Image: courtesy of the Library of Congress
The Santa Barbara Red Cross Asks for Help
During the "Spanish Flu" in 1919, the local Red Cross was calling for any volunteers who had attended "home nursing" courses. "It is necessary at present to care for many small children whose parents are removed to the hospitals."
Girls and small children were being housed at St. Vincent's on De la Vina Street, and boys were staying at another institution. The flu even reached Santa Cruz Island and many of the men there were sick.