The Weekend Historian
Never before in the history of the state has it become necessary to close schools, churches, theaters, saloons; in fact, everything except factories, offices and places of regular employment, including hotels, restaurants and stores in which food and clothing are sold were closed for periods varying from three weeks to eight weeks or more.State Board… Continue reading Wisconsin and the Great Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918
I can't help but be interested in the parallels of our current pandemic with the one in 1918. Naturally, I have been diving into the newspapers and trying to find any information/accounts/statistics of that horrible disease that swept the world back then. I stumbled upon this paper that sheds some light on our county's… Continue reading The Spanish Flu Experience in Winnebago County
Here are some of the headlines from the local Oshkosh Daily Northwestern newspaper on the early accounts of the "Spanish Flu" in the city.
Had you been around during World War I you would have lived through some things that would have made you say, "Uhhh, is this America?!" Yeah, things got that ugly. Freedoms were suspended, food was rationed, and your neighbor could get you arrested for saying gesundheit after a sneeze. There are a few of those… Continue reading Throwing Shade During WWI: The “Slacker” Part I
In a previous post, I wrote about my family members that served in the United States military during World War I. Those were the only three I had known of that had served, but I recently discovered that my Great Granduncle Leo Zillmer also served with American Expeditionary Forces over in Europe. Since then I've… Continue reading Ancestors in the Great War Update
The Winnebago County Gold Stars page is now complete. Please click here to visit.
Austin M. Frederick 