Cancelling classes due to widespread illness is nothing new to Lawrence County.

In fact, almost a century ago, the county government ordered a lot more than the schools to close their doors in order to help combat a deadly epidemic.

In the fall of 1918, the Spanish Influenza epidemic claimed the lives of untold hundreds–possibly thousands–of Lawrence County residents. The disease is believed to have killed 3 to 5% of the world’s population (an estimated 50 to 100 million people), making it one of the worst pandemics in human history.

We will probably never know exactly how many people succumbed to the Spanish flu in Lawrence County, but we do know that entire families were stricken with it, and some lost as many as four or five loved ones within a month. It was serious enough that the county decided to impose harsh restrictions on public gatherings in an attempt to curb the disease’s spread.

On October 7, 1918, the Lawrence County Board of Health voted unanimously to adopt the following resolution:

“It is…ordered that all public schools and all private schools in the County of Lawrence be at once closed; that all public soda fountains and public drinking places be closed; that all picture shows, theatricals, and places of public amusement be closed; and that all public meetings and gatherings of the people in the County, be and the same are hereby forbidden…A strict compliance with this order must be observed, and any violation hereof will be punished as provided by law.”

This sweeping order was originally planned to be in place for just two weeks, but because the epidemic continued to rage throughout the county, the order was not officially rescinded until more than a month later, on November 11, 1918.

Included in this order, though not explicitly mentioned, were local churches, most of whom seemed to have complied with the order by cancelling their regular worship services.

Although the initial plan was to simply dock the pay of the teachers for time missed due to the Spanish flu closures, the state eventually did reimburse Lawrence County’s teachers for that month of work missed.