BUTTE, Mont. – A free exhibit is being held in Butte to remember the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and the Spanish Flu Pandemic.
The Butte Public Archives will display local artifacts from the first World War and tell the story of Butte’s contributions to the conflict that ended in November 1918.
The exhibit will also commemorate the deadly swine flu pandemic that sickened and killed many people in the Mining City around that same time.
“(During) World War I the demand for copper was really high so the mines stayed open,” said Aubrey Jaap, administrative assistant at the archives. “So we were helping in that way providing metal for the war. Nearly 1,000 people died in (Butte) from Spanish influenza, the outbreak happened around the country. Here we were hit really hard.”
The free exhibit will remain on display in the lobby of the Archives Building at 17 West Quartz St. until the end of January.
