How did Hamilton handle the 1918 flu pandemic?

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/anthro4BB3.jpg” caption=”Student authors with professor Ann Herring at the recent book launch. Click here for FULL Size.
Photo credit: Deborah McIvor”]The pandemic of “Spanish Influenza” that swept the globe in 1918 killed over 50,000 Canadians and countless more fell ill. Yet little is known about the effects of the pandemic in Hamilton. How many people died? Who were they? What did the city do to try to stop the frightening epidemic?

Written by a class of fourth year anthropology students at McMaster University, Anatomy of a Pandemic: The 1918 Influenza in Hamilton tells the story of how life and society in Hamilton was affected by the crisis and how citizens and city officials responded to the spread of infection – and the mounting death toll – in the fall of 1918.

Professor Ann Herring's class of graduating authors proudly celebrated the first printing of the anthology they spent months researching and writing for their fourth year seminar class at a launch party on April 5. With funding from the Experiential Education office in the Faculty of Social Sciences, the class was able to produce 100 copies of the book for distribution to each student and contributing organizations. Herring's students conducted primary research on documents on the 1918 influenza pandemic held at the Hamilton Public Library archives as well as Hamilton's public health offices, cemetery, and armouries. They also accessed materials and were assisted by many helpful individuals from the Educational Archives and Heritage Centre of Hamilton-Wentworth, the Hamilton Military Museum, the Ontario Archives, Lloyd Reeds Map Collection and McMaster's Mills library.

“The idea was that I wanted to teach the students how to do translational research,” said Herring. “The students had experience in library research to produce academic papers, but this process was much more involved. They needed to access various primary resources to collect data, interpret it and present it. Anthropology is all about feeding information back to the community, so really, we created the book for the people of Hamilton.”

Herring explained the class ultimately evolved into more of regular editorial or research meetings, which provided students with an opportunity to explore the process of publishing research in the 'real world'. Herring's class spent time researching and analyzing their findings on WebCT during the development process. A collection of essays grew out of the data mining that had sparked several online and in-person group discussions. The group of 18 worked together to edit their writing, with Herring overseeing the general direction and consolidation of the works.

Hamilton Public Library archivist Margaret Houghton, was at the center of the research activities, helping students collect data found in death registries, funeral records, cemetery listings educational records and archives from Hamilton's three daily newspapers from the period. Houghton agrees that the community will benefit from having access to this book, especially with such a well-documented bibliography. “The bibliography alone is an excellent resource for future researchers to discover primary sources for the 1918 flu epidemic in Hamilton.”

Anatomy of a Pandemic: The 1918 Influenza in Hamilton featuring a 1918 photograph of Hamilton's Ballinahinch mansion on John St.S.

Houghton can attest to the students' commitment to the research. “Some of the students seemed to live at the library while they were researching the epidemic. They would come in the morning and they would be there all day, day after day.”

“The class insisted on printing a 'real book', not just courseware,” said professor Herring. “They took on the project with a professional, self-directed approach and I took on the role of editor or consultant while they worked fervently to produce a work of quality. We're all really proud of this accomplishment.”

The book is professionally bound and printed (Allegra Press) with a glossy cover, designed by Jeremy Widerman, portraying a local heritage building, the Ballinahinch mansion on 316 John St. S., which was offered to the city by the Martin family in the fall of 1918 to care for flu victims.

Book authors include:

Andrea Chan, Adam Benn, Kirsty Bond, Laura Fuller, Caitlin Hoffman, Ellen Korol, Anna Lisowska, Vanessa Manning, Peter Mayer, Samantha Meyer, Michael Pennell, Kiran Persaud, Mara Pope, Alexandra Prescott, Lynn Shen, Cheryl Venus, Nurit Vizcardo (absent from photo), Katherine Wood.