Spit Spreads Death

A century ago, a worldwide health disaster hit home. The influenza pandemic of 1918–19, the global epidemic often called the “Spanish flu,” killed 50 to 100 million people worldwide.  Here in Philadelphia, the Liberty Loan Parade, a patriotic wartime effort on September 28, 1918, helped to spread the disease. Soon, the city was in crisis. Hospitals overflowed and bodies piled up in morgues. Philadelphia had the highest death rate of any major American city during the pandemic. Nearly 14,000 people died in six weeks, one death every five minutes; more than 17,500 died in six months.

Many of those people died young. Very few were wealthy or famous. Their names are not in history books, but their families did not forget them.

Dragonfly Audio work as one of field recordist for the film made about the art installation/parade. The video along, with the installation piece, played at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia from 2019-2024

Artist and Director: Blast Theory

Field Recordist: Benjamin Wong