By 1918 the end of World War I was in sight, and Americans thought that they would begin to resume life as before the war. However, another crisis was waiting to explode and it would take more American lives than WWI.

The “Spanish Flu” was a pandemic that spread around the world from 1918 to 1919. The United States death toll reached 675,000. [2] Unfortunately, mortality was especially high, for the 20-40 age group, making college students especially vulnerable. With no vaccine or antibiotics to treat secondary infections the only control efforts were quarantine, using disinfectants, limitations of public gatherings and personal hygiene.

Response in New York City was slow, and schools and colleges remained open. In a New York Department of Health report in August of 1918 the following was stated:

“The public has no reason for alarm since, through  the protection afforded by our most  efficient  quarantine station, and the constant vigilance of the city’s health authorities, all the protection that sanitary science can give is assured. The very mildness of the disease as reported in Europe, is, in itself, assurance against anxiety on this side of the water.” [3]

How did the College of the City of New York respond to this crisis? In 1918 the present day Baruch College was the downtown campus of CCNY. By October, 1918 New York City was beginning to take steps to fight the influenza. The Health Board issued a 4P.M. closing order for all stores except food and drug stores and tried to reduce crowding on transportation lines during rush hours. [4]

Student life seemed  to go on even though there is evidence that other colleges took steps to stop the spread of the virus. At Chapel Hill in 1918 the university asked students not to attend gatherings. However, the student newspaper mentioned a student meeting being cancelled, but in the same issue reported a campus dance. The university of Maryland at Baltimore cancelled classes in October 1918 and the University of Louisville closed for over a month delaying graduation in 1919. [5] In an October 4, 1918 article there is mention of Yale and Mt. Holyoke being quarantined. [6]

The 1918 Proceedings of the Board of Trustees of City College detailed one accommodation that the college made.

“Resolved, that the action of Trustee Tuttle, Chairman of the Committee on Evening and Extension Courses, in authorizing the organization of a beginners’ class in Accountancy from December 12, 1918, to the opening of the regular February, 1919, term, to accommodate discharged soldiers and sailors, and civilians who were prevented from enrolling at the regular time because of the influenza epidemic,…” [7]

From the City College publication The Campus which is  digitized on the City College Digital Archives, there isn’t much evidence that the virus was impacting students or faculty significantly. It wasn’t until November 7, 1918 that The Campus printed an article entitled “Infirmary Helps Stamp Out Flu” Khaki Nurses Treat S.A.T.C. men with Tender Care–Soon Putting Doughboys in Shape.” “The efficient work of the medical corps has kept down the number of influenza cases in the S.A.T.C to a negligibly small percentage.” [8] City College established a Student Army Training Corps which entitled the participants to tuition, room and board. The campus gave the appearance of a military base with barracks and military drills.

In that same issue an article stated:

“We are on our back in the infirmary, but in time to dummy the next issue of The Campus. Feeling very much under the weather we reported for sick call and they quarantined us to quarters, fearing we had a touch of the flu. A dose of whatever the doc gave us and a cozy cot must have worked wonders for us, for we felt very unnecessary around here now and ready for a couple of hours of close-order-drill.” [9]

Another article in the issue mentioned a precaution that the college was making by closing its pool. “Because of the possibility of contamination by men who, though not actually infected,  may be carriers of the germs of disease it has been deemed inadvisable to open the tank for the use for the present.” [10]

It is interesting to note that in this same issue there is evidence that student life seems to be going on. There was a new student council formed and a dramatic society was organized.

The impact of the pandemic on the CCNY community from the information available from my armchair, doesn’t seem to have been too significant. Whether it is just a lack of sources or that only a small amount of students and faculty were victims of the virus, it is difficult to say.

Since the Spanish Flu pandemic New York City and the City College have weathered many epidemics, but the seasonal surge of polio cases had been a constant concern. It wasn’t until our own Jonas Salk, 1934 graduate developed a polio vaccine in 1955 that this disease was conquered. In 1955 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the college. President Gallagher said “We at City College, share the nation’s gratitude to Dr. Salk. We are proud of his modesty and are honored to claim him as ‘one of our sons ‘.” [11]

As we heed the warnings of medical experts during this Covid-19 pandemic, let us reflect on the past, We shall get through this!

Notes:

[1] Jump rope rhyme c.1918.

[2] John Barry, The Great Influenza:The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History. New York: Penguin Books, 2005, p.450.

[3] Weekly Bulletin of the Department of Health City of New York. New Series, V. VII, issue 33, August 17, 1918, p.255.

[4] “Drastic Steps Taken to Fight Influenza Here,” New York Times, October 5, 1918, p.1.

[5] Lila Guterman, “Give and Take,” Chronicle of Higher Education, V. 52, issue 27, 2006, pA25.

[6] C.C. Brainerd, “Washington Uses Drastic Means to Stop Epidemic,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 4, 1918, p.11.

[7] Proceedings of the Board of Trustees of the College of the City of New York, 1918, p.166.

[8] “The Infirmary Helps Stamp Out Flu,” The Campus., November 7, 1918, p.7.

[9] “Uncle Sam M.D.” The Campus, November 7, p.2.

[10] “Pool to be opened when the flu has Gone,” The Campus, November 7, p.9.

[11] “Polio Conqueror Awarded Rare Honorary Doctorate,” Ticker, Vol. xxxiv, issue 12, April 26, 1955, p.1.