![Telephone operators wearing masks, High River, Alberta [ca. 1918-1919].](https://i0.wp.com/www.unwrittenhistories.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/52348516_300632070651733_4016322243175907328_n.jpg?resize=676%2C397)
Telephone operators wearing masks, High River, Alberta [ca. 1918-1919]. Courtesy of the Glenbow Archives
If you’ve been reading the roundup for a while, you are likely aware of Neil Orford and Blake Heathcote’s project, Defining Moments Canada. Defining Moments Canada is a digital storytelling platform dedicated to the development of crowd-sourced commemorative projects on a range of subjects. As part of this project, Defining Moments is working to empower Canadians to tell their own stories within their communities by providing them with the resources to do so. Not only does the website provide information on telling compelling and effective stories as well as advice on conducting reliable online research, but it also provides explanatory essays, images, and lesson plans on select topics to enhance and enrich these stories. As of this moment, Defining Moments Canada is completing their collection of material on the Spanish Flu pandemic, and beginning work on the 75th anniversary of the landing at Juno Beach.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Spanish Flu pandemic, also known known as the 1918 Influenza Pandemic, this term refers to the influenza pandemic that swept the globe between January 1918 and December 1920. Current estimates suggest that around 500 million people caught the disease, and somewhere between 50 to 100 million people died of it, which is equivalent to roughly three to five percent of the global population. While influenza was not a new disease at the time, the strain that caused the pandemic (H1N1) was particularly deadly and particularly virulent. It also disproportionately affected previously health young adults. For those of you who are (or were) Twilight fans, this was what killed Edward Cullen the first time around. And yes, I do teach the pandemic by making this reference.
