“The Influenza Pandemic in Virginia (1918-1919)”

This Board of Health Sign is in the collection of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.

Some Civil War veterans and their family members were still alive during World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic.

“In 1918–1919 a new and deadly type of influenza spread across the United States and around the world. It raged through Virginia from the autumn of 1918 through the spring of 1919, spreading through cities, small towns, isolated rural areas, and military camps. By the time it waned, the epidemic had claimed the lives of at least 16,000 Virginians. The virus, which probably originated in Kansas, was brought to Virginia by military personnel arriving in the state to take ships to Europe, where World War I (1914–1918) was being fought.”
To read the complete article . . .
Addeane Cartwright. “The Influenza Pandemic in Virginia (1918-1919),” Encyclopedia Virginia (accessed December22, 2020)