Share Your Family Story
Send us your family stories or memories from the 1918–19 influenza pandemic in Philadelphia and the region.
About the Stories
What happens when a deadly disease strikes a crowded city? How do people respond? What do they feel and fear?
Howard Caldwell Gregson
His pandemic death ended a brother’s childhood.
Angelina Benna Terlizzi
Maternal mortality in South Philadelphia.
Lydia Hurst Good
“There lies your mother, my dear girl.”
Frank Kietrys
The sisters had a pact
Clinton Kreider
He spoke very little and all I remember that he said, “you must stick together.”
Catherine Kuhn Schaeffer
Since 2 of the new mothers were ill, Aunt Kate nursed all three newborns.
Elizabeth Hughes
Throughout the epidemic, the utilized her nursing skills and medical knowledge to care for a number of people including family members and neighbors. All of them survived.
Glen Rayne
Military Training Camp Death.
Anna Marie “Nancy May” Long
She recalled seeing the cart come down the street to collect the bodies.
Isabelle Gallagher-Frank
Mom remembered how the bells kept tolling at St. Gabrielle’s Church