"People Would Come Up and Look in Your Window and Holler and See if You Was Still Alive": Recollections of the 1918 Pandemic

Abstract

Abstract: In exploring children's experiences during the 1918 influenza pandemic in the United States, Janet Golden underscores the importance of recognizing the personal nature of all pandemics. Oral histories, newspaper reports, and government records shed light on the distinctive and significant challenges endured by children during the pandemic. These experiences were not exactly the same as that of adults: Illness, fear, the deaths of family members and caregivers, interruptions to their daily lives, and loss of educational opportunities were distinctly different for children. Despite their limitations, oral histories offer valuable insights into the cultural, social, and medical consequences of the 1918 pandemic for children. Golden also finds a distinct contrast in the public memory of the "forgotten pandemic" of 1918 and the scores of public tributes to the crisis of World War I. Numerous memorials and cultural references recognize the hardships of the Great War, but there are no memorials and references to the tragedies of the 1918 influenza pandemic. In conclusion, Golden notes the historical importance of specifically focusing on the experiences of children to help to highlight the long-term consequences when such crises define the experience of a generation. She urges the collecting of young people's experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic in order to help to understand its influence on this generation's future.