Date: October 11, 1918

Title: Deadly influenza epidemic arrives on M.A.C. campus

Description:

The influenza which killed millions worldwide began on campus in October of 1918, following the arrival of an Army detachment to the area. The group had been housed at a temporary barracks on the site of Berkey Hall, but the barracks were transformed into a quarantine hospital and the soldiers moved to the new campus gymnasium. The Army Medical Corps and the College Health Officer responded quickly, but the influenza claimed the lives of 18 on campus. For six weeks the male and female student bodies were segregated, resulting in a limited amount of nonlethal cases in the coeds and the prevention of the disease spreading to the Women's Building.