The Exonian Reflects On 1918 Influenza Pandemic

By Lina Huang, Max Park and Anya Tang

In September, 1918, news of a coming victory splashed across headlines. Americans across the nation waited in anticipation for the end of World War I. Not reported in the papers, however, was the onset of another, deadlier war. This time, the enemy was not human. 

Within a year, the H1N1 virus outbreak, popularly known as the “Spanish flu,” would become one of the deadliest global pandemics in history, infecting a fifth of the world population and leaving 50 million dead. In the town of Exeter, more than 100 of the 4,500 residents would succumb to the disease by the end of 1918. As another pandemic begins, The Exonian has looked through the Academy and town’s archives to reflect on a similar period in American history.

News of the outbreak was concealed from the town before the Exeter News-Letter began running coverage in September, 1918. “Although many newspapers suppressed information regarding the flu to prevent panic, the Exeter News-Letter began to run stories directly related to the outbreak in the last weeks of [September],” Exeter Historical Society curator Barbara Rimkunas wrote in Hidden History of Exeter. “By that time, it would have been difficult to ignore the flu’s grip on the town.”

As the influenza rendered millions sick or dead across the globe, many Exeter residents were left to the same fate, including Academy students. Certainly, the flu did not discriminate in its infection. “[Those with Spanish flu] are of all classes and ages and, in instances, entire families are affected,” the Exeter News-Letter reported on Sept. 27, 1918. “Manufactories, stores and schools have their victims.” 

Without antiviral drugs and modern virus-testing techniques such as PCR, the virus spread quickly. “The flu hit the school hard and fast,” Frary said. “Within a week, there were over 75 cases.” 

On Oct. 2, 1918, The Exonian reported, “One boy has succumbed to the disease, [and] two others have been threatened with the same fate.” At one point, victims’ names filled an entire column of the Exeter News-Letter.

The Spanish flu’s symptoms were swift and painful. Within hours of infection, victims’ faces and skin would turn purple from lack of oxygen, and fluid would fill their lungs. They died within days by suffocation in their own mucus and blood. Perhaps most frightening about the H1N1 virus was the unusually high mortality rate among young adults—those between the ages of 20 and 30 were several times more likely to die than those between 70 and 80. 

By October, cases of flu had overrun the town, forcing the Academy to turn on-campus buildings into makeshift infirmaries. “The school sheltered in place … the influenza pandemic reached Exeter while school was in session,” senior Cameron Frary said. “They converted the gymnasium into a makeshift infirmary to house the 25 patients who exceeded the capacity of the existing infirmary.” The Academy required all students to remain on campus, preventing them from bringing the virus back to their home communities.

To limit the extent of the outbreak, the Academy canceled non-essential meetings and the town of Exeter closed down public buildings. The Exonian’s Oct. 9 issue reported that chapel services, study halls, and society meetings had been stopped to limit the flu from spreading and that the Ioka Theatre and local soda fountains had been temporarily closed.

As a result of the outbreak, Exeter’s economy suffered. “At this time, not many people could work because of contracting the illness themselves or having to take care of someone who had,” Rimkunas wrote. “This created a downturn in the local economy's productivity.”

The town slowly recovered after a month, and schools reopened early November. The Academy recovered especially quickly; new cases ceased to develop within three days of the Academy’s peak, and all but ten patients had been discharged within a week. 

By Oct. 9, The Exonian reported only 10 confirmed cases. “The Exonian also acknowledged that the precautions taken by individual students were crucial to the improvements in the situation. Given that the situation resolved itself so quickly, I think the Academy’s shelter-in-place plan worked reasonably well,” Frary said.

As another epidemic hits the United States, many are turning to the Spanish flu pandemic for precedent. As of April 3, the CDC has reported 213,144 cases and 4,513 deaths in America. However, there are distinct differences between the illnesses. COVID-19 symptoms, which include fever, tiredness, and difficulty breathing, may develop after a two-week period, and the virus has a median incubation period of around five days. Older adults are at higher risk for a severe reaction to COVID-19 virus. The pandemic is predicted to continue affecting students for more than a month, whereas influenza cases ceased shortly after the Academy cut down on social interaction. At the same time, both the COVID-19 and 1918 influenza are quick-spreading and have had widespread economic ramifications. 

This time, though, the Academy’s response has been very different. For the duration of the 1918 pandemic, Academy students hunkered down in their dorms and waited for the scourge to subside. During the current outbreak, students are in isolation across the globe. 

As a result, it seems that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a much different impact on Exeter than the Spanish flu. “The Academy’s reaction in 1918 is hardly applicable to today’s situation because we have already left campus,” Frary said. Still, Exonians may find similarities between their current experiences and those of generations past. 

The Academy continues to publish health advice and logistical information on its website. For more information, visit The Exonian’s digital archive.