Pandemics & Epidemics in Mooresville, Indiana During the Last Century

Mooresville and Morgan County, Indiana are no strangers to pandemics, epidemics, and quarantines, as newspaper clippings from the last hundred years or so testify.  Mooresville Public Library has a video about it, which you may watch below.

"Pandemics & Epidemics in Mooresville and Morgan County, Indiana"

(Mooresville Moments #21)

(Click Clipping Above to Play Video)

During the 1918 Influenza pandemic, public gatherings were banned, schools closed, and masks were required apparel for persons in theaters, stores, factories, and other public places.  (Click the articles below to enlarge.)

 Martinsville Daily Reporter, November 19, 1918, p. 1

 

 Martinsville Daily Reporter, October 12, 1918, p. 4

A 1926 scarlet fever outbreak forced Mooresville schools to be closed, and students, staff, and their families were quarantined.  Once again, churches, movie theaters, and public entertainments and gatherings were prohibited.

 Mooresville Times, February 19, 1926

During the scarlet fever quarantine, measles forced a popular baby conference to be cancelled.

Mooresville Times, February 26, 1926

A 1939 smallpox epidemic compelled a quarantine, with school closings and restrictions upon public gatherings.

Mooresville Times, April 20, 1939 to May 4, 1939

Of course, the severity of these disease outbreaks was nowhere near as great as the 2020 Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but they illustrate how citizens and government leaders faced such health crises in our community in the past.