Just a quick note to spread the word: The University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine has put up an online archive of material about the 1918 influezna pandemic.
The 1918-1920 Influenza Pandemic
Escape Community Digital Document Archive
In the summer of 2005, the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School was contacted by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and asked to conduct research into and write a report on American communities that had experienced extremely low rates of influenza during the infamous 1918-1920 influenza pandemic [download a copy of the report (PDF file)]. A team of historians from the Center for the History of Medicine visited these communities to locate, assess, and collect available primary source material from libraries, archives, and other private and public holdings.
They obviously put a lot of work into establishing this collection. I am hopeful that it will be valuable, not only for historians, but also for those involved in planning for the next big one.
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I heard Dr. Markel give a couple of talks on his group's work with the Center for the History of Medicine on escape communities in the 1918-20 pandemic. I was glad to hear historians taking a scientific approach to the study of infectious disease. Very engaging, nice guy too.