Friday, March 11th. One of the most devastating public health crises in history hit the U.S. on this date 98 years ago — and experts are still studying it, hoping to head off a similar global pandemic. The first cases of what was called “Spanish flu” were reported among soldiers at Fort Riley, Kansas. By 1920, nearly one-in-four Americans had suffered from this strain of the flu, killing about 600,000. Worldwide, estimates put the death toll up at 50 million or more. Even less dramatic strains of flu can be deadly, necessitating medical research. Confronting these and other health issues are some 6,700 medical laboratories in the U.S. today, along with 74,000 medical scientists, and over 84,000 biomedical engineers Profile America is in its 18th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Saturday, March 12th. The right to vote began to receive some supervision more than two centuries ago, when Massachusetts acted this month in 1801 to register voters. At that time, the franchise was limited to men — usually those of local repute and owning property. Town assessors drew up publicly posted lists of voters. If any voter was omitted, documents proving eligibility were accepted. The practice caught on very slowly. Only after the Civil War did voter registration become widespread. Today, North Dakota is the only state without a registration requirement, although proof of residency must be shown. In 2014, out of a voting age population of nearly 220 million citizens, over 64 percent were registered to vote. In Massachusetts, registration was just under 62 percent. Profile America is in its19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sunday, March 13th. The first state college for women was created this month in 1884 in Mississippi. Known as the Mississippi Industrial Institute and College, classes opened in the fall of the next year on the campus of a former college in Columbus. Now called the Mississippi University for Women, it has been ranked as one of the top schools in the annual list of “America’s Best Colleges.” The now coed school of some 2,500 students has a number of its campus buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Across the U.S. today, there are some 19.2 million graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in colleges. Nearly 55 percent are women. That’s about 7 percent of the female population over the age of 3. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at <www.census.gov>.