In early October 1918, pandemic influenza descended on Schuylkill County and left thousands dead.
A story from 1918 reveals chaos as “Spanish flu” raged through Schuylkill County
A newspaper’s reflection on the death toll from Spanish Flu in Schuylkill County – 1918
The writers at the "Pottsville Republican" struggled to find words for the horrific death toll of Spanish flu in October 1918.
“I am more than glad it is over” – A Coal Region soldier’s experience in World War I
Private James J. Dee experienced the horror of the First World War and wrote home to his family about the experience.
“Wild with joy” – Celebrations marked end of World War I in Williams Valley
In the early morning hours of November 11, 1918, the mining towns of Williams Valley erupted with joy.
A patient’s haunting experience in a Coal Region influenza hospital in 1918
What was it like to fall ill during the deadliest epidemic in human history?
“May these sights soon cease” – Influenza in Pottsville, 1918
"Sorrow and woe stalk almost unceasingly in our midst," wrote the Pottsville Republican in October 1918.
After the First World War, miners in Williams Valley faced an uncertain future
A newspaper correspondent details life in Lykens and Wiconisco in the months after the end of the Great War.
During the height of the 1918 influenza outbreak, central Pennsylvania ran out of coffins
Undertakers in Harrisburg found their morgues full of flu victims in October 1918 with no way to give them proper burials.
Parade to raise money for World War I brought deadly influenza to Williams Valley in 1918
"Good music always has an appeal to most people," wrote a reporter accompanying a Liberty Loan Drive parade through Central Pennsylvania in the early fall of 1918. And in the coal towns of Dauphin County's Williams Valley, the bands and singers were particularly successful in attracting a crowd. On the evening of October 2, 1918, … Continue reading Parade to raise money for World War I brought deadly influenza to Williams Valley in 1918
