YEAR: From the Great Plague of London to COVID-19 | JR Pepper
MR. PEPY’S INFAMOUS DIARY: Samuel Pepys witnesses a plague year and a great fire
Dig deeper:
The Diary of Samuel Pepys – Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
Virtual Exhibition: Samuel Pepys’s Diary, Magdalen College – Cambridge University
Spirit of enquiry; Samuel Pepys and the Royal Society – Royal Museums Greenwich
Samuel Pepys and Isaac Newton – Royal Museums Greenwich
Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London – Eyewitness to History
The Great Fire of London – The London Fire Brigade
The Great Fire of London 1666: Objects and Artifacts – Museum of London
In Print:
Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution, by Margarette Lincoln
Samuel Pepys and His Books: Reading, Newsgathering, and Sociability, 1660-1703, by Kate Loveman
The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Modern Library), by Samuel Pepys, edited by Richard Le Gallienne
On Stage:
JR Pepper ~ Hast Thou Readst My Blog? The Plague Journals of Samuel Pepys Odd Salon RESILIENT
The history of medicine is full of the stories of strange remedies and curious cures, as generations of physicians, apothecaries, healers, and snake-oil salesmen attempted to face the epidemics of their ages.
In the IRREGULAR:
QUESTIONABLE CURES: Unicorn horn & theriac; Bezoars & toad vomit; Pomanders & rose lozenges; The coffee cure & straight whiskey
QUARANTINE COCKTAILS: Plague year punches & cocktail cure-alls
Dig deeper:
Foolish Remedies: Goa Stone – Wellcome Collection
Coffee: a plague remedy? – Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Power of Unicorns – Wellcome Collection
Sir Isaac Newton’s Prescription for Plague? Toad Vomit Lozenges – Smithsonian
The Theriac in Antiquity – The Lancet
A Cure for the Plague – British Library
The Gin and Tonic: A Short History – Sipsmith
Caipirinha: From Portuguese Medicine to Brazil’s National Cocktail – Alex Boston
Corpse Reviver Cocktails: Recipes & History – Difford’s Guide
In Print:
Cures & Curiosities, Wellcome Collection
On Stage:
Chris Carrico ~ Our Evolving Picture of How We Get Sick | Odd Salon THEORY
During the plague years of 1665-1666, Cambridge University was shuttered, and students were forced into quarantine. For a young Isaac Newton, rather than a impediment to progress, this turned out to be an exceptionally productive period, resulting in what have been called Newton’s “Annus Mirabilis.”
In the IRREGULAR:
THE WONDER YEARS: Isaac Newton’s upsettingly productive quarantine years
NEWTON & PEPYS PLAY DICE: In which Isaac Newton helps Samuel Pepys cheat at dice
Dig deeper:
Year of Wonders 1665-1667 – National Trust UK
The Newton Project – University of Oxford
Newton Papers – Cambridge Digital Library
Making Science: Sir Isaac Newton – They Royal Society
The Pepys–Newton Connection (1693) – O’Reilly Media
In Print:
Never at Rest by Richard Westfall
On Stage:
Daniel Cohen ~ Equal & Opposite Reactions: Isaac Newton vs. William Chaloner | Odd Salon DUEL
Much has been made of Shakespeare’s plague year creative output, and certainly the plagues that hit London and closed theaters in the 16th century had a lasting impact on the poet and playwright. Plague imagery (and curses) appear throughout his plays, but in those early dark years his output was distinctly sexier, in the form of his poem of lust unrequited “Venus & Adonis” and in his Dark Lady sonnets.
In the IRREGULAR:
SHAKESPEARE, SEX & DEATH: Shakespeare’s erotically charged plague year debut
Full Text: Venus & Adonis
Dig deeper:
What Shakespeare Actually Wrote About the Plague – The New Yorker
What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Living With Pandemics – New York Times Opinion
Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis – Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Only known first edition printing, Folger Shakespeare Library
Ingmar Bergman’s cinematic masterpiece “The Seventh Seal” was inspired by art and stories of the Black Death of the 14th century, and frescos in his native Sweden showing a frolicsome game-playing skeletal death.
In the IRREGULAR:
THE ART OF THE SEVENTH SEAL: The medieval inspiration behind Bergman’s masterpiece | Alexander Razo-Myers
Dig deeper:
Medieval Art in The Seventh Seal – Cinema Scandinavia
Albertus Pictor: Frescoes in the Church at Täby, Sweden – Artway.eu
The Seventh Seal – Ingmar Bergman Foundation
On Stage:
Alexander Razo-Myers ~ The Seventh Seal: Thirty-Five Days of Celluloid | Odd Salon RESILIENT
Cities around the world have memorialized the ends of plagues with monuments and towers.
In the IRREGULAR:
VIENNA’S ALL-IN-ONE MONUMENT: A famous column commemorates more than just the plague | Tre Balchowsky
Dig deeper:
The Pestsäule plague column – Visting Vienna
Triumph of Life – Plague Columns – Annetta Black, Atlas Obscura
How to memorialize a Plague – JSTOR Daily
Monuments for the end of plagues – Rome Art Lover
On Stage:
Tre Balchowsky ~ Art and the Black Death | Odd Salon EPIDEMIC
Published within just a few years of the devastating Black Death pandemic that swept through Europe beginning in 1348, Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron is both a triumph of art in the wake of death and disaster, and a masterpiece celebrating distraction and delight during the darkest of days.
In the IRREGULAR:
A QUARANTINE ILLUMINATED: Scenes from Boccaccio’s quarantine distractions
Dig deeper:
The Decameron Web – Brown University
Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron (ca. 1353) – The Public Domain Review
Historical Context for The Decameron by Boccaccio – Columbia University
A guide to the illustrations in BNF Arsenal 5070 – Medieval and Renaissance Material Culture
BNF Arsenal 5070, Bibliotheque Nationale de France , 1432.
In Print:
The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio
On Stage:
Annetta Black ~ The Phoenix and the Flame | Odd Salon RESILIENT
The infamous “Dr. Beak” plague doctor costume was a real uniform developed during the plague outbreaks of the 17th century, but the most famous image was actually satire poking fun, even then, at the absurd appearance of the bird faced physician.
In the IRREGULAR:
DR. BEAK: On the origins of the famous plague doctor costume
Dig deeper:
Plague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts – Live Science
The celebrity physician and the plague – Wellcome Collection
Plague Doctor Costumes – The Public Domain Review
On Stage:
Michael Brodhead ~ Plague Masks: Pestilence & Pointy Noses | Odd Salon EPIDEMIC
In every epidemic, there have been those who have been spared by chance, by fortune… or by very careful observance of quarantines, cleanliness, and sanitation, as was the case in the city of Ferrara, Italy which escaped the plague of 1629 to 1631.
In the IRREGULAR:
THE PLAGUE-PROOF CITY: How one Italian city escaped unscathed
Dig deeper:
How One 17th-Century Italian City Fended Off the Plague – History.com
The trading port of Venice, Italy, the danger of plagues arriving by ship led to the development of the 40 day quarantine, the establishment of designated “lazzaretto” quarantine islands, to separate the diseased from the healthy. Today mass graves and memorials mark the location of these Renaissance era quarantines, and two cathedrals stand in celebration and thanks for deliverance from death.
In the IRREGULAR:
THE VAMPIRE & THE LAZZARETTO: Secrets of Venice’s quarantine islands | Annetta Black
Dig deeper:
Venice’s Black Death and the Dawn of Quarantine – Discover Magazine
‘Vampire’ Plague Victim Spurs Gruesome Debate – Live Science
In the early 1700s a story emerged telling the story of an unusual society in London, with an exclusive membership strictly limited to those with no nose. A frequent consequence of advanced staged of syphilis, which rampaged throughout much of Europe at the time, the degradation and loss of soft tissue and cartilage like the nose was a source of stigma and shame. The tale of the so-called No-Nose Club of London may have been a work of satire, but the importance of the social impact of solidarity among those afflicted with disease emerged at around the same time in the form of the first peer support groups.
In the IRREGULAR:
A NOSE SO BOUNTIOUS AND KIND: On the legacy and legend of the No-Nose Club of London
A FRATERNITY OF THE NOSELESS: A surprising solidarity amongst outcasts | Kate O’Donnell
Dig deeper:
Sex and syphilis – Wellcome Collection
Brief History of Syphilis – J Med Life/NCBI
A Brief History of Peer Support: Origins – Patrick Tang, MPH
On Stage:
Kate O’Donnell ~ The No Nose Club: Solidarity in the Face of Stigma | Odd Salon RESILIENT
Dan von Hoyel~ The Self-Fulfilling Cycle of Syphilis | Odd Salon EPIDEMIC
Daniel Cohen ~ Renaissance Rhinoplasty: Swords, Syphilis & Facial Farming Odd Salon ODDMENTS 2017
One unusual musical legacy of ages of plague, the folksong “Lieber Augustus” recqalls the story of a roaming vagabond musician mistaken for dead, who plays his way out of certain death at the bottom of a mass grave.
In the IRREGULAR:
LIEBER AUGUSTUS: A near-death escape remembered in song
Dig deeper:
(Recording) O du lieber Augustin, by Jaques Brust – Internet Archive
Of the many artistic and architectural responses to eras of plague, the emergence of the garden cemetery in the outskirts of urban spaces may have been the most significant in terms of widespread impact, creating an new aesthetic of sprawling, gently false landscapes of winding paths and unexpected vistas, that would go on to inspire the great urban park spaces of the Victorian and later eras.
In the IRREGULAR:
GARDENS OF THE DEAD: How overstuffed burial grounds led to urban park design | Annetta Black
Dig deeper:
Necropolis – Colin Dickey, Lapham’s Quarterly
When Cemeteries Became Natural Sanctuaries – Allison Meier, JSTOR Daily
Death in the city: the grisly secrets of dealing with Victorian London’s dead – The Guardian
In 1925, and incredible race against time pitted dogs and men against the elements in the service of the children of Nome, Alaska, facing a deadly diphtheria outbreak. In the ends, the dogs saved the day, delivered the cure, and became canine heroes.
In the IRREGULAR:
SUPERIOR DOG TECHNOLOGY: The triumph of canine capability in the 1925 Alaska Serum Run | Matt Codner
Dig deeper:
Serum Run, the Rest of the Story – Iditarod
In 1925, a Remote Town in Alaska was Saved by from a Lethal Disease by Dogs – BBC Earth
Balto, and the Legacy of the Serum Run – Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Togo (sled dog) – National Park Service
Sled Dogs Have Been Pulling Us for Millennia, Archaeology Shows – National Geographic
On Stage:
Matt Codner ~ Defeating Diphtheria with Dogsleds: The 1925 Serum Run | Odd Salon RESILIENT
COVID-19 isn’t the only disease to cross over from an animal source. The 1929 Parrot Pandemic (also known as Psittacosis) caused a panic.
In the IRREGULAR:
A FEATHERED PLAGUE: The Great Parrot Fever of 1929 | Amy Widdowson
Dig deeper:
The Psittacosis Outbreak of 1929–1930, Edward C. Ramsay – JSTOR
It’s Spreading: Outbreaks, media scares, and the parrot panic of 1930 – The New Yorker
Podcasts:
In 1929, Parrot Fever Gripped The Country – NPR
Dr. S. Josephine Baker was a tireless campaigner for health reform in New York City, advocating for young mothers, the health of infants, and going mano-a-mano with Typhoid Mary.
In the IRREGULAR:
A PIONEER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: Dr. S. Josephine Baker & the battle for New York City’s health | Isolde Honore
DR. JOE VS. TYPHOID MARY: An infamous incident, illustrated | Art by Isolde Honore, layout by Annetta Black
Dig deeper:
Biography, Sara Josephine Baker (1873–1945) – NCBI
Outwitting ‘Typhoid Mary’ – Hektoen Internations, A Journal of Medical Humanities
On Stage:
Isolde Honore ~ Dr. Joe and the Fight to Save America’s Children | Odd Salon RESILIENT
Edgar Allen Poe’s poetry and short stories evoke a fear of death and a dread of disease influenced by his personal experience of living through outbreaks and losing loved ones to disease. Two of his most infamous stories specifically evoke personifications of plague: “The Masque of the Red Death”, and “King Pest”.
In the IRREGULAR:
A VOLUPTUOUS SCENE: The epidemics that inspired Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre imagery
Full Texts:
Dig deeper:
The Cholera Pandemic that Terrified and Inspired Edgar Allan Poe – The Poe Museum
Biography of Edgar Allan Poe – The Poe Museum
In Print:
Tales of Mystery and Imagination, by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Harry Clarke
For most of history, having leprosy was more than just a disease – it was the mark of the outcast. In the early years of the 20th century, one man used his privilege and his unstoppable, irascible force of personality to change the legal status and rights of patients with Hansen’s Disease in the United States.
In the IRREGULAR:
WORLD FAMOUS LEPER: John Early’s guerilla campaign on behalf of Hansen’s Disease patients | Christopher Reeves
HUMAN TASTES AND FEELINGS: A letter from John Early for the establishment of a national leprosarium
Dig deeper:
The Strange Case of John Early: A Study of the Stigma of Leprosy by Philip A. Kalisch
Care and Treatment of Persons Afflicted with Leprosy – Harvard Libraries
Timeline history of Leprosy – Tulane University
History of the National Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) Program – Carville Hospital Timeline
On Stage:
Christopher Reeves ~ John Early, World Famous Leper | Odd Salon RESILIENT
Florence Nightingale made her name as a nurse at the Crimean front, but it was her skills as a data researcher and statistician that allowed her to effectively communicate and advocate for health care changes. Her beautiful data visualizations are some of the earliest examples of their kind.
In the IRREGULAR:
NIGHTINGALE’S VISUALIZATIONS: Florence Nightingale’s passion for statistics
Dig deeper:
Florence Nightingale: The Lady with the Data – This is Statistics
Florence Nightingale (1820–1910): An Unexpected Master of Data – Noel-Ann Bradshaw
In 1854, a deadly cholera outbreak hit central London. Seeking a source for the disease, Dr. John Snow mapped the cases, and was able to track the source down to a specific contaminated water pump, which he disabled. The map he created has become known as “The Ghost Map.”
In the IRREGULAR:
MAPPING GHOSTS: John Snow’s epidemiological map in pursuit of the source of a cholera outbreak
Dig deeper:
Cholera in Victorian London – The London Science Museum
The Ghost Map: Hard Lessons in Epidemiology from Victorian London – BrainPickings
Broad Street Pump Outbreak – UCLA Department of Epidemiology
In Print:
The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic – and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World, by Steven Johnson
On Stage:
Frederic Lightning Leist ~ Dr. Snow in the Time of Cholera | Odd Salon EPIDEMIC
In 1717, Mary Montagu wrote home to England about a curious custom she had witnessed while staying abroad in Turkey: the intentional exposure of children to the deadly virus smallpox. Despite fear and pushback, Montague successfully introduced the concept of inoculation in England upon her return.
In the IRREGULAR:
MARY MONTAGU VS. SMALLPOX: An exotic cure brought home to London
Dig deeper:
Lady Montagu and the introduction of inoculation – Wellcome Library
Who was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu? – National Trust, UK
Smallpox inoculation had royal seal of approval 70 years before Jenner – Wellcome Library
One of the most enduring phrases that resurfaces during difficult times is “This too shall pass.” We’ve found it attributed to everyone from Victorian poets to Abraham Lincoln, but we’re pretty sure we’ve tracked down the source to the Sufi poet, Attar of Nishapore, who included the aphorism in his poetry.
In the IRREGULAR:
THIS TOO SHALL PASS: In pursuit of the origins of a mythical inscription | Annetta Black
Dig deeper:
Biography of Attar of Nishapore – Encyclopedia Iranica
Works of Edward FitzGerald, 1887 – Internet Archive
On Stage:
Annetta Black ~ The Phoenix and the Flame | Odd Salon RESILIENT
