Influenza at Guilford College:
A Guide to the 1918 Pandemic
Guilford College President Raymond Binford began his report to the Board of Trustees at the end of the 1918-1919 academic year noting “One year ago last June when I assumed the duties of the President of Guilford College we were moving through troublous times.” In addition to problems of college debt and students and faculty serving in WWI as soldiers and in alternative service, President Binford reported that the academic year had just “…gotten under way when the great pandemic of influenza struck us and kept us in uncertainty for five months.”
College registration records show that forty-one of 176 students were ill with the flu in October and November 1918, with earlier waves of the flu taking place the previous spring. Sick students were quarantined in Cox Hall and the entire college was quarantined. Students helped care for students who were ill, sometimes coming down with the flu themselves. The college's efforts to care for students were rewarded as no students or faculty died.
Life at Guilford College in 1918 is documented in the college's archives. Examples from primary documents and references to additional materials are provided. Those seeking to learn more are encouraged to contact us and to visit our research room to consult additional materials.
