The sisters who assisted at Camp Zachary Taylor are pictured in this photo, which includes the written note: “Volunteer Sister Nurses in charge of Emergency Hospitals during the Influenza siege. Camp Zachary Taylor KY.” Sr. Mary Jean Connor, the one sister who died of the flu, is seen on the furthest left in the front; she has both hands visible. ARCHIVES PHOTO
Three Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph aided in Spanish Flu relief in 1918
BY EDWARD WILSON, ARCHIVES
In the fall of 1918, three Ursuline Sisters took their first steps into Camp Zachary Taylor. The facility, located a short distance outside of Louisville, was a marvel of its time. Constructed in only 90 days, it was America’s largest military training camp. Comprised of over 1,500 buildings, it could house more than 50,000 men at one time.
The Ursulines were Srs. Antoinette Krampe, Agatha Beavin and Jerome Cooper. They had come to the camp to administer relief to the troops suffering with the Spanish Flu. By the time the sisters stepped into the camp, the Great War had raged for nearly four years; the First and Second Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Verdun, and the Spring Offensive had already taken place in a war that would take nearly 20 million lives. However, the epidemic that the sisters had come to combat would claim 20 to 50 million.
Before entering Camp Taylor, the sisters met Fr. Regis Barrett. Fr. Barrett was the military chaplain who sent out the call for sisters to volunteer when medical staff became overwhelmed. So full of zeal was the priest for the campaign that he reportedly broke a lock and hinge on a convent door after his knocks went unanswered. After meeting with Fr. Barrett, the sisters made their way to Camp Taylor. Sr. Antoinette recalled that they worked “From seven in the morning until seven in the evening.” In the morning, the sisters took the temperatures of the soldiers – about 128 soldiers per each sister – and alerted the staff of those getting dangerously feverish. She also remarked that “the boys were wonderful” and had “a real sense of humor.”
However, there was much to pray about. The camp had ordered bodies to be taken away at night, to keep morale up. Sr. Antoinette recalled that you could look out the window and see “large trucks” hauling away up to 100 caskets of those that had perished. There was also little the sisters could actually do to relieve the pain of those suffering. “Aspirin, and whiskey” were the only means of relief the sisters could procure for the sick. Before the end of the pandemic, Srs. Antoinette and Agatha contracted the virus; both recovered. Eighty-eight religious sisters heroically served at Camp Taylor. Each risked their own life and health, out of love for God and compassion. All but Sister Mary Jean Connor survived. Sr. Mary Jean, not yet 30, and prior to taking her final vows, passed away on Oct. 28, 1918, after contracting the virus. She received a military funeral.
Let us not forget the bravery of these Catholic heroines.
Special thanks to Dan Heckel, director of Mission Advancement for the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, and Tim Tomes, archdiocesan archivist for the Archdiocese of Louisville, for their kind assistance.
Edward Wilson is the director of the Diocese of Owensboro’s Archives and the Archives of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. Comments and questions may be sent to [email protected].
Originally printed in the August 2020 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
