Peter Grant, “The 1918 Influenza Outbreak at Haskell Institute: An Early Narrative of the Great Pandemic.”

An analysis of the outbreak of influenza in an American Indian boarding school in March 1918 is reconstructed from archival records and contemporary news. The congressional record and various studies of the U.S. Indian administration were used to trace the history of health conditions at Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kansas. Residents’ health was found to have been compromised through overwork and underfeeding, while overcrowding and other unsanitary and unhygienic conditions, coupled with administrative lapses, created an unhealthy environment. A 1908 investigation of epidemic tuberculosis at Haskell documented the boarding school’s “hospitality to disease.” The March 1918 influenza outbreak at Haskell Institute was the earliest recorded American occurrence of the so-called Spanish Influenza. Five students who died during the outbreak are the earliest known American victims of the Great Pandemic. The epidemic was well-documented in medical records, case and mortality numbers, and obituaries, and it was judged sufficiently “unusual, perplexing, and alarming” that a public health alert was issued on April 5, 1918 — the first time such a nationwide alert was ever issued for influenza. This account challenges a widespread belief that the “Haskell, Kansas” referred to in the April 5 alert was Haskell County. The wording of the April 5 alert is such that it could have emanated only from Haskell Institute.

Alan Roesler, “The 1919 Victory Loan Flying Circus in Wichita, and the Campaign that brought it There.”

In the spring of 1919, the United States Congress enacted legislation authorizing the Treasury Department to sell $4.5 billion of war bonds to cover the costs of the Great War, as well as supporting our troops still remaining in France and Germany. The Treasury Department then collaborated with the Army Air Service to carry out a month-long promotional tour to promote bond sales in major cities across America. This was done by train, loaded with four different types of Air Service airplanes, to be flown by famous ‘aces’ who had flown in battle on the Western Front in France, as well as flight instructors from Air Service Flying Schools in America. Starting on April 9, 1919, the Middle-West train ventured northward up the Mississippi River Valley, stopping in all the major cities to host air shows each day for thirty days. They traveled north as far as Grand Forks, North Dakota before returning southward through the Missouri River basin. By the time they reached Wichita on May 1, 1919, given the weather circumstances, the Flying Circus was performing their nineteenth air show of their tour.

But, the Air Service had more on their agenda than just supplying entertainment. The War Department was still looking for the most suitable locations for its envisioned Air Mail Service, and it wanted to take photographs over all these cities. It specially equipped one airplane from the 50th Photo Section, Ellington Field, Texas to perform this task. And, even while the National Army was subject to demobilization and being reverted to the Regular Army post-war, the Air Service was heavily recruiting enlisted men to service their airplanes, because most of their enlisted men were being discharged after returning from France. Thus, the Flying Circus tour also served as a convenient recruiting tool. Lastly, the Army Air Service, which did not even gain permanent legislative authority until 1920 as a combatant arm of the United States Army, was eager to display its most recent technology and expertise. While the crowd-pleasing display did not directly increase sales of war bonds, it was nevertheless a major event attended by most of Wichita’s citizens.

Shane N. Galentine, “Senator Arthur Capper and the Close Count Election of 1936.”

When the 1936 election in Kansas is seriously considered, the name and presidential candidacy of Governor Alf M. Landon frequently comes to mind. Many students and observers of the era are unaware, however, that the state’s venerable senior senator, Arthur Capper, barely managed to win re-election to Congress during this tumultuous political year. Caught off guard by President Roosevelt’s personal popularity among Kansas voters, Capper failed to anticipate the democratic landslide that ultimately exerted a profound impact upon the results of his own re-election effort. Shane N. Galantine’s featured article offers a detailed account of the respective campaigns waged by Senator Capper and his democratic opponent, Omar B. Ketchum as each candidate vied for the attention and trust of members of the Kansas electorate. It also includes an analysis of factors that significantly influenced the outcome of this contest, a result that was totally unpredicted at the time it occurred. A careful examination of the circumstances that surrounded Capper’s 1936 re-election bid provides insight into the manner in which the political fortunes of any candidate can be affected by forces over which he/she has little or no control.

Book Reviews

Book Notes