Way Back When: The Red Cross Asks for Help

(Image: courtesy of the Library of Congress)

By Betsy J. Green

During the “Spanish Flu” in 1919, the Santa Barbara 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.

Betsy’s Way Back When book — 1919 — is now available in local bookstores and at Amazon.com. This is the sixth book in her series of the history of Santa Barbara, one year at a time. Learn more at betsyjgreen.com​