Roseville In The Age of a Flu Virus
By Christina Richter
April 2020
History teachers don’t particularly talk about pandemics, and if you speak to an elder they’ll likely respond that disease has always been a terrible fact of life. Throughout time nothing has killed more human beings than infectious disease. In addition to flu viruses the world has experienced typhoid, smallpox, diptheria, polio, and cholera.
We’ve been here before. The problem is we don’t like to remember. The pages of history pertaining to epidemics have largely gone unread. Nonetheless, epidemics and especially pandemics, have altered our lives and inevitably our world’s lifestyle.
The 2009 swine flu pandemic killed upwards of 575,000 worldwide. The Hong Kong flu of 1968 took one million lives worldwide and the 1957 Asian flu pandemic killed 1.1 million worldwide according to the CDC. Yet few Americans can readily recall all three of these relatively recent pandemics.
If there is recollection it’s likely the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918/1919. It came in three waves, with the second being the most deadly. The numbers vary, but we know it killed at least 50 million worldwide, with 675,000 of those deaths in our own country.
Roseville and our surrounding area wasn’t immune to this killer. Newspaper reports from the state and most especially local publications provide insight into an era that maybe isn’t so different from today.
To start, the origin of the virus was reported incorrectly. On June 3, 1918 the Long Beach Daily News reported a mysterious plague breaking out in Madrid. In Santa Cruz there was talk of a German submarine spreading germs. On June 27, 1918 the San Francisco Examiner reported a flu epidemic all along the German front, while the Sacramento Bee reported that the illness in Germany was due to hunger.
By September of 1918 we thought the sickness had worn itself out as cases of the virus settled down. But as WWI began to conclude, and our troops started to return home, the 2nd wave occurred and this one hit home, hard. On September 14 reports out of Washington indicated that the Surgeon General was surveying America to understand “the extent of Spanish influenza.”
The Sacramento Bee ran a lengthy article in late September 1918 telling the city to “Get Ready to Fight Spanish Influenza” and further explained that any outbreaks would be immediately quarantined. The very next month Roseville closed its grammar schools saying that only 24 pupils showed up, largely because parents were keeping their children home to avoid being infected.
The 2nd wave of the Spanish Flu was in full force and the world was once again under the siege of the killer. People frenzied and unlikely explanations ran rampant. One report indicated that aspirin was responsible for spreading the germs, another said that a vaccine had been discovered and was being prepared for immediate use in large quantities. Yet Another article, surely meant to ease panic, explained that no disastrous spread should be anticipated. A Santa Ana article even reported “It is said to be the same old influenza or grippe that has swept Europe and America time after time for centuries.”
But reality proved sobering. On October 1, 1918 the Sacramento Bee reported that the death toll in the Army and Navy had reached 1,577 men and the next day the Bee reported that Army Camps had to deal with 14,000 new cases in one day.
Also on October 1, 1918 the Roseville Press Tribune rang the alarm with “Spanish Influenza Is Reported Here.” The article said “A strict quarantine is to be maintained and all residents of the city are urged to use every precaution against the spread of the disease. The use of gargles and throat washes is particularly urged as a preventative measure.”
We knew we had to act fast. On October 18, 1918 it was announced that Cora Woodbridge was appointed chair of the Roseville Home Nursing Committee. As president of the Women’s Improvement Club she urgently rallied their members to immediate action. The women identified an empty building on Vernon Street known as “the Old Tanner House” and with community help, within 48 hours they turned it into the first hospital in Roseville, albeit makeshift.
The situation was turning dire. The October 22, 1918 Roseville Press Tribune headlines reported “Influenza Ravages Roseville Residents” and it further exclaimed that “the Grim Reaper had been swinging his scythe and cutting a wide swatch during the week.”
Our town of about 4,000 inhabitants was scared and suffering. The Southern Pacific reported 100 employees infected, dozens of families were continuing to fall ill, and the number of dead began to rise, rapidly. In response, every public gathering place, school, church and theater closed. Public meetings of any kind were considered off limits. All court proceedings were postponed. The community minded West House owners enabled the Red Cross to set up a soup kitchen and food was delivered to homes where needed.
With over 40 deaths Roseville lost 10% of her citizens. Had the Women’s Improvement Club not set up a temporary hospital, with physician assistance, surely that number would have been higher. The hospital opened on 10/31/1918, and stayed in operation for 31 days, treated 71 patients and lost two to the virus within that time. The cost was around $400 (appx $7,000 today).
The worst was over.
On December 8, 1918 the Roseville Women’s Improvement Club celebrated the end of both the war and the epidemic. Their noble work had saved lives. The Tanner Rooming House was taken over by Broyer Mortuary and the Women’s Improvement Club went on to do their community work, while the city of Roseville cautiously returned to normal.
Our small community had risen to meet the epidemic head on. Like the rest of the world we didn’t really know what we were battling but with spirited efforts, especially led by the women of Roseville, we punched through the worst pandemic in history.
A true leader, Cora Woodbridge went on to become the first woman elected to the 9th District of the California State Assembly in 1922, and served until 1928.
So much has changed since 1918, and so much remains the same. As soon as we can move past the difficult we quickly reach for happiness. In the Spanish Flu era particularly, we mostly remember the end of WWI and the soon to follow “roaring” part of the 1920s. We gladly let these events overshadow the grief and sadness of the killer pandemic. That is human nature.
Here we are in the Corona Virus of 2020. Let’s remember that this is yet another chance to better prepare our next generation for the inevitable.
Written with consultation and permission from Dr. Ronald Greenwood, retired pediatrician and past volunteer at the Roseville Historical Society.