#sschat is a network of educators, resources, and ideas that started on Twitter, but has expanded to Facebook, an annual NCSS unconference, and more. Join us to chat asynchronously on Twitter or Facebook, or chat with us live on Mondays from 7-8pm EST.
Good evening & welcome to #sschat. I'll moderate tonight. I am the author of Don’t Know Much About History, In the Shadow of Liberty & now: More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War -the topic of the evening. https://t.co/avF5amLcsU
In a few minutes I’ll start with a question. But some background- new are talking about 1918 -100 years ago a year after #US entered #WWI. A million doughboys landed in France by May 1918 and carried a virus that was #MoreDeadlyThan War #sschat
Dan Krutka here! I’m excited for tonight’s chat because I’m halfway through @kennethcdavis’ excellent new book! Planning to finish it on my drive back to Texas tomorrow. #sschat
The global total may have reached 100 million as wartime conditions spread a deadly virus with no cure. Malnutrition, troops on the move, shortages of medical personnel all made the #pandemic worse. No place on earth was spared #sschat
I always felt back for Spain for having the flu named after them. It's doubly sad as it's only called it because Spain wasn't censoring the media! #sschat
Hey #sschat, Dwight from the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of NY checking in. Hope you're all having a great finish to your school year, or start of your summer!
Good evening & welcome to #sschat. I'll moderate tonight. I am the author of Don’t Know Much About History, In the Shadow of Liberty & now: More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War -the topic of the evening. https://t.co/avF5amLcsU
A1: Prior to starting #MoreDeadlyThanWar, I knew vaguely of the topic. It’s barely mentioned in textbooks or standards. My grandma had mentioned it in passing (she was born during it). Definitely undercovered as are health issues in social studies. #sschat
A1 I picked up on the "Spanish flu" as a trivia item at some point when I thought that history was all about 'facts I know that most other people don't yet"
Never mind that it is a defining event of the 20th century!
#sschat
Correct. Most combatant nations censored news. Spain a neutral country did not. Reuters sent a wire that the Kng was sick an Madrid was in an epidemic. The rest was history. #sschat
I don't think I've ever been taught about the Spanish Flu. I did find it interesting when it was depicted in Dennis Lehane's The Given Day! Also, it killed Cousin Matthew's fiancée! #sschat
In Massachusetts, we are constitutionall obligated to read at least 1 book by Dennis Lehane....
... also to climb the Bunker Hill Monument and/or throw teabags into the harbor at last once during our residency.
#sschat
A1-First reports did come from Kansas. The virus spread through basic training camps all over the country. Those boys were then sent to France and the flu took off in spring 1918. #sschat
A1-First reports did come from Kansas. The virus spread through basic training camps all over the country. Those boys were then sent to France and the flu took off in spring 1918. #sschat
A1 I did teach it when I was an active teacher. I liked to focus on the use of propaganda to generate public support for US and hatred of Them. I especially liked your image selection in the book, Ken! #sschat
A2 According to our district curricular map, we are supposed to spend 25 instructional days on WWI and it's aftermath. This also includes the Russian Revolution. #sschat
A1-First reports did come from Kansas. The virus spread through basic training camps all over the country. Those boys were then sent to France and the flu took off in spring 1918. #sschat
A2: I currently do not teach WWI but did my first two years of teaching. It was taught quickly as my first teaching experience I fell behind where students were to be at and had to speed up. #sschat
I do teach WWI. As for how - that is a big question! I have some maps, some competing narratives as to why it happened, try to do a grand sweep around the war - looking at specific battles, weaponry, soldiers from colonies, and the peace conference... #sschat
A1 I did teach it when I was an active teacher. I liked to focus on the use of propaganda to generate public support for US and hatred of Them. I especially liked your image selection in the book, Ken! #sschat
I teach WWI as part of a larger Foreign Policy thematic unit, but the components are:
1. how it got started
2. what the fighting was like
3. how US got involved
4. Versailles
#sschat
Sobering blog post by @OrderGoodDeath on the devastating 1918 flu and resulting art reflecting the tragedy of mass loss. “If the epidemic continues its mathematical rate of acceleration, civilization could easily disappear from the face of the earth.” https://t.co/bWZK4kFcX4
A2: no, it's not part of my USHist1 curriculum...
Isn't WWI usually taught as a cautionary tale in between the Gilded Age of WWII?
If so, that's how you lose the value of lessons/stories like the flu pandemic
#sschat
A1 I did teach it when I was an active teacher. I liked to focus on the use of propaganda to generate public support for US and hatred of Them. I especially liked your image selection in the book, Ken! #sschat
A2: My curriculum ends around 1900 but I slip it in when I can make the connection. I also plug @TheWWImuseum to the kids because it's awesome and so close. #sschat
A1: I introduce it in my #apush class as a food fight to show the alliances and get the students hooked, then we focus on propaganda, diseases, and military advancements #sschat
That is the remarkable story I am hearing over and over. This is a great family history assignment. Did a member of the family suffer in the #pandemic? #sschat
A3 I have been forcing my HS students to read The Great Influenza by John Barry https://t.co/0UwLbL5gB6 I love it. They hate it. I'm hoping your new book will be easier for them to get through. #sschat
BTW #sschat- one story I tell is of a 16 year old who tried to enlist in the Army, was too young and joined Red Cross Ambulance service. He got the flu & nearly died- name Walt Disney
A3 - Yes I have covered it in both US and World History before. Some years my students bring it up while we cover WW1 before I can even mention it. #sschat
BTW #sschat- one story I tell is of a 16 year old who tried to enlist in the Army, was too young and joined Red Cross Ambulance service. He got the flu & nearly died- name Walt Disney
A3: I don’t usually go in depth with the Spanish Flu but I did have a student last year do a research project on the history pandemics which was really interesting #sschat
A3: Not currently but I can tie to Black Death teaching and if I head back to HS, I will make sure to add into curriculum. I think so much history gets lost racing through the standards that we need to focus on essential sub standards and include more “non-textbook” info. #sschat
Hi Crew! Matt from PA checking in, I'm currently teaching Civics and Government to 9th graders and Leadership to 12th graders! Have taught US and World history too! #sschat
A4 I teach early American history, including the Encounter, Columbian Exchange, and the massive Native American death tolls as a result of European (germ) arrivals in the Americas. #sschat
Ask me again in November after our gubernatorial race and I'll let you know how KS is doing. Oh, and William Allen White, Amelia Earhart, Clyde Cessna, Hattie McDaniel... #KansasStuff#sschat
In reply to
@JeremyDBond, @flipping_A_tchr, @dankrutka
A4: Yes, in terms of Native Americans' brutal population devastation from European invasion/settlement in North America.
Without the microbes, the white folks would have been destroyed
#sschat
A4: in some aspects yes. Discuss germs within Renaissance and again with Age of Exploration. Students complete an essay on how much germs impacted exploration. #sschat
A4: Definitely cover the germs! I always make sure to address the Columbian Exchange and how the decimation of Native Tribes after initial contact with Europeans paved the way for settlement. #sschat
A4: I do in early American history with Columbus. I have my students run a trial on who was responsible for the mass murder of the Natives and the spreading of disease is usually a huge debate topic #sschat
That's a bold claim! It certainly would have been far more difficult, however, the different technologies available to each side also would have played a significant role. It's an interesting thought. #sschat
A4 I’d not made the connection between them until I read the book. It bothered me to read that many blamed “barbaric” nations for the disease. I imagine that headline could still happen even today. #sschat
The focus of most history classes and texts is political and military history. Just about everything else is left out or woefully under covered. #sschat
A5 The scope of the book doesn't address this, but I think the 1918 flu pandemic and subsequent recovery helps explain the irrational exuberance of the 1920s that led to The Crash
#sschat
It's interesting because I think the Spanish Flu would fit right into the 'need for isolation' that many in the US were promoting after World War I - it seems like it would be a big part of that narrative. #sschat
Sketchy estimated range from 25-50 million dead in Justinian’s Plague. BTW there is an Appendix in More Deadly Than War with milestones in medical history that talks about these historical plagues, #sschat
It's interesting because I think the Spanish Flu would fit right into the 'need for isolation' that many in the US were promoting after World War I - it seems like it would be a big part of that narrative. #sschat
This was well into a century of European/American contact. Had the microbes not had such an impact, the relationships formed could have been vastly different. Potentially more adversarial or more cooperative. #sschat
A5: It was given low press coverage while it was happening, given the broader context of WWI. A good lesson for students on how media can so powerfully shape the narrative without the public having any awareness. #sschat
How about mosquitoes? John McNeill's Smithsonian Mag article is accessible to students - Did leadership and tactics win the Revolutionary War or was it the malaria vector species Anopheles that took down half of Cornwallis's army? #sschat
Welcome to #sschat@LauraBrozka! It's a bit like drinking from a firehose, but filled with phenomenal educators and resources. We were all new at one point.
In reply to
@Mrneilhistory, @LauraBrozka, @LauraBrozka
So true. I often am up front with my students when I point out how the focus of my own lessons have changed based on the broadening of my own historical lens. It’s a soft intro to historiography as well! #sschat
In reply to
@dwsteven, @classroomtools, @Mrneilhistory
#sschat A4: In World Cultures class it's part of the Age of Explor. We view an episode of GGS, and then debate which element would change history if it was removed. Extend by journaling how germs alter culture after ebola pandemic in Africa.
It is interesting to learn about not just the spreading of the flu but the spreading of information - often misinformation but information nonetheless. #sschat
A6: @kennethcdavis's implication that the Treaty of Versailles was impacted by Woodrow Wilson's ailment is intriguing.... particularly this week with a significant international summit looming.
What little things impact history?!
#butterflyeffect#sschat
I'm good with just about any period costume drama, to tell the truth. I once yelled "Brain Fever" at a Mansfield Park screening (btw, the 1999 version touched on sugar plantations and slavery). #sschat#merchantivory4ever
A6: I think the biggest piece as an educator isn't so much from the flu & war connection, but the cursory nod the topic gets in our curriculums. While I know I have standards to teach, there's something about bringing in that additional element to really make it. #sschat
A6 More transparency and education is necessary when dealing with epidemics and outbreaks. Look at how many died from Flu this year. https://t.co/1rO6Xko2oq#sschat
A6: between press coverage, or lack thereof, of the Spanish Flu and the Sedition Act of 1918, I would emphasize the role of free speech (pros and cons of it) and mass media in shaping public discourse. Lots of relevance in today’s world. #sschat
Another great point. We deny science, and weaken the guardrails we’ve built at enormous risk. #sschat One of the most important lesson we can take away.
A6 More transparency and education is necessary when dealing with epidemics and outbreaks. Look at how many died from Flu this year. https://t.co/1rO6Xko2oq#sschat
I really appreciate the "Young Reader Editions" that are derived from the really dense nonfiction. Many of the great points & arguments, but more bitesized. #sschat
A6: propaganda and the media play a big role in what story gets told. This shows the importance of using multiple resources to get a more complete version of history... it’s the same lesson I tell my students about today’s media portrayal of “news” #sschat
A6 - I think a connection could be made between WWI being a time that the world "got smaller" quickly and modern air travel as a way disease can spread rapidly now #sschat
I think G J Meyer in A World Undone or The World Remade explains the attribution of the name "Spanish Flu" is related to the fact that Spain's press was not censored #sschat
We used to invest in medical R&D via our state universities. Now we have privatized it and left it up to Big Pharma. Can we really trust the profit motive to keep our healthcare system working? Get ready for more $400 epi-pens. #sschat
Thank you @kennethcdavis! As always - this was GREAT. I think I learned a lot and now have to figure out how to bring it to my students next year. Thank you! #sschat
Wow! That #sschat flew by tonight! Thanks everyone, for sharing and learning together. A big thanks to @kennethcdavis for moderating, it was really engaging! See you next week!
Wow! That #sschat flew by tonight! Thanks everyone, for sharing and learning together. A big thanks to @kennethcdavis for moderating, it was really engaging! See you next week!
Pretty much the way it goes around here... ideas abound, super helpful people, lessons, resources, you name it. #sschat is one of my favorites. So many more to choose from too! https://t.co/rI4KH8odMR
