Illustrated Lecture At OHA Museum
For More Information:
Dennis Connors, Curator of History
(315) 428-1864, ext. 310 or
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and Its Deadly Impact on Upstate New York!
In the fall of 1918 a highly contagious flu epidemic swept across the world, killing millions. An estimated 675,000 Americans died. The global movement of many soldiers during World War I helped its rapid spread. The United States Army, using the State Fairgrounds near Syracuse as a staging camp, was especially hard hit as the disease raced through the close quarters there. And then it spread into the city.
The local medical facilities at the time included Memorial Hospital, then located on West Genesee Street, and Crouse-Irving Hospital on University Hill. Both were severely strained as hundreds of the sick and dying were transported there. It was the greatest medical crisis in the history of both hospitals. Dozens of nurses at each were stricken and five died. By the time the epidemic subsided, there had been over 900 deaths in the city within the span of a few weeks.
On Sunday, June 24 at 2:00 pm inside the auditorium at the Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center, Teresa Lehr of the State University of New York at Brockport will present a lecture on how the hospitals in upstate cities like Syracuse and Rochester handled this massive medical epidemic.
This lecture is the third in a series jointly sponsored by the Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center and Crouse Hospital in commemoration of the hospital’s 120th anniversary. The roots of Crouse Hospital extend back to the 1887 founding of the Syracuse Hospital for Women and Children, which became Memorial Hospital. Crouse-Irving and Memorial merged in 1968 to become today’s Crouse Hospital. The history of Crouse Hospital is being presented in a concurrent exhibit at the OHA Museum that will run until August 5th.
Admission to the lecture is free. For more information, contact the OHA at 428-1864, ext. 310.
