Story · newspapers, full-text search · captured 1 November 2026 (UTC)

Headlines of 1918

24 Kentucky newspapers through the autumn of the flu pandemic, read by one full-text search across their scanned pages, and one front page looked at closely.

Front page of The Bourbon News, Paris, Kentucky, 15 October 1918: seven columns of small type under a large masthead, with a big clothing advertisement at the centre.
The Bourbon News, Paris, Kentucky, 15 October 1918scan page 1 · archive.org/details/xt747d2q764t
the run

The question

captured 1 November 2026 (UTC) · scripts/site/capture.py
asked

How did Kentucky's small-town newspapers cover the 1918 flu? Show me how often it came up, week by week, and a real front page from the worst of it.

The assistant searched the scanned text of every newspaper on archive.org, then narrowed to the Kentucky collection and the six months from August 1918 to January 1919, listed every issue in those months to have something to count against, and opened one issue. Each section below names the tools that made it; all 14 calls, in order, with what each returned, are in the receipts at the end.

01 · Aug 1918 – Jan 1919

made with search_full_text · search_items_deep

One word, week by week

Full-text search
4,688
issues dated 1918 in the Archive's newspapers collection contain the word “influenza”
273 of 646
Kentucky issues, 1 August 1918 to 31 January 1919, that contain it
79%
of the issues in the week of 21 October 1918: 19 of 24, the highest share
21
of the 24 newspapers printed the word at least once in those months

Kentucky newspaper issues each week, and how many contain “influenza”

Weeks from Monday. Orange: issues whose scanned text has the word at least once. Counts as of 1 November 2026 (UTC). Choose a week to read its passages below the chart.

  • contain “influenza”
  • don't
01020304029 Jul26 Aug23 Sep21 Oct18 Nov16 Dec13 Jan
Show the weeks as a table
Week ofIssuesContain the word
29 July 1918190
5 August 1918300
12 August 1918310
19 August 1918290
26 August 1918260
2 September 1918220
9 September 1918232
16 September 1918232
23 September 1918235
30 September 1918238
7 October 19182418
14 October 19182316
21 October 19182419
28 October 19182419
4 November 19182418
11 November 19182717
18 November 19182414
25 November 19182215
2 December 19182012
9 December 19182014
16 December 19181911
23 December 1918158
30 December 19182312
6 January 19192716
13 January 19192918
20 January 19192915
27 January 19192314
Show the months as a table
MonthIssuesContain the word
August 19181350
September 1918929
October 191810771
November 191810773
December 19187647
January 191912973

Passages by week, as the full-text search returned them: OCR text, misreadings included, the matched word marked.

Week of 29 July 1918

0 of 19 issues contain the word.

Week of 5 August 1918

0 of 30 issues contain the word.

Week of 12 August 1918

0 of 31 issues contain the word.

Week of 19 August 1918

0 of 29 issues contain the word.

Week of 26 August 1918

0 of 26 issues contain the word.

Week of 2 September 1918

0 of 22 issues contain the word.

Week of 9 September 1918

2 of 23 issues contain the word; here they are in date order, one passage each.

11 September 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

STRUT DKUQ ITOBI WA\TEI> 100 horses with with Influenza to treat while awaiting my call to the r. S,

12 September 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

maaterpiece In six parte. WANTED 100 horses with with influenza to treat while awaiting niy coll to the r. S.

Week of 16 September 1918

2 of 23 issues contain the word; here they are in date order, one passage each.

16 September 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

at Camp Sherman. WANTED 100 horses with with influenza to treat while awaiting my call to the U. 8. Army

20 September 1918The Stanford interior journal

called to the color*. The epidemic of Spanish influenza now prevalent through Eastern ports mav have been

Week of 23 September 1918

5 of 23 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

24 September 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

Spanish influenza is a mixed infection, laboratory examination showing the presence of the influenza bacillus

27 September 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

who was supposed to be suffering from Spanish Influenza only has a bad case of la grippe Dr. J. S. Locke

Week of 30 September 1918

8 of 23 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

1 October 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

be here on account of the epidemic of Spanish Influenza. The Mason Coniily Liberty Loan ("onimlttee annomices

3 October 1918Central record (Lancaster, Ky.)

station of pneumonia, superinduced hy an attack of influenza. A telegram to the family yesterday brought the

Week of 7 October 1918

18 of 24 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

7 October 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

Detenae, and based upon such a rapid spread of Influenza aa to endanger the health and Uvea of the civil

8 October 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

etc, in view of the threatening: prospect of an influenza epidemic. "The order of the State Board of Health

Week of 14 October 1918

16 of 23 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

15 October 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

E£D CROSS TEA ROOM TO CLOSE DURING INFLUENZA. Because of the influenza scare and , ' the many strict regulations

15 October 1918The Mt. Sterling advocate

With the Barbarous Hun THE FINANCIAL SLACKER INFLUENZA VICTIM The sad news was received in 'city last

Week of 21 October 1918

19 of 24 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

21 October 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

sulphur In each shoe every morning and goodbye influenza. "This Is the remedy offered to the people of

22 October 1918The Stanford interior journal

Mrs Daisy Hunt, who has been very -o k with influenza, is able to be in MM* Mr Frank Hr.u.ks and Wal

Week of 28 October 1918

19 of 24 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

28 October 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

patients suffering 4* 4* from influenza, and, further, 4* 4* that influenza signs be placed 4* 4" on all

29 October 1918The Mt. Sterling advocate

of Mr. Noah lively, died Monday from Spanish Influenza. Mr. Lovely, who who was a son of Mr. Noah Lovely

Week of 4 November 1918

18 of 24 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

4 November 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

discovered that it was like influenza, though as hops do not usually have Influenza, there Is no name for the

5 November 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

prorldwhich will be given a jury trtal.! ed the influenza ban is lifted by that ^ JM JSK 8EBVICE 07 ♦ GOFHTBT

Week of 11 November 1918

17 of 27 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

11 November 1918The Kentucky Kernel

to ■■■unnw iv ueir boys who were stricken with influenza, and no place had been provided j for their comfort

12 November 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

cents to cents each. INFLUENZA SITUATION. Seemingly all danger of the influenza assuming an epidemic

Week of 18 November 1918

14 of 24 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

19 November 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

the* Spanish influenza. Reports from the Camp yesterday showed improvement In the influenza situation.

19 November 1918The Mt. Sterling advocate

weak with influenza. Mrs. AGohael Rooney and two daughters are sufTerin<; with influenza at their home

Week of 25 November 1918

15 of 22 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

25 November 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

lady. She waa taken ill several days ago with Influenza, which developed into pneumonia, the latter proving

26 November 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

special study of the causes and treatment of influenza, and is formulating plans for stamping out the

Week of 2 December 1918

12 of 20 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

2 December 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

In districts where there are non- no eases of influenza were anxious that their sohools be allowed to

3 December 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

determined whether influenza is developing. By going out you may be scattering influenza germs to the four

Week of 9 December 1918

14 of 20 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

10 December 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

SITUATION There was practically no change in the influenza situation, according to a report from Health Officer

10 December 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

t'AMKOHMA MASON COUNTY HAS HAD 2104 CASES OF INFLUENZA Relatives In Cincinnati have had a telegram telling

Week of 16 December 1918

11 of 19 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

16 December 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

received from the State Board of Health a supply of influenza vaccine which he is dlstrlbutiiiM among the physicians

17 December 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

attack of influenza. Mr. and Mrs. James Worjdford and Mrs. Lutrell are ill with influenza at the Woodf'rd

Week of 23 December 1918

8 of 15 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

23 December 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

of the Red Cross "neKiinliim the (Miidemlc of Influenza as a diansldr, eciuiil to the iBrgest that have

24 December 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

public since the seventh day of October, when the influenza ban placed all places of public gatherings on

Week of 30 December 1918

12 of 23 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

30 December 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

students :io that much ot the time lost during the Influenza epidemic can be made up. The attendance ,fn the

31 December 1918Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

Report — Influenza- Pneumonia from beginning of epidemic to December 1, 1918: All ages, influenza, 6,773;

Week of 6 January 1919

16 of 27 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

6 January 1919Richmond daily register (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.)

iBBO^latien is to render peisiAa InnRme from bo0i influenza and pneumonia. He said that the Mayo vaccine was

6 January 1919Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

that are coming in, and notwithstanding serious Influenza condi tlons in 62 counties which prevented a thorough

Week of 13 January 1919

18 of 29 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

13 January 1919Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

Ibys. . Uek Schools. There were 191 new cases of influenza in various parts of tlie county yesterday according

14 January 1919Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)

which expires January 17, Due to a spread of the influenza neumonia in surrounding cities and counties, nurses

Week of 20 January 1919

15 of 29 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

20 January 1919Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

Oraniebnrg. Minerva, Maysllck and Washington where the influenza haa been the most serious now report that there

20 January 1919Richmond daily register (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.)

who her. Owtef %a aaaani 0t har beinsr ill with influenza, the body was taken to the home of Mrs. Harry

Week of 27 January 1919

14 of 23 issues contain the word; here are the first 2 in date order, one passage each.

27 January 1919Richmond daily register (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.)

the atate in conneetion with tte recurrence of influenza in many Fanaara* Wa^ w4deh was to have been held

27 January 1919Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

telephone exchan^^e, died at his home this morning of influenza Mr. Call was 40 years of age and a very popular

The counts come from the OCR text, the words the Archive read off each scanned page. OCR misreads worn type, so an issue that printed the word can be missed; the counts are of issues where the search found it. The search reported 274 matching issues; its 274 results, paged 50 at a time, held 273 distinct ones (paging by relevance can repeat a result and skip another), so the chart counts those.

02 · 24 papers

made with search_items_deep · search_full_text

Paper by paper

The same calls, counted by newspaper

Issues of each newspaper, and how many contain “influenza”

1 August 1918 to 31 January 1919, most issues first. Orange: issues whose scanned text has the word; grey: the rest.

  • contain “influenza”
  • don't
Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)79 of 155 · 51%Bourbon news30 of 53 · 57%Mount Vernon signal9 of 41 · 22%Richmond daily register20 of 29 · 69%Central record11 of 27 · 41%Citizen (Berea, Ky.)14 of 27 · 52%The Big Sandy news.9 of 27 · 33%The Hartford republican10 of 27 · 37%Kentucky Irish American8 of 26 · 31%The Adair County news11 of 26 · 42%The Mt. Sterling advocate10 of 25 · 40%Daily Kentuckian0 of 24 · 0%The Breckenridge news11 of 24 · 46%Hartford herald9 of 23 · 39%Record (Greenville, Ky.)5 of 20 · 25%Oil world (Lexington, Ky.)8 of 19 · 42%The Stanford interior journal9 of 19 · 47%Hickman courier (Hickman, Ky.)7 of 18 · 39%Licking Valley courier.4 of 17 · 24%The Kentucky Kernel7 of 9 · 78%Crittenden record-press0 of 5 · 0%Mountain advocate1 of 2 · 50%Mountain eagle0 of 2 · 0%Owingsville outlook1 of 1 · 100%
Show as a table
NewspaperIssuesContain the wordShare %
Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)1557951
Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895)533057
Mount Vernon signal41922
Richmond daily register (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.)292069
Central record (Lancaster, Ky.)271141
Citizen (Berea, Ky.)271452
The Big Sandy news.27933
The Hartford republican271037
Kentucky Irish American26831
The Adair County news261142
The Mt. Sterling advocate251040
Daily Kentuckian (Hopkinsville, Ky. : 1918)2400
The Breckenridge news241146
Hartford herald (Hartford, Ky.)23939
Record (Greenville, Ky.)20525
Oil world (Lexington, Ky.)19842
The Stanford interior journal19947
Hickman courier (Hickman, Ky.)18739
Licking Valley courier.17424
The Kentucky Kernel9778
Crittenden record-press (Marion, Ky.)500
Mountain advocate (Barbourville, Ky. : 1904 : Weekly)2150
Mountain eagle (Whitesburg, Ky.)200
Owingsville outlook11100

A paper with more issues in the Archive has more chances to show the word, so the share in each row is the number to compare.

03 · 15 Oct 1918

made with get_item · search_inside · get_page_image

A front page in the middle of it

Search inside, page images

Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895): 1918-10-15, published by Champ & Miller in Paris, Bourbon County. Searching inside it found 49 matches for “influenza” on scan pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 of its 8 pages. Its front page is at the top of this story; here are two crops of it at a size you can read.

Newspaper column headed: Red Cross Tea Room to close during influenza.
First column: “Red Cross Tea Room to close during influenza.”get_page_image · region pct:3.3,10.9,14.8,13.9
Newspaper item headed: Nothing new in the influenza situation.
Fourth column: “Nothing new in the influenza situation.”get_page_image · region pct:48.2,44.0,15.0,10.6

The crop regions were chosen by eye from the full page image, as percentages of its width and height.

04 · in their words

made with search_full_text

What the papers printed

Passages from the search

Passages the full-text search returned, in date order, exactly as the OCR read them, misreadings included. The matched word is marked.

7 October 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

schools be close<l until the epidemic of Spanish Influenza spreading over the country has passed. This action

archive.org/details/xt75tb0xrz0b
10 October 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

understood thai there iire now about 1200 cases of Influenza The city is quarantined and Dr. Chollar will not

archive.org/details/xt7djh3d1p0m
11 October 1918The Kentucky Kernel

Board of Health is FRANK L. McVEY. President.! INFLUENZA QUARANTINE BARS TOWN'S STUDENTS Classes Open to

archive.org/details/xt75tb0xq18m
11 December 1918The Breckenridge news

Saturday. Attorney V. G. Babbage drew the papers. INFLUENZA BAN GOES ON AGAIN Epidemic Is More Prevalent

archive.org/details/xt7stq5rb87s
17 December 1918Public ledger (Maysville, Ky.)

"MayBvllie Health Statement" is as follows: The Influenza epidemic is past. Maysvllle suffered less than

archive.org/details/xt7j6q1shq47
1 January 1919The Breckenridge news

MORTALITY REPORT SHOWS 7017 DEATHS In Kentucky From Influenza And Pneumonia. More Died Between Ages of 20 And

archive.org/details/xt7wh708046n
receipts

Every call, in order

captured 1 November 2026 (UTC) · scripts/site/capture.py

All 14 calls of the run, in the order they were made, with what each returned. Open one to see when it was taken and which sections it made; press Play to watch them arrive.

  1. 01search_full_text(query='"influenza" AND meta_year:1918 AND meta_collection:newspapers', limit=1)4,688 newspaper issues dated 1918 contain the word

    taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)1 callshown in One word, week by week

  2. 02search_items_deep(query="collection:kentuckynewspapers AND date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]", fields=["identifier", "date", "title"], limit=500) × 2 calls2 calls: all 646 issues, with their dates and titles

    taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)2 callsshown in One word, week by week, Paper by paper

    1. search_items_deep(query="collection:kentuckynewspapers AND date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]", fields=["identifier", "date", "title"], limit=500)500 of 646 issues, with their dates
    2. search_items_deep(query="collection:kentuckynewspapers AND date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]", fields=["identifier", "date", "title"], limit=500, cursor="W3siaWRlbnRpZmllclNvcnRlciI6Inh0N3E1NzE3cGs4cyJ9XQ==")146 of 146 issues, with their dates
  3. 03search_full_text(query='"influenza" AND meta_collection:kentuckynewspapers AND meta_date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]', limit=50) × 6 calls6 pages of 50: the search reported 274 issues; 273 distinct ones came back, with passages

    taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)6 callsshown in One word, week by week, Paper by paper, What the papers printed

    1. search_full_text(query='"influenza" AND meta_collection:kentuckynewspapers AND meta_date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]', limit=50, page=1)page 1: 50 of 274 issues
    2. search_full_text(query='"influenza" AND meta_collection:kentuckynewspapers AND meta_date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]', limit=50, page=2)page 2: 50 of 274 issues
    3. search_full_text(query='"influenza" AND meta_collection:kentuckynewspapers AND meta_date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]', limit=50, page=3)page 3: 50 of 274 issues
    4. search_full_text(query='"influenza" AND meta_collection:kentuckynewspapers AND meta_date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]', limit=50, page=4)page 4: 50 of 274 issues
    5. search_full_text(query='"influenza" AND meta_collection:kentuckynewspapers AND meta_date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]', limit=50, page=5)page 5: 50 of 274 issues
    6. search_full_text(query='"influenza" AND meta_collection:kentuckynewspapers AND meta_date:[1918-08-01 TO 1919-01-31]', limit=50, page=6)page 6: 24 of 274 issues
  4. 04get_item(identifier="xt747d2q764t", files_limit=0)Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895): 1918-10-15; licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)1 callshown in A front page in the middle of it

  5. 05search_inside(identifier="xt747d2q764t", query="influenza", limit=30)49 matches on scan pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8

    taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)1 callshown in A front page in the middle of it

  6. 06get_page_image(identifier="xt747d2q764t", scan_page=1, max_size=900)front page, 614 × 901 px

    taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)1 callshown in A front page in the middle of it

  7. 07get_page_image(identifier="xt747d2q764t", scan_page=1, region="pct:3.3,10.9,14.8,13.9", max_size=900)crop of the first column, 653 × 900 px

    taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)1 callshown in A front page in the middle of it

  8. 08get_page_image(identifier="xt747d2q764t", scan_page=1, region="pct:48.2,44.0,15.0,10.6", max_size=900)crop of the fourth column, 869 × 901 px

    taken 1 November 2026 (UTC)1 callshown in A front page in the middle of it

sources

Sources and rights

The newspapers were published in Kentucky in 1918 and 1919 and are in the public domain in the United States, so their text is quoted in full. The scans are from the Kentucky Digital Newspaper Program at University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington, Kentucky, which the item's licence field gives as CC BY 4.0. Counts and search results change as the Archive adds and re-reads items; these are from 1 November 2026 (UTC).

Bourbon news (Paris, Ky. : 1895): 1918-10-15 · Kentucky newspapers collection