Volunteers

The severity of the influenza epidemic on campus created a great need for volunteers. The women of KU were quick to answer the call. Shown here are just a few of the faculty, staff and students who signed on to help care for the sick, some of them serving for the duration of the epidemic, and one who gave her life.

Clara Nigg was a first year student at KU in 1918. She graduated in 1921 with a degree in Bacteriology, and went on to earn her graduate degree in 1926. She was an instructor in Bacteriology at KU from 1923 to 1929.

Prior to coming to KU, Sara Grant Laird earned her undergraduate degree from Oberlin College (Ohio) in 1904, and a graduate degree from Columbia University (New York). She was an assistant professor of Rhetoric at KU from 1912 to 1953.

Rose Morgan earned her undergraduate degree from KU in 1894, and her graduate degree in 1905. She was associate professor of Rhetoric at KU from 1910 to 1952.

Before coming to KU, Margaret Lynn earned her undergraduate degree from Tarkio College (Missouri) in 1899, and her graduate degree from the University of Nebraska in 1900. She also attended the University of Oxford (England). She was professor of English at KU from 1903 to 1955. During the flu epidemic, Professor Lynn was in charge of the KU chapter of the Red Cross.

Hannah Oliver earned her undergraduate degree from KU in 1874, and her graduate degree in 1888. She was in the second class to graduate from KU. She was professor of Latin at KU from 1903 to 1947.

Elizabeth Sprague earned her undergraduate degree from KU in 1896, then graduated from the Boston Normal School of Household Arts in 1898. She was a professor and head of the Home Economics Department at KU from 1914 to 1956. During the flu epidemic, she was in charge of the diet kitchen for the infirmaries.

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Lucy McLinden of Cedar Point, Kansas, was a sophomore at KU. She was working her way through school as a librarian in the Physiology Library. She was among the first to volunteer in the S.A.T.C. barracks when the epidemic started. She continued to work after developing flu symptoms. When she finally succumbed to the illness, her mother came to care for her. Lucy developed pneumonia, and died on Saturday, November 9, 1918.

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