Plaster mold for bronze. Christian Petersen papers, RS 26/02/52, Iowa State University, Special Collections and University Archives.
Date
1919
Material
Likely bronze, plaster mold for casting
Dimensions
33 x 18 in. (83.8 x 45.7 cm)
Description
Memorial plaque of Flynn, World War I nurse in uniform, who served during the 1919 Influenza epidemic.
Markings
Inscription: IN MEMORIAM / JANIE FLYNN. T.S.H. NURSE / 1893–1918 / STRICKEN WHILE / SERVING THE / CITY OF TAUNTON / AS VOLUNTEER / NURSE DURING / THE INFLUENZA / EPIDEMIC
Provenance / Location
Taunton State Hospital, Taunton, Massachusetts.
Alternate Title(s)
n/a
Notes / Sources
The Jewelers' Circular, March 19, 1919, p. 137 "Attleboro: Christian Peterson [sic], a local designer, has turned out a memorial tablet in honor of Miss Janie Flynn, a State nurse who died while engaged in influenza work."
Mary Jane “Janie” Flynn (1893 – 1918) was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada to James, a coalminer, and Mary (Eaton) Flynn. The sixth of seven children in an Anglo-Irish Catholic family, Mary Jane shared the same first name of a younger sister, thus perhaps causing her to use the informal name “Janie.” In 1914, Janie and an older sister, Anna, immigrated to Massachusetts and enrolled in the Taunton State Hospital School for Nursing.
In the fall of 1918, a second wave of the “Spanish” influenza pandemic spread across the United States. Due to the United States entry into World War I in 1917, local officials struggled with a shortage of skilled medical professionals to staff influenza isolation wards. Janie, having recently completed her nursing coursework, volunteered at the Broadway Emergency Hospital in Taunton. She worked in the isolation ward at a time when virology was not well understood and put herself in mortal danger caring for others. The particular H1N1 strain of this pandemic proved unusually fatal for those generally considered the healthiest population of 15-to-34 years of age, as their robust immune systems overreacted and filled the victim’s lungs with fluid, killing them in a matter of days or even hours. Janie returned to the Taunton State Hospital on October 11, 1918, after contracting influenza and died a week later of pneumonia.
As many as 250 people died in Massachusetts each day during the month of October 1918. Nationally, 195,000 Americans died that month and by the time the pandemic ended, the total was 675,000. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “an estimated 1/3 of the world’s population was infected with the 1918 flu virus – resulting in at least 50 million deaths worldwide.” This eclipsed the number of soldiers killed in the Great War, and unlike the casualties on far off battlefields, these deaths occurred in every community. Feeling Janie’s sacrifice personally, officials of the City of Taunton awarded her family $500, and the Taunton State Hospital honored her with Petersen’s memorial tablet.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0)
