ABSTRACT
AIM: To systematically identify physical memorials to the 1918 influenza pandemic in an entire country. METHODS: Internet searches, contact with local historians and field expeditions were conducted. RESULTS: Despite the high impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand (~8,600 deaths), only seven publicly accessible local memorials which referred this pandemic were identified. Another 11 memorials were identified, but these were in private settings or did not refer to the pandemic. There is no national memorial and a marked contrast exists with the number of war memorials (260 times more per 1,000 deaths for one war), and for 20 smaller mass fatality events (one of which has eight memorials alone). The current educational value of these pandemic memorials is likely to be minimal since only three are in cities, there is a lack of supporting signage and there are no links to online resources. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the major impact of the 1918 influenza pandemic in New Zealand, publicly accessible memorials were found to be rare. This was in marked contrast to other disaster-related memorials and particularly to war memorials. There appears to be major scope for enhancing public education around the persisting threat of future pandemics via improved use of physical memorials and linkages to online resources.
