Flu Epidemic at Chanute Field, Stanley B. Evans Photo Scrapbook
Deadly outbreak
In 1918, a Spanish influenza pandemic swept the world, the deadliest in human history. This photo, from the Stanley B. Evans scrapbook, was taken in the YMCA at Rantoul's Chanute Field in 1918. The handkerchiefs worn over the face, some rather jauntily, were an attempt to stop the spread of the disease.