Spanish Influenza Outbreak at GU, 1918
As the Students Army Training Corps (SATC) was being formed on campus during World War I, Gonzaga in October 1918 was hit with a deadly illness: the Spanish influenza. On Oct. 8, the entire campus was quarantined. The commanding officer and Fr. Rector gave strict orders to all students to avoid places of public amusement under penalty of expulsion in case of violation. By Oct. 18, there were more than 100 cases of influenza on campus. Spokane averaged about 2,185 daily. Gonzaga’s infirmary, Goller Hall, was filled to capacity with 40 patients for the first and only time in its history. The Red Cross sent volunteer nurses to assist with patients. Some seriously ill patients were sent to Sacred Heart Hospital. By December the epidemic had run its course. Altogether, three students and a Jesuit priest died, as well as a young girl, Mary O’Brien, who was on campus taking care of sick students. The Gonzaga community was so stunned by her death that six SATC uniform soldiers attended her funeral as pallbearers.

Photo caption: During the Spanish Influenza outbreak, President James Brogan, S.J. maintained full operation of Gonzaga University. Text provided by the Gonzaga University Archives. Photograph provided by the Jesuit Oregon Province Archives.