“On the Home Front: How the Influenza Pandemic Played out in Augusta County

Presentation by Nancy Sorrells and Caitlyn Alexander

ACHS board member Nancy Sorrells and ACHS intern and Mary Baldwin student Caitlyn Alexander will give a presentation about the great influenza epidemic. 

The fall of 1918 was a tough time for those in Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County. World War I was in its final death throes, but much fighting remained in the Meuse-Argonne campaign before the armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918. Many of the local men in the military were heavily involved in that series of battles and local casualties were high. And then the double whammy hit – an influenza epidemic swept the globe. The end result was devastating. Military action in World War I took 16 million lives, including almost 117,000 Americans. That pales in comparison to the 50 million lives lost to influenza – one fifth of the world’s population and the deadliest illness in recorded history.

This program is part of an area-wide centennial commemoration of the end of World War I