Halloween is just around the corner! Do you have your costume ready? These Ship students certainly did for their "Hallowe'en Social" in 1917. Students met in the chapel on campus and "formed a grand march to the dining room" where the dancing commenced. Life, however, was not all fun and games for these Ship students. What was ruining their good time? If you guessed World War I, you earn your history gold star for the day! Now think a little harder...what else? Let's look to the yearbook for some clues.
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| 1919 Cumberland yearbook |
The 1918 Hallowe'en Social was pushed to November 16 of that year due to a "vacation" students received that October thanks to the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. Also known as the Spanish Flu, the global outbreak killed tens of millions of people (estimates differ). From a local perspective, the Flu hit Ship's campus hard enough to cancel school and send forty people to the infirmary. Class of 1918 alumnus Harley Bleasdale Surface lost his life on this very day in 1918, after contracting the Spanish flu on October 4th. The Ship Archives has his memorial service pamphlet and copies of his poetry.
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| 1918 "In Memoriam" pamphlet of Cumberland Valley State Normal School alumnus Harley Bleasdale Surface |
The Spanish Flu wreaked havoc until 1920, leaving a legacy of devastation and postulation about its origins. The fact that students carried on with their Halloween dance amidst a World War and influenza epidemic shows that social events served as an escape during this difficult period. When you head out to your Halloween parties this weekend, just be glad you don't have a pandemic to worry about!
Want to learn more about Ship's history? No need to wait for the next Throwback Thursday! Contact Archives & Special Collections via e-mail: specialcollections@ship.edu or phone: 717-477-1516.
Sources Consulted:
1919 Cumberland. Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections. Shippensburg, PA.
Halloween Dance photograph. RG30.8. Folder 25. Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections. Shippensburg, PA.
Harry Bleasdale Surface memorial pamphlet. Class of 1918. Memorabilia 1916-1920. Shippensburg University Archives & Special Collections. Shippensburg, PA.
US Department of Health and Human Services. "Influenza Strikes." Flu.gov. Accessed 29 October 2015. http://www.flu.gov/pandemic/history/1918/the_pandemic/influenza/
Vergano, Dan. "1918 Flu Pandemic That Killed 50 Million Originated in China, Historians Say." National Geographic. 24 January 2008. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140123-spanish-flu-1918-china-origins-pandemic-science-health/
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