Spanish flu, world wars: Look back to the times UT has shuttered campus
The coronavirus pandemic is not the first time in the University of Tennessee's history that courses have been disrupted and students have moved off campus.
During the Civil War, Spanish flu outbreak and world wars, semesters were disrupted. Measures taken during the Spanish flu mirror what UT has suggested during the coronavirus.
This year, the University of Tennessee moved all in-person classes online in March, asking students to move off campus if they were able. Students completed the semester remotely.
Earlier this week, UT Knoxville announced plans for the fall semester, which include holding classes on Labor Day and during the scheduled fall break. Classes will end before Thanksgiving break, and finals will be completed online in early December.
UT has experienced disruptions to the semester before, mainly in times of war. The changes proposed this year are similar to what happened in 1918, when the Spanish flu led to widespread closures.
Campus closed during the Civil War
UT Knoxville’s campus, then known as East Tennessee University, sustained major damage during the Civil War, Betsey B. Creekmore, a longtime university employee and historian, wrote in the Volopedia.
Buildings were taken over by Confederate troops in January 1862. The university suspended operations in spring 1862 after university President Joseph Ridley resigned and two professors and many students left to join military service.
Then, Union soldiers occupied Knoxville from 1863 to 1865. Buildings on the university’s campus were used as a hospital and as lodging.
While troops were living at the university, they chopped down trees to use as firewood. In the process, they destroyed several buildings, including a gymnasium and the steward’s house, Creekmore wrote. Damage was estimated to be about $15,000, according to a survey done at the time.
The university reopened in 1866 but did not return to its place on The Hill, where Ayers Hall is currently located, until 1868.
Spanish flu, World War I brought changes
Over 100 years ago, in 1918, the University of Tennessee made similar changes because of the Spanish flu.
In October 1918, people were urged to avoid public gatherings and crowds. The height of the Spanish flu in Knoxville occurred that month. In early October, the city board of health ordered schools, churches, theaters and pool rooms to close for nearly four weeks, according to Knoxville Sentinel archives.
That month, the old Reese Hall was converted to an infirmary equipped with cots and medical supplies. The Reese Hall infirmary housed 47 patients sick with the Spanish flu, the Knoxville Journal and Tribune reported on Oct. 6, 1918.
Enrollment at UT was already down because of World War I, then when the Spanish flu hit, it continued to drop. Enrollment dropped to 589 students on the Knoxville campus, said UTK archivist Alesha Shumar.
Campus events were put on hold and replaced with efforts for the war. Similar to what UT is currently planning for the fall semester, classes also ended early that fall. For the fall 1918 semester, most classes ended in early November.
The UT Athletic Council suspended varsity football in 1917 and 1918 because many players were serving in the military. Basketball and baseball were still played in spring 1919, but “those seasons were played much later than they are today,” Shumar said.
Campus began returning to normal in the spring 1919 semester, but enrollment did not pick back up until the fall 1919 semester, Shumar said.
World War II
UT housing was also used during World War II, displacing students.
In January 1943, the War Manpower Commission asked the university to provide housing and academic instruction for Army aviation cadets during a five-month basic training period. Several dorms and a gymnasium were used to house trainees.
“We told the commission we’d do our best to take care of the boys,” Fred Smith, then a university dean, told the News-Sentinel after receiving the news.
Additionally, the university housed draftees in the Army Specialized Training Program, and university faculty offered instruction in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering.