Spanish Flu: 100-year-old PTA records show how schools, parents dealt with pandemic

Especially in challenging times, schools and their teachers rely on the support of parents. It’s why Parent Teacher Associations have been around for 125 years.

The pandemic precautions of the past two school years have taken a toll. Health precautions keep valued school advocates like the PTA at a distance.

"Suddenly, we weren’t able to be in school doing the things we normally do to support schools," said Amy Jones, president of Wake County PTA. She says social media has helped them stay engaged as advocates for children and educators.

So have virtual connections. "As tired as we all are of Zoom meetings, it actually opened up a lot of doors," said Jones.

Meeting through virtual platforms eliminated transportation barriers so a new group of parents could get more involved in their child’s education.

Jones says a recent gift from an old Raleigh home provides inspiration. "A gentleman in Raleigh was cleaning out his attic and found old PTA records from the old Murphey School," said Jones.

Built in 1916, the Murphey School was one of the first public schools in Raleigh. The PTA records are from one of the first PTA groups in the state.

That building, at the intersection of Polk and Person streets, is now a seniors apartment complex. The old school stage is the home of the Burning Coal Theater.

Jones says the records provide an interesting link to the present.

In 1918 and 1919, the Spanish flu pandemic took countless lives. A PTA meeting in that day included the head of the Wake County Health Department. The official spoke to the group about infectious diseases "and talking to parents about making sure that they were notifying if their children were sick and quarantining them and keeping them safe," said Jones.

She added, "I’m thinking here again, 100 years later, and many things in these records that are fascinating and more about the things that the PTA still does."

Jones emphasizes a key benefit of parental involvement in local PTAs, aside from supporting schools and their teachers. She said, "Studies show that it’s vital for kids’ success in school because children see that their parents value their education when they are involved, so PTA is a great way for parents to do that."