ONLINE: The Spanish Flu in Wisconsin

press release: Join Kurt E. Leichtle on Thursday, May 21, at 6:00pm for a closer look at the Flu Pandemic of 1918 in Wisconsin--from the comfort and safety of your own home! This VIRTUAL EVENT is a first for the Mount Horeb Area Historical Society; an initiative born of the very same COVID-19 self-isolating measures that also helped halt the wildfire spread of the Spanish flu.

This event is FREE, but registration is required to obtain the meeting weblink (or choose to join by phone via call-in number and access code). Email mthorebahs@gmail.com (please include “5-21 Pandemic Virtual Event” in the subject line) or call 608-437-6486 to sign up today.

For those of us living through it, the widespread and devastating effects of the novel coronavirus global pandemic feel completely unprecedented.

But historians can’t help but see parallels and similarities between today’s pandemic and the Spanish flu that circled the planet over a century ago, infecting roughly 1 in 3 and responsible for as many as 50 million deaths.

The Flu Pandemic of 1918 caught the world by surprise, was magnified by the simultaneous intensity of World War I, and changed medicine and culture.

Leichtle will focus on the events and effects of the Spanish flu pandemic in a world context and translate that back to events in Wisconsin. He will also ask us to consider how 1918’s experience can inform our reactions to and defenses against the current pandemic—what lessons can history teach us?

Kurt E. Leichtle is a history professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsi-River Falls, where he taught for almost three decades. Dr. Leichtle’s career has moved between public history and academic history. Before UWRF, he was Site Manager of the Gibbs Farm Museum, Ramsay County Historical Society of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and he currently serves as the Interim Executive Director of the North Star Museum of Boy Scouting and Girl Scouting in North Saint Paul, Minnesota. He has published two books, "Crusade Against Slavery: Edward Coles, Pioneer of Freedom," with Bruce Carveth, and "The Wisconsin Story," a 4th grade textbook. He regularly presents on historical topics and has published articles in various journals.

For more information, call 608-437-6486 (leave a voicemail with your contact information) or email mthorebhistory@mhtc.net. More info, visit the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/690430821525155/