How did Hamilton handle the 1918 flu pandemic?
The pandemic of “Spanish Influenza” that swept the globe in 1918 killed over 50,000 Canadians and countless more fell ill. Yet little is known about the effects of the pandemic in Hamilton. How many people died? Who were they? What did the city do to try to stop the frightening epidemic? Written by a class of fourth year anthropology students at McMaster University, Anatomy of a Pandemic: The 1918 Influenza in Hamilton tells the story of how life and society in Hamilton was affected by the crisis and how citizens and city officials responded to the spread of infection – and the mounting death toll – in the fall of 1918. Professor Ann Herring’s class of graduating authors proudly celebrated the first printing of the anthology they spent months researching and writing for their fourth year seminar class at a launch party on April 5. With funding from the Experiential Education office in the Faculty of Social Sciences, the class was able to produce 100 copies of the book for distribution
