Eastside Stories

As we live through the Covid-19 pandemic it can be harrowing and comforting to know that our nation and world has endured an outbreak like this before. In many ways the reactions are similar and the precautions necessary to slow the spread of viral infection remain the same—stay home, keep your distance, and wear your mask. The Influenza Outbreak (also often referred to as the Spanish Flu Epidemic) of 1918-19 occurred right as World War I (WWI) was coming to an end and soldiers returning home were responsible for its far reach.

Many don’t realize WWI killed 16 million, but this strain of influenza killed over 50 million worldwide. With so many young people lost to WWI, the deadly strain of influenza which overtook so many was made more concerning as it took the lives of young people just as readily as vulnerable populations. Like Covid-19, the flu affected people differently, some victims died within the first few hours of showing symptoms while others held on for several days and some recovered and lived healthy lives. At the time, health officials speculated as to whether asymptomatic carriers could pass on the disease and moved quickly to develop a vaccine to slow its spread.

The origin of the term Spanish Flu also had to do with the war. The reason it is often called the “Spanish Flu” is because neutral Spain freely reported cases and deaths, without a need to suppress information as many warring nations did. The origins of the disease remain unknown today. Here in Washington, the illness originated with returning solders at Camp Lewis and the Bremerton Naval Base, and from a train full of solders arriving in Seattle via Philadelphia. The first record of the disease in Western Washington was recorded on October 3, 1918.

For most, public education was the first attempt to slow the spread and contain the virus. Being in Washington, local populations found themselves lucky as those in charge of public health monitored the spread from the East Coast and attempted to prepare for an outbreak. Dr. T.D. Tuttle, a medical man who had headed the Montana state tuberculosis sanitarium, was Washington’s Health Commissioner in 1918. He fought to put social distancing rules in place and shut down gatherings. By October 30, 1918, Washington State passed a law requiring people to wear gauze masks in public.

Front page of The Reflector, October 20, 1918.

Closer to the Eastside we have some documentation from The Lake Washington Reflector. The Reflector reported that on October 20, 1918, “Nearly Everybody was Laid up with the ‘Spanish Influenza’”. This first page article explains how even people who weren’t sick didn’t feel comfortable leaving their home to get news stories for the paper. This is not surprising since most of the Reflectors' content consisted of “visiting news”, essentially having people go door to door to inquire about local events and personal milestones. Not very conducive for social distancing. Even rural areas were hit hard during the Influenza Outbreak in 1918, perhaps because populations there lacked immunities.

We know people here were affected though. On November 1, 1918, the Reflector issued a poem by Miss Emma Conway which cautions people to stay inside and avoid the flu, a foreshadowing for the leniency on quarantine that Armistice Day would bring. November 13, 1918, Armistice Day, marked the official end of World War I. People were so relieved to see the end of the biggest war in history at the time that they took to the streets. The ban on masks was lifted and gatherings resumed as citizens overlooked the danger in order to celebrate victory. All this of course led to a resurgence of the disease which peaked in Washington state in December 1918.

Even after Armistice Day, Tuttle shut down dances and enforced forms of social distancing such as making people sit in every-other row in the theater and removing those who appeared sick. Tuttle proposed more bans within the state such as limiting the amount of people who could come to witness the State Senate in action, but the Olympia City Council rejected the bans. There was an official meeting of the State Board of Health which voted down Tuttle’s plan soon after.

Poem Submitted by Emma Conway entitled “The Flu”. Published in the November 1, 1918 edition on The Reflector.

In February 1919 Tuttle was fired 3 years into his 5-year appointment because of the politics around not letting people celebrate. His original quarantine and social distancing rules truly did slow the spread of the virus and kept big cities like Seattle and the surrounding region from being hit hard. This is obvious when you compare Tuttle’s response with the Heath Officer of Spokane, J.B. Anderson. He wasn’t too worried and issued a warning statement about how to prevent the virus’s spread without much to enforce it. Even as the death-toll rose he hesitated to enforce quarantine procedures. Spokane’s death-rate was higher than most rising to 6% during the epidemic.

After Armistice Day though, Olympia, Seattle and even Bellevue didn’t heed Tuttle’s advice either. The Lake Washington Reflector's front page, dated January 10, 1919, shows that Bellevue held a “Big Ball” at the Bellevue Clubhouse even as the illness continued to affect local populations. The following winter the disease didn’t return in as much force and by 1920 there were few if any cases reported. The strain of influenza which caused so much destruction hasn’t made an impact like it did in 1918-19 to this day.

Resources

https://spokanehistorical.org/items/show/224

https://content.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/WWI/influenza.html

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/fears-masks-and-deaths-spanish-flu-hit-hard-102-years-ago/

https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/influenza-epidemic/

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/fears-masks-and-deaths-spanish-flu-hit-hard-102-years-ago/

Eastside Heritage Center Archive

https://www.historylink.org/File/20300

https://www.influenzaarchive.org/cities/city-seattle.html#

O'Neal, Claire. The Influenza Pandemic of 1918. Mitchell Lane Publishers, Inc., 2008.