On Christmas Day, my husband, his brother, and I asked ourselves whether we have any memories of our grandparents and their siblings discussing the flu epidemic of 1918 and how it affected them. /1

Steve and Joe grew up knowing all four of their grandparents. My maternal grandfather died years before my birth, but I grew up knowing my other three grandparents.

None of us recall any word at all from our grandparents or their siblings about the flu epidemic. /2

All of our grandparents were young married couples starting families when the epidemic occurred.

We had a fascinating zoom discussion last evening with friends Pat and Wendell, who are close to us in age, and they said the same about their grandparents and elderly relatives: /3

no talk at all that they recall about that epidemic and how it affected their family.

This discussion led me today to go through the issues of a Pine Bluff, Arkansas, newspaper, the Daily Graphic, for the month of October 1918, which is when the epidemic hit much of the US. /4

I chose that paper because my mother's family lived in the county of which Pine Bluff is the seat, and my grandfather conducted much of his business in Pine Bluff — so I know my family was following Pine Bluff papers as well as Little Rock ones. /5

Here's a sketch of what I learned — & most interesting to note is that churches were closed by public officials without a peep of the kind of insincere, overheated rhetoric we're hearing now about the intrusion of the state on religious liberty when churches are closed: /6

Oct. 3: Camp Pike outside North Little Rock was placed in quarantine, since cases were spiking there and flu was spreading from Army bases to surrounding populations. /7

Oct. 4: An article entitled "Lid Is Clamped on Hot Springs for Influenza" states that the board of health and city authorities had ordered closing of all schools, theaters, churches, and public assembly places for an indefinite period. /8

Oct. 7: 13,000 cases reported at Camp Pike with many deaths; schools, churches, and theaters had been closed in DC and elsewhere, with people being constantly advised to avoid gatherings and stay at home if infected. /9

Oct. 7: 7 deaths at Memphis, with 5,000 cases in the city and 400 reported in the last 36 hours.

Oct. 8: flu spreading rapidly beyond military camps especially in the South and West. /10

Oct. 8: flu spreading so rapidly in Fort Smith that the city board of health had closed schools and theaters, and had forbidden public and private gatherings of any nature. Already there had been 3 deaths in the city, with several doctors sick. /11

Oct. 9: city and health officials issue a shut-down order in Pine Bluff (see the clipping below).

Oct. 9: Pine Bluff citizens have the flu (their names are given) and have been confined to their houses. /12

Oct. 10: a report that influenza is now epidemic throughout the US, with many cases of pneumonia causing many deaths. /13

Oct. 11: reiteration of shut-down order in Pine Bluff is printed, noting once again that churches are among the gathering places closed indefinitely — and, again, I find no peep anywhere of protests by churches that their religious freedom was being stepped on by such orders. /14

By mid October, reports start of deaths in Little Rock and Pine Bluff. As these reports are printed, ads for bogus cures start proliferating in the paper, often right after the death reports. /15

26 Oct.: despite rumors that the quarantine in Pine Bluff has been lifted, the public should be aware that it remains in effect. /16

27 Oct.: article advises people that, though they may want to tell themselves it's all over, it would be a big mistake to relax vigilance. Public officials continue to urge that all precautions be taken, since "a little carelessness would undo all that has been accomplished." /17