‘It Is Pretty Bad Down Here at Present.’ What We Can Learn From a Letter Written Just After the Height of the 1918 Flu Pandemic
It was after witnessing the worst of the virus that one student at the University of Kansas (USA), Lawrence, wrote a letter to her aunt. More than a century later, as the world confronts another pandemic, the letter provides a look at what life was like at that moment—and how even the deadliest pandemic of modern history was the new normal for those who lived through it.
In the letter, the student, Myrtle, mentions that the flu—which she spells “flue,” a not-uncommon spelling at the time—“is awful bad” where her parents are and that schools near her university have shut down because it’s “pretty bad” there too. The note, pictured above and transcribed below, is part of a larger collection of letters donated by the descendants of Jacob Myer to the National World War I Museum and Memorial; Myer, whose mother was the recipient of the letter, eventually died of the flu.
By the end, the flu had infected nearly 500 million people, or a third of the world’s population.
It is inevitable that those who lived through it experienced waves of fear and grief. And yet, as Mrytle’s letter shows, amid such a long-lasting pandemic, there were moments when life simply went on.
Dec. 10, 1918.
Dear Aunt and Family:-
I have thought of you many times but to day [sic] is the first time that I succeeded in finding time to write you a few lines.
Ralph and I are fine, and have not gotten the “flue” [sic] yet altho [sic] it is pretty bad down here at present. It seems to be among the older folks and children. The graded schools and High School is closed here but only a few students of K.U. have it, they thought it was not necessary to close college until they see that it must be done. Heard you folks had it this fall but hope you are all over it and feeling fine. This is beautiful weather for December and to think of such a heavy snow we already had at Thanksgiving seems almost impossible.
Ralph is still in the barracks, he is looking to be discharged most any day altho [sic] they have been waiting for discharging blanks to come, as each must fill out a blank and have a physical examination before he can get out of the army. And the boys here will be pleased to get out too. The boys who do not intend to go to school after being discharged have to drill all day long and the others only have to drill 1 hr. each morning and then they are free the rest of the day until 5:30 for retreat. The barracks here are built in town but they are on K.U. Campus. Dwelling houses on one side of the street and barracks on the other.
I try to see Ralph once each day. If we do not happen to see each other at school, he comes down in the afternoon after class and if he hasn’t time to come, I go to the barracks and he comes out. We rec’d a letter from the folks at home this morn. and the flue [sic] is awful bad around there now. I like it fine down here altho [sic] it is a different life in town than in the country.
I certainly like my school work and time goes so fast, have all my classes in the forenoon but the lessons are so long it takes all P.M. and until 10 P.M. to prepare lessons for next day.
I am as ever your niece, Myrtle
