“The old story” – A short editorial on opposition to vaccines and its consequences… from Pottsville in 1903

Amid a smallpox epidemic in Schuylkill County, a newspaper editor threw up their hands at those who refused to be vaccinated, despite very real danger.

A Civil War soldier learns of his brother’s death from typhoid fever – 1863

George Keiser died of typhoid fever in 1863. He was 17 and had just returned from service in the Pennsylvania militia during the Civil War.

Photographs show makeshift emergency hospital in Lykens, Pennsylvania during 1918 pandemic

These incredible photographs show the tent field hospital set up in Lykens during the darkest month in American history.

A vaccination campaign for schoolchildren in Schuylkill County in the 1850s

Medical officials and public school administrators worked together to enforce a mandate that students receive the smallpox vaccine in 1855.

A 1918 Public Service Announcement: “Influenza: How To Avoid It – How To Treat Those Who Have It”

An October 1918 PSA from the Pennsylvania state government told residents how to avoid pandemic influenza, or if necessary, how to treat it.

“In Scarlet Fever’s Grip” – This 1910 epidemic crippled Lykens and closed schools and businesses

In 1910, an epidemic of scarlet fever spun out of control in the Coal Region community of Lykens and left a trail of bodies in its wake.

“The mask epidemic” – A native of Schuylkill County in Seattle during the 1918 influenza pandemic

A caustic letter by a Schuylkill County native in Seattle complained of mask requirement in the city. But their letter missed the mark.