Author: Christina

On October 1^st, 1918, The Campus, SMU’s student newspaper, led with stories on an upcoming football game between the Mustangs and the Texas Longhorns, a look at how SMU was losing faculty to war work, and an exploration of street car service in University Park.

News about the First World War was found throughout the issue, including a student obituary on the final page. “Elonzo Sessions Dies in the U.S. Navy” described the passing of a second year Newspaper clipping student from Altus, Oklahoma. He was the third SMU student to die in service. But he wasn’t killed in action, or during training. Instead, the newspaper notes that “an attack of Spanish influenza developed into pneumonia, from which he did not recover.”

This was the first record of the 1918 pandemic found in the SMU student publication digital archives. The pandemic appeared in March of 1918, and spread throughout the United States, often moving throughout the network of Army training camps across the country. By October 1^st of that year, the second wave of the pandemic was underway. This wave began in late August, and is noted for being the deadliest period for the pandemic. The first wave resembled previous flu outbreaks, with the elderly and children most at risk. The second wave was when unique pattern of that pandemic became apparent, as young healthy adults represented a higher than expected number of fatalities.

A week later, The Campus noted that the Texas-SMU game would be delayed. Unlike sports delays in the fall of 2020, this was due to conflicts with military training Newspaper schedules. A short blurb let readers know that “Spanish influenza invaded the barracks of SMU at the opening of school. However, every precaution is being used that applies to that disease. The number of cases up to date is about fifty-four. The daily sick list, however, bears about thirty. As yet no serious cases have developed, and because of this the head nurse, Miss Wilson, believes the infirmary will soon be emptied.”

Throughout November, influenza stories were outnumbered by coverage of the end of the war. There wasn’t a daily count of the number of students and employees testing positive or in quarantine. Yet midway through the month, the tragedy of the pandemic announced itself. On November 13^th, it was reported that Freshman Ora Mae Cox died. Two weeks later, A.A. Vick, the SMU Registrar, sophomore Monroe Burson, and recent graduate Frank Rye had passed away. This was followed by the deaths of Student Army Training Corps (SATC) members Alvin H. Tolle, a freshman, and Dudley W. Ayres, a sophomore, and Elonzo Harvey. Issues of The Campus also carried notes of students who fell ill and recovered, and numerous cases of students and alumni who had died from pneumonia.

Newspaper article The final story about the influenza ran on January 29, 1919. “Memorial Services in Honor of S.M.U. Heroes on Friday” described a recent gathering and moment of silence at the university chapel. 473 students enlisted during the war, and 11 died in service. Among these men, one died during a training accident, three were killed in action, six of pneumonia, and one of the influenza–Elonzo Sessions.

Dallas was largely spared from the third and fourth wave of the pandemic. If you’d like to read more about Spanish Influenza in the Metroplex, check out the stories below:

Influenza Encyclopedia: Dallas, Texas

In 1918, Dallas and Fort Worth weren’t worried about the flue. In a month, 1,200 died

Here’s how Dallas managed the 1918 flu pandemic

100 years ago, the deadliest flu of all time devastated Dallas as it swept through the world

A pandemic devastated Dallas more than a century ago. Here’s why hundreds died

Explore SMU student newspapers by clicking here:

https://www.smu.edu/libraries/digitalcollections/stud

Questions? Email Christina Jensen, Head of Public Services, as cwjensen@smu.edu

Tags Pandemic, SMU, SMU Archives, Spanish Flu

DeGolyer Library Special Collections

Turkey Season

Post author By Christina
Post date November 25, 2020

It’s not hard to figure out why Turkey, and its preceding political entities, the former Ottoman Empire, Byzantine Empire, and Eastern Roman Empire, have been written about at length by western European diplomats, historians, and travelers. The region which encompasses some of the earliest sites of permeant human settlement, is positioned at a critical geographic point for trade, and has a distinct and rich culture of food, art, literature, and architecture.

page of a book — “The Life of Solyman” from ‘The Generall Historie’

The DeGolyer Library is home to a number of books on Turkey and the Ottoman Empire, from early modern political histories to travel guides and essays that help define Romantic Orientalism. One of the earliest works in our collection is The Generall Historie of the Turkes, written by historian Richard Knolles. Published in 1603, it was part of what was then a trend of 16th and early 17th century works about Turkey. These titles, particularly the histories, were usually published in Latin, making Knolles’ work the first to appear in English. It’s not surprising that studies of the Ottoman Empire were popular during Knolles’ life, as it had become one of the dominant economic, political, and military powers in the world.

Title page and frontispiece — ‘The History of the Present State of the Ottoman Empire’ title page

Knolles’ work was popular enough to see multiple editions reprinted over the century, with updates from later authors, including Edward Grimestone and Ambassador Sir Thomas Roe. In 1700, Sir Paul Rycaut wrote an edition of Generall Historie, which built on his existing reputation as an authority on the Ottoman Empire, earned through his service as private secretary to Heneage Finch, ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and as British Consul at Smyrna. What made Rycaut truly famous in regard to Ottoman studies was his 1666 book The History of the Present State of the Ottoman Empire. This was the first English account by an author with a personal in-depth understanding of the Empire, though it was also shaped by the legacy of Generall Historie, as well as the contemporary politics of the Stuart Restoration. The numerous editions received attest to its popularity throughout Europe.

Black and white illustration of a man in front of buildings by a river — An illustration from ‘Beauties of the Bosphorus’

In the late 18th and early 19th century, Romanticism took hold of Europe’s intelligentsia. Characterized by a glorification of the past, nature, and emotions, the movement birthed a wave of Orientalism. A Western tradition of scholarship and art anchored in a fascination with the eastern world, particularly Islam and the Middle East, Orientalism is also defined by a prejudiced outsider’s interpretation of the history and cultures it focuses on. During the period, travelogues and memoirs of Turkey became fashionable. The DeGolyer has a number of examples of this genre, including Records of Travels in Turkey, Greece, &c (1833) by Adolphus Slade, Travels in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia and Turkey (1827) by George Matthew Jones, and The Beauties of the Bosphorus [sic], written by novelist Julia Pardoe in 1838, which is pictured here. Bosphorus features Pardoe’s rumination on society in Istanbul, and features numerous illustrations of the region and its natural and architectural beauty.

If you’d like to learn more about any of the books mentioned above, contact Christina Jensen at cwjensen@smu.edu

Reference:

Ingram, Anders. Writing the Ottomans : Turkish History in Early Modern England, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy.libraries.smu.edu/lib/southernmethodist/detail.action?docID=4000881.

Tags Books, Ottoman Empire, Turkey