By mid-September, over 1,000 cases of the flu had been reported in Salem. Some of the first volunteers to aid in this epidemic were the nuns of Ste. Chretienne Academy. After being displaced only a few years prior by The Great Salem Fire of 1914, the sisters had just completed the construction of a new school near the former Loring Villa when the illness afflicted their city. By October 1918, the French nuns offered their new building to the city to be used as a hospital. The sisters would ultimately volunteer to serve as nurses for the more than 60 patients that filled their building. The Influenza Epidemic would continue through 1919, with ebbs and flows of severity. Ultimately, the epidemic would claim an estimated 675,000 nationwide.
In 1972, Salem State purchased the former Ste. Chretienne Academy, creating South Campus.
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#SalemTogether Posts:
Salem Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis
North Shore Babies' Hospital
Now and Then Association
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Digitized Archives:
Ste. Chretienne Academy on Flickr
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