This is the story of how a Delaware Police officer, Charles Schultz, was killed 130 years ago in a line of duty. The patrolman gave his life while serving the citizens of Wilmington. The tragic death caused a sensation at the time, but once he was lowered into his grave, memory faded into the mist…
WCTU Fountain on Penn Square in Reading
READING, PA — These WCTU fountains, installed as part of the temperance movement’s campaign to convince men to give up stronger drinks, are still found in some cities and towns around the country. Thus since I was in Reading working on research questions related to how a series of turn-of-the-20th century progressive era social movements…
Delaware Hospitals Overwhelmed during Pandemic of 1918
After that deadly killer, the Spanish flu, slipped silently into Delaware in 1918, a devastating autumn outbreak crushed the state’s health care system. By the middle of September, the pathogen started making considerable inroads in New Castle County, and in the waning days of the month, nearly a thousand Wilmington residents fell ill. This unchecked…
Nurse Ethel Tammany Died Fighting the Spanish Flu
Since I started researching the pandemic of 1918 two years ago, I have spent many hours online mining data and at archives analyzing death certificates, undertaker registers, physician statements, and health department reports. Once I have sifted through death records for an area, I frequently pause to visit the cemeteries to remember those who perished…