Maps

How was the math conducted?

For mortality or death (d) data we used the Thirtieth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Florida 1918 (1919) flu mortality reports from September to December 1918 and for county population (p) data by race we used the 1920 Florida population census. To calculate each county’s mortality rate, we used the standard mortality rate formula:

d/p x 10^n = mortality rate

To calculate mortality rate, deaths (d) are divided by population (p), and multiplied by 10^n to convert the dividend from a fraction, with the n power variable typically being “3” to calculate the rate per 1,000 individuals. For a complete list of the mathematical equations used to calculate mortality rates for each county, click here.

Results

This project proved that African Americans suffered higher mortality rates than whites in Florida. This argument is important because it challenges scholars to rethink flu historiography and forces us to consider the myriad ways racism and racial bias have sculpted our interaction with the viral world in oftentimes unseen and morbid ways.

African Americans suffered higher mortality rates than whites in seventy-six percent of Florida counties, usually two to five times the white rate. Although the African-American population was almost half the size of the white population, they experienced considerably higher proportions of death in their communities, similar to COVID-19.

Patterns and Parallels

Several patterns are observable. The highest total mortality rates occurred in counties with major cities and ports. Mobilization associated with World War I and heightened military presence in Florida contributed to flu activity in these areas.

In thirteen out of fifty-four counties whites had higher mortality rates. These were mostly rural counties. In some counties the black population was too small to be affected. In Okeechobee County the African-American population was 211 people with zero deaths, while the white population was 1,887 people with seven deaths.

We currently do not know why these counties were exceptional when African Americans suffered higher mortality rates on average. The thirteen counties where white mortality rates exceeded black mortality rates were (alphabetical): Citrus, Columbia, Escambia, Gadsden, Lafayette, Levy, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, St. Lucie, Sumter, and Taylor, highlighted on the right screenshot.

African Americans also suffered their highest mortality rates in rural counties. It appears that African Americans and whites suffered their highest respective mortality rates in rural counties, but the worst combined mortality rates were in counties with cities. This means that while more people died in the counties with cities, the impact of death on a race population in rural counties was stronger.

Limitations

Mapping: The map of Florida in 1918 and county names accounted for in the Board of Health reports reported fifty-four counties. Between 1918 (fifty-four counties) and 2019 (sixty-seven counties) the government carved out thirteen new counties. These new counties are not recorded on our map and their absences are indicated by the map's grey areas. Our digital map could not support 1918 county borders because the software's map is locked to 2019 maps. We are actively working to amend that technical issue.

Data: This project relied on mortality data collected by the state Board of Health and therefore does not account for deaths, white or African American, that were not recorded in the official state government statistics for 1918.

History: Historian James L. A. Webb wrote that, when quantitative and qualitative methods of historical research are skillfully blended, historical epidemiology can have a profound impact on health policy. This project visualized flu mortality, but the lack of qualitative texture is a limitation to this study because human impact is not addressed. Primary records related to the pandemic, outside of newspapers, are difficult to locate in Florida.

Photo credit: “Discussions” subheader image of New York City “conductorettes” with masks. Courtesy: National Archives.