{"id":2011,"date":"2020-04-26T00:48:13","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T00:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/?p=2011"},"modified":"2020-04-26T00:49:49","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T00:49:49","slug":"a-concise-history-of-trinity-college-and-the-1918-influenza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/2020\/04\/26\/a-concise-history-of-trinity-college-and-the-1918-influenza\/","title":{"rendered":"A Concise History of Trinity College and the 1918 Influenza"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Brendan W. Clark \u201921<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Editor; History Major<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>An Introduction: The Pandemic of a Century<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A review of Trinity\u2019s response to the 1918 flu pandemic, often referred to as the \u201cSpanish influenza\u201d or the \u201cSpanish flu,\u201d is doubtless merited in our present time living through the 2019 coronavirus.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a> With that in mind, the following is a recitation of Trinity\u2019s actions and some student responses made during the course of an event that impacted millions at the start of the twentieth. There are admittedly few Trinity sources, but those that remain illumine this region of history so relevant for us today and form the subject of our study.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2012\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2012\" style=\"width: 542px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/files\/2020\/04\/Quarantine-Lifted-The-Trinity-Tripod-11.5.1918.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-2012 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/files\/2020\/04\/Quarantine-Lifted-The-Trinity-Tripod-11.5.1918.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"542\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/files\/2020\/04\/Quarantine-Lifted-The-Trinity-Tripod-11.5.1918.png 542w, https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/files\/2020\/04\/Quarantine-Lifted-The-Trinity-Tripod-11.5.1918-259x300.png 259w, https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/files\/2020\/04\/Quarantine-Lifted-The-Trinity-Tripod-11.5.1918-375x435.png 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 542px) 100vw, 542px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;Quarantine Lifted.&#8221; The Trinity Tripod, Nov. 5, 1918.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While the College archives reveal that Trinity was not unaffected by the pandemic, there is no mention of it in our two major annals of College history. Esteemed College archivist Peter Knapp \u201965 makes no mention of the pandemic in <em>Trinity College in the Twentieth Century<\/em>. Rather, he notes correctly that the gravamen in 1918 for the College\u2014and President Flavel Sweeten Luther \u201970\u2014was World War I and the institution\u2019s military response. Knapp, quoting Luther, indicates that \u201cother areas of concern included student social and academic life, which had suffered from the disruptions of World War I.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a> Knapp notes, also, that the College held its Commencement in June 1918 in the midst of the pandemic. Indeed, with former President Theodore Roosevelt in attendance as an honorand and speaker, he gave his peroration to \u201c\u2018the largest crowd of people ever assembled at one time on campus,\u2019 estimated at approximately 5,000.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Professor of History Glenn Weaver, in his magisterial 1967 <em>History of Trinity College<\/em>, described the Roosevelt celebration thusly: an \u201cOpen Air Patriotic Service\u2026[which] was held on Sunday, June 18, 1918 the day before Commencement.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a> Weaver also mentions, in discussing World War I, that the government \u201cruled that \u2018fraternity activities and military discipline are incompatible in the very nature of things,\u2019 and all \u2018Fraternity activities\u2019 were temporarily suspended.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> Mandatory Chapel services were also discontinued under the order. Might this have been an early, unintended instantiation of \u201csocial distancing\u201d? It seems unlikely, though perhaps there was some benefit. In any event, Weaver dedicates much of his remaining time to the \u201cstormy interlude under Acting-President Perkins\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a> around an academic spat between Professors Humphrey and Urban. The pandemic, meanwhile, remains unaddressed.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thus, to get at the history of the flu, we cannot look to the extant giants of Trinity history. We must assemble from the College archives snippets and fragments, extracts and excerpts, which together help us to glean some insight into the 1918 pandemic and its impact on Trinity College and its students. This brief treatise is separated into three parts: official actions first, <em>viz.<\/em> by the Board of Trustees and the College write large, followed by alumni deaths and obituaries, concluded by an examination of the student response in the <em>Tripod<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>The Board of Trustees and the 1918 Pandemic <\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Board of Trustees meetings make no explicit references to the pandemic. Indeed, they address far more the state of military preparedness on campus and the general absence of the student body as a result of World War I. President Luther\u2019s report at the April 25, 1918 meeting noted that \u201cwe opened the year with 167 names on our student roll, this figure showing a reduction of about 40% from normal\u2026. Probably there are not more than 125 men in College and others will go.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a> Thus, it is in the context of a comparatively small number of students on campus that the pandemic would arise and bring death to the Trinity community.<\/p>\n<p>The 1916-1917 Trinity College Student Handbook, issued shortly before the pandemic, describes the medical care Trinity students could expect to receive:<\/p>\n<p>Students who are ill are at once visited by the Medical Director. In cases of serious illness, the patient may be removed to the Hartford Hospital, where adequate provision is\u00a0made for students of the college.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn9\" name=\"_ftnref9\">[9]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>There is nothing more on matters of student health. It seems, however, that at least one student would fall ill and be \u201cremoved to Hartford Hospital\u201d in accordance with the Handbook\u2019s\u00a0provisions, one Aubrey King, whose case is examined further <em>infra<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>As the <em>Tripod<\/em> would report, the most significant disruption would be that Trinity, specifically its Students\u2019 Army Training Corps (S.A.T.C.), were subject to a quarantine in October 1918.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn10\" name=\"_ftnref10\">[10]<\/a> <em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, too, reported that \u201cmembers of the Trinity College S.A.T.C. have been ordered to remain upon the college grounds until further notice because of the epidemic of Spanish influenza in the city.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn11\" name=\"_ftnref11\">[11]<\/a> It wasn\u2019t clear if other members of the Trinity community were restricted under the order. Trinity was not alone in taking action: the <em>Courant <\/em>reported that \u201cSmith College [re]opened Friday after the quarantine caused by the influenza epidemic\u201d and that the Loomis School had five cases and closed for a week.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn12\" name=\"_ftnref12\">[12]<\/a> However, the Board of Trustees make no reference to the Trinity quarantine nor do they discuss it at their October meeting. It seems not to have been especially important to Luther.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the first and only statement on the matter from the Board arises from President Luther indirectly, who in his June 20, 1919 report contends that the College had \u201cbeen marked by general unrest, misunderstandings, complaints, schemes looking toward reforms not greatly different from revolution.\u201d Luther suggests that much of this \u201cprobably arises from or is a part of the general uneasiness throughout the world \u2013 an uneasiness which manifests itself in all sorts of ways, from dynamite bombs to petitions addressed to the Trustees.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn13\" name=\"_ftnref13\">[13]<\/a> He offers no suggestion of what precisely that \u201cuneasiness\u201d is, presumably encompassing the Great War and the pandemic, and he also offers no statement of the College\u2019s responses to remedy that unease.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cpetitions\u201d he references, introduced during the height of the pandemic, include one circulated to the Trustees by alumni regarding an amendment to campus residency policies, which seem in part tied to Spanish or \u201cforeign\u201d influence. The petition proposed that students of \u201calien birth\u201d or those of \u201cfathers [who] were of alien birth\u201d reside on-campus, under College purview, for their first two years in the interest of \u201cAmericanization\u201d and the protection of the community. While ambiguous at times in its stated objectives, the reasons for the proposal\u2019s introduction may well have been in response to the fear that foreigners residing off-campus, beyond the authority of the College, posed a threat to the general welfare of Connecticut. Interestingly, the Board\u2019s General Advisory Committee seems to have been rather forward-thinking, ruling against the alumni petition and determining that \u201cit is not advisable to recommend any modification of this rule at present.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn14\" name=\"_ftnref14\">[14]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Even with these veiled allusions, the first and only time the word \u201cinfluenza\u201d is explicitly stated in any official College publication is the January 1919 bulletin from the S.A.T.C., where the College references the quarantine and illness among the S.A.T.C. broadly:<\/p>\n<p>Trinity very largely escaped the first epidemic of influenza, but later a considerable number of men were isolated or confined in the hospitals on account of what may or may not have been real influenza. Again the orders from Washington discharging men at various times all through the month of December naturally broke up many classes.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn15\" name=\"_ftnref15\">[15]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The College\u2019s budget of June 18, 1920 affords insight into the medical preparedness of Trinity: there was $50.00 allocated for \u201cmedical supplies\u201d and $3,500 and $1,800 apportioned for the salaries of a Medical Director and Assistant Medical Director, respectively.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn16\" name=\"_ftnref16\">[16]<\/a> The medical positions had been in place as early as 1909, when the College underwent a different \u201cepidemic of Influenza and Conjunctivitis which prevailed during February and March.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn17\" name=\"_ftnref17\">[17]<\/a> Trinity had the same campus doctor in 1909 as it did in 1918: \u201cDoctor Swan\u201d or Horace Cheney Swan, also a Professor of Physical Education, oversaw campus health. In his greatest moment before the Board, he seems to have admonished the College for not taking steps to \u201cfill at least partially the unsightly and unhygienic pit in the southwest corner of campus.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn18\" name=\"_ftnref18\">[18]<\/a>History leaves uncertain the question of when and if this \u201cunsightly pit\u201d was dealt with.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from the S.A.T.C. incident, the College\u2019s Board also saw a Trinity churchman and fellow Trustee called to action. The Right Reverend Ernest Milmore Stires, D.D.\u201901, was an Episcopal priest and later the 3<sup>rd<\/sup> Bishop of Long Island. In 1920, Stires tendered his resignation from the Board of Trustees in what appears to have been a response to his duties serving on a committee of appointments for the Episcopal Church beset by influenza concerns. The Board never acted upon his proffered resignation and Stires appears to have remained on the Board.<\/p>\n<p>Stires penned his letter to the Board on May 25, 1920, remarking that it has \u201cbeen a keen disappointment to me that the inflexible character of previous engagements have so far prevented my attendance upon the meetings of the Trustees of Trinity College. Although I dreaded such conditions when I accepted the distinction of election, yet I never dreamed that the fact would be more serious than my fear.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn19\" name=\"_ftnref19\">[19]<\/a> Those \u201cprevious engagements,\u201d which prompted Stires to miss board meetings in 1919, are illumined in the<em> Journal of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church<\/em>. Stires served on a \u201cJoint Commission on the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution Providing for the Election and Consecration of a Suffragan Bishop for a Province.\u201d That commission, the <em>Journal<\/em> reports, was also responsible for procedure in appointments and consecrations generally and, \u201con account of the epidemic of Influenza prevailing,\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn20\" name=\"_ftnref20\">[20]<\/a>ultimately delayed the consecration of the Rev. Henry Beard Delany, D.D., Suffragan Bishop-elect for North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>The crisis, if it were ever considered by the College a crisis at all, had abated by June 17, 1921, at least in the eyes of newly elected President Remsen Brinckerhoff Ogilby. He was pleased to report that while \u201ctwo studensts [sic] have left college on account of injury and illness\u2026on the whole the health of the student body has been good. We have had not epidemics of any kind.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn21\" name=\"_ftnref21\">[21]<\/a> Interestingly, the College\u2019s budget proposal for 2022 makes no mention of \u201cmedical expenses\u201d nor does it appear to have retained the positions of medical director and assistant medical director.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Losses \u2019Neath the Elms: Alumni Deaths Reported in the College\u2019s <em>Bulletin<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <em>Trinity College Bulletin<\/em>, an early compendium of our modern <em>Reporter<\/em> and the College\u2019s present curricular <em>Bulletin<\/em>, cited several alumni deaths as a result of the influenza.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Bulletin<\/em>\u2019s necrology for 1918-1919 reported the deaths of five alumni, the most prominent of which was William James Hamersley \u201909 of Old Saybrook, late of Hartford. Hamersley was a Hartford attorney for the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, a state representative in the Connecticut legislature, and saw service with the First Connecticut Cavalry on the Mexico border in 1916.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn22\" name=\"_ftnref22\">[22]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The <em>Bulletin <\/em>reported that following his service, Hamersley \u201cthrew himself into civilian relief work [during the war], especially in connection with the Red Cross\u201d and that his duties \u201ctook him to Camp Devens during the epidemic of Spanish influenza.\u201d Camp Devens, in Ayer and Shirley, Massachusetts, was a prominent army training base and became one of the epicenters of the outbreak. Hamersley died on October 12, 1918 after the \u201cinfluenza developed into pneumonia and pleurisy\u2026[and] his heart failed.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn23\" name=\"_ftnref23\">[23]<\/a> <em>The Hartford Courant<\/em> described his death as \u201centirely unexpected as he had apparently practically recovered from both disorders.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn24\" name=\"_ftnref24\">[24]<\/a> The <em>Tripod<\/em> also reported on Hamersley\u2019s passing, recalling his \u201csteady character and great ability\u2014a fine example of a Christian gentleman and a Trinity man\u201d and noting that he had been Secretary of the Board of Fellows of the College.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn25\" name=\"_ftnref25\">[25]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hamersley had a public funeral at Trinity Church, Hartford, with Rev. Robert E. Marshall officiating, despite the pandemic outbreak and the partial quarantine for the S.A.T.C. at Trinity.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn26\" name=\"_ftnref26\">[26]<\/a> The <em>Courant<\/em> reported that President Luther was in attendance and among the pallbearers.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn27\" name=\"_ftnref27\">[27]<\/a> Hamersley\u2019s father\u2014William Hamersley, Hon. LL. D. \u201958\u2014was a noted Trinity philanthropist and Hartford judge on the Court of Errors (now the Connecticut Supreme Court). Hamersley, Sr. was honored by the College upon his own death two years later in September 1920.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn28\" name=\"_ftnref28\">[28]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hamersley was by no means the only Trinity loss, however. Leroy Austin Ladd \u201908 of Hartford, late of Phoenix, Arizona, was elected \u201cChairman of the Commission of State Institutions,\u201d though \u201cimmediately after the election\u2026was stricken with Spanish influenza, which developed into pneumonia. After an illness of less than a week, he died November 16, 1918.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn29\" name=\"_ftnref29\">[29]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Paul Roebling \u201917 of Morris Plains, New Jersey, was the youngest alumnus casualty of the influenza noted in the <em>Bulletin<\/em>, who on December 13 was \u201cstricken with Spanish influenza and died at Bernardsville, New Jersey December 16, 1918.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn30\" name=\"_ftnref30\">[30]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Two Trinity students, sadly, did not see a Commencement as a result of the influenza. Lester Hubbard Church \u201920, while serving as a third-class quartermaster on a submarine undergoing repairs in New London, \u201cwas stricken with Spanish influenza. This developed into pneumonia and he died September 26, 1918.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn31\" name=\"_ftnref31\">[31]<\/a> Aubrey Gordon King \u201922 was the youngest casualty in the <em>Bulletin<\/em> and the only who seemed to be residing on campus at the time: while still at Trinity, he was \u201ctaken ill with Spanish influenza on Tuesday, November 19, and died at the Hartford Hospital on Sunday, December 2, 1918.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn32\" name=\"_ftnref32\">[32]<\/a> The <em>Ivy<\/em>, too, reported his death in 1920. Doubtless there remain more alumni whose deaths were not noted in the <em>Bulletin<\/em>, but the above afford us a sampling of some of those who suffered and died by the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>\u201cNow Then-Trinity!\u201d: The<em> Tripod <\/em>and Student Coverage of the 1918 Pandemic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <em>Tripod<\/em> first announced in its October 8, 1918 edition that by an \u201cofficial order published on Saturday, October 4, all S.A.T.C. men were restricted to the college grounds until further notice as a necessary precaution to prevent possibility of contracting influenza.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn33\" name=\"_ftnref33\">[33]<\/a> The initial order raised appreciable concern as it made no mention of sports, though on October 5 a new order remedied the concern. It announced that sports would be \u201cauthorized and encouraged and that although set games would not be allowed on Sunday, it would be permitted to throw and kick ball, except from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., if no excessive noise was made.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn34\" name=\"_ftnref34\">[34]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The <em>Tripod<\/em>, in its November 5, 1918 edition, reported the end of the October quarantine. It reported that \u201cthe influenza ban, which had restricted members of the S.A.T.C. [Students\u2019 Army Training Camp] to the college grounds since Oct. 4, was formally rescinded at retreat on Friday.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn35\" name=\"_ftnref35\">[35]<\/a> The <em>Tripod<\/em> also indicated that there remains, however, \u201crestrictions\u2026on trolley cars and drinking at soda fountains.\u201d The students could still not leave the College\u2019s campus without permission, as the <em>Tripod<\/em> noted the requirement that individuals must procure passes and are \u201care required to \u2018sign out\u2019\u201d before leaving campus.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn36\" name=\"_ftnref36\">[36]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>There were also impacts on the scholarly pursuits of students. According to the <em>Tripod<\/em>, the College\u2019s library saw an increase in attendance during the month of October 1918, with 2,750 visits versus 1,609 the year prior. The <em>Tripod<\/em>averred that this was \u201cno doubt partly due to the quarantine which has been on all of last month.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn37\" name=\"_ftnref37\">[37]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The <em>Tripod<\/em> also reported that one of the College\u2019s S.A.T.C. members had been stricken with the influenza several months later: in January 1919, Paul de McCarthy had \u201cnot yet received his discharge\u201d as he was \u201cat the Hartford Hospital recovering from the Spanish influenza and pneumonia.\u201d<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn38\" name=\"_ftnref38\">[38]<\/a> Like William Hamersley \u201909, McCarthy was serving at Camp Devens in Massachusetts when he fell ill.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Tripod<\/em> also covered briefly the deaths of several alumni, reporting on Hamersley in October 1918,<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn39\" name=\"_ftnref39\">[39]<\/a> as well as Rev. Robert S. Hooper \u201915, who was \u201cstricken with influenza, which quickly developed into a fatal attack of pneumonia\u201d on October 6.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn40\" name=\"_ftnref40\">[40]<\/a> Dr. Jerome G. Atkinson, another alumnus, was among the last Trinity men reported to die of influenza according to his obituary in the <em>Tripod<\/em> in April 1920.<a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftn41\" name=\"_ftnref41\">[41]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Aside from coverage of the October 2018 quarantine and some scattered obituaries, the <em>Tripod <\/em>makes no reference to additional actions by the College and no student opinions on the influenza appear to have been expressed in its pages. Student and alumni opinion, rather, seems centered on the <em>Tripod<\/em>\u2019s \u201cWar Fund\u201d and the College\u2019s military readiness.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Coda: Trinity, Connecticut, and the 1918 Pandemic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Trinity College and its response in 1918 have doubtless only been partially examined by the above. By no means is this an exhaustive reporting of the response and much work remains to be done. It is my hope that when the pandemic concludes and Trinity reopens, a thorough examination of non-digitized materials in the Watkinson\u2019s archives might bear new historical fruit. Certainly, for the <em>Tripod <\/em>and the Trustees, however, it seems safe to say that save for October 1918, College affairs continued unabated. The technological resources of the time and limitations of transportation made impossible the remote Trinity experience in which we find ourselves today. Nevertheless, similarities abound: my own affinity for the <em>Tripod <\/em>reminds me that we reported on confirmed cases at Trinity and the circulation of College guidance just as the <em>Tripod <\/em>did in 1918. I would be remiss to not add that I hope the <em>Tripod <\/em>of today preserves more of our present moment than the <em>Tripod<\/em> of yesteryear.<\/p>\n<p>Further, there is surely much more to be written on the subject of the 1918 pandemic in Hartford and Connecticut broadly. While this brief examination has been limited primarily to Trinity-specific materials, the <em>Courant <\/em>has a wealth of articles, reporting daily on the subject (some with occasional reference to Trinity), and also has advertisements for alleged \u201ccures\u201d which are of historical interest. In reading over the past month, I have found Gina Kolata\u2019s <em>Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 <\/em>and Catherine Arnold\u2019s <em>Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History <\/em>to be particularly perspicuous and worth consideration during these uncertain times.<\/p>\n<p>As we continue apace with our lives during the coronavirus outbreak, the institutional history of our alma matter has much to remind us of as we think about how the present day will be recorded and remembered by the historians of tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pro Ecclesia<\/em><em> e<\/em><em>t Patria<\/em>. April 5, 2020.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Endnotes\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> The author is indebted to Associate Professor and Chair of the History Department Jeffrey Bayliss for bringing this idea to his attention. The author\u2019s gratitude also lies with the Watkinson Library, Director of Special Collections and Archives Christina Bleyer, and College Archivist and Manuscript Librarian Eric Stoykovich for their helpful suggestions on using and finding materials in the College\u2019s digital archives\u2014<em>BWC<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Peter J. Knapp, <em>Trinity College in the Twentieth Century: A History<\/em>, (Hartford, CT: The Trinity College Press, 2000): 51.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> Ibid., 49; special thanks to Douglas Kim \u201987 for bringing this fact to my attention.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> Glenn Weaver, <em>The History of Trinity College: Volume One<\/em>, (Hartford, CT: The Trinity College Press, 1967) 282-283.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> Ibid., 283<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> Weaver, <em>History of Trinity College<\/em>, 286-287.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a> Though, interestingly, Weaver does make mention of a postponement of the Washington College Commencement in 1832 as a result of a \u201ccholera epidemic.\u201d The decision was made, said a committee through a notice in the <em>Courant<\/em>, with regard to the \u201cunfounded alarm of the parents for the safety of their sons in the institution.\u201d Ibid., 62; <em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, Jul. 31, 1832. The author is indebted to Eric Stoykovich for bringing this matter to his attention\u2014<em>BWC<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn8\">[8]<\/a> Trinity College Trustees, \u201cTrinity College Trustees Minutes, Vol. 3,\u201d <em>Trinity College Board of Trustees Minutes (1823-1967) <\/em>(1926): 266.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref9\" name=\"_ftn9\">[9]<\/a> Trinity College, \u201cStudents\u2019 Hand Book of Trinity College, 1916-17,\u201d <em>Trinity College Handbook<\/em>, Book 48 (1916): 58.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref10\" name=\"_ftn10\">[10]<\/a> <em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Nov. 5, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref11\" name=\"_ftn11\">[11]<\/a> <em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, Oct. 9, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref12\" name=\"_ftn12\">[12]<\/a> <em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, Oct. 20, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref13\" name=\"_ftn13\">[13]<\/a> Trustees, \u201cTrinity College Trustees Minutes, Vol. 3,\u201d 323.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref14\" name=\"_ftn14\">[14]<\/a> Ibid., 345.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref15\" name=\"_ftn15\">[15]<\/a> Trinity College, \u201cTrinity College Bulletin, January 1919 (Students\u2019 Army Training),\u201d <em>Trinity College Bulletin<\/em>, Book 72 (1919): 9-10.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref16\" name=\"_ftn16\">[16]<\/a> Trustees, \u201cTrinity College Trustees Minutes, Vol. 3,\u201d 371.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref17\" name=\"_ftn17\">[17]<\/a> Ibid., 12.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref18\" name=\"_ftn18\">[18]<\/a> Trustees, \u201cTrinity College Trustees Minutes, Vol. 3,\u201d 12.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref19\" name=\"_ftn19\">[19]<\/a> Ibid., 378.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref20\" name=\"_ftn20\">[20]<\/a> The Episcopal Church, <em>Journal of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church<\/em>, (New York: Abbot Press, 1920): 18, 72.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref21\" name=\"_ftn21\">[21]<\/a> Trustees, \u201cTrinity College Trustees Minutes, Vol. 3,\u201d 397.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref22\" name=\"_ftn22\">[22]<\/a> Trinity College, \u201cTrinity College Bulletin, 1918-1919 Necrology,\u201d <em>Trinity College Bulletin<\/em>, Book 74 (1919): 40.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref23\" name=\"_ftn23\">[23]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref24\" name=\"_ftn24\">[24]<\/a> <em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, Oct. 19, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref25\" name=\"_ftn25\">[25]<\/a> <em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Oct. 15, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref26\" name=\"_ftn26\">[26]<\/a> <em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, Oct. 15, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref27\" name=\"_ftn27\">[27]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref28\" name=\"_ftn28\">[28]<\/a> Trustees, \u201cTrinity College Trustees Minutes, Vol. 3,\u201d 386-387.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref29\" name=\"_ftn29\">[29]<\/a> Trinity College, \u201cTrinity College Bulletin, 1918-1919 Necrology,\u201d 36-37.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref30\" name=\"_ftn30\">[30]<\/a> Trinity College, \u201cTrinity College Bulletin, 1918-1919 Necrology,\u201d 48.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref31\" name=\"_ftn31\">[31]<\/a> Ibid., 54.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref32\" name=\"_ftn32\">[32]<\/a> Ibid., 56.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref33\" name=\"_ftn33\">[33]<\/a> <em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Oct. 8, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref34\" name=\"_ftn34\">[34]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref35\" name=\"_ftn35\">[35]<\/a> <em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Nov. 5, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref36\" name=\"_ftn36\">[36]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref37\" name=\"_ftn37\">[37]<\/a> <em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Nov. 19, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref38\" name=\"_ftn38\">[38]<\/a> <em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Jan. 14, 1919.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref39\" name=\"_ftn39\">[39]<\/a> See note 24, <em>supra<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref40\" name=\"_ftn40\">[40]<\/a> <em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Oct. 29, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/\/7B7F9DF1-33EE-4418-99AF-361AA307E7DA#_ftnref41\" name=\"_ftn41\">[41]<\/a> <em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Apr. 20, 1920.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Bibliography\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Episcopal Church. <em>Journal of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church<\/em>.\u00a0New York: Abbot Press, 1920.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, Oct. 9, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, Oct. 15, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, Oct. 19, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Hartford Courant<\/em>, Oct. 20, 1918.<\/p>\n<p>Knapp, Peter J. <em>Trinity College in the Twentieth Century: A History<\/em>. Hartford, CT: The Trinity\u00a0College Press, 2000.<\/p>\n<p>Trinity College. \u201cStudents\u2019 Hand Book of Trinity College, 1916-17.\u201d <em>Trinity College Handbook<\/em>.\u00a0Book 48 (1916).<\/p>\n<p>Trinity College. \u201cTrinity College Bulletin, January 1919 (Students\u2019 Army Training).\u201d <em>Trinity <\/em><em>College Bulletin<\/em>. Book 72 (1919).<\/p>\n<p>Trinity College. \u201cTrinity College Bulletin, 1918-1919 Necrology.\u201d <em>Trinity College Bulletin<\/em>.\u00a0Book 74 (1919).<\/p>\n<p>Trinity College Trustees. \u201cTrinity College Trustees Minutes, Vol. 3.\u201d <em>Trinity College Board of\u00a0<\/em><em>Trustees Minutes (1823-1967) <\/em>(1926).<\/p>\n<p><em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Oct. 8, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Oct. 15, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, October 29, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Nov. 5, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Nov. 9, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Nov. 19, 1918.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Jan. 14, 1919.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Trinity Tripod<\/em>, Apr. 20, 1920.<\/p>\n<p>Weaver, Glenn. <em>The History of Trinity College: Volume One<\/em>. Hartford, CT: The Trinity College\u00a0Press, 1967.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Brendan W. Clark \u201921 Editor; History Major An Introduction: The Pandemic of a Century A review of Trinity\u2019s response to the 1918 flu pandemic, often referred to as the \u201cSpanish influenza\u201d or the \u201cSpanish flu,\u201d is doubtless merited in our present time living through the 2019 coronavirus.[1] With that in mind, the following is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/2020\/04\/26\/a-concise-history-of-trinity-college-and-the-1918-influenza\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2171,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,27,39,181,31,13,36],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2011"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2014,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011\/revisions\/2014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/historyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}