101 Memorial

During 1917-1918, U.S. Army projects here, directed through Air Nitrate Corp., required 20,000 workers recruited from across the United States for construction and production in critical war industry. The influenza pandemic of 1918 caused many deaths, and 101 workers were buried at this site in 1918-1919. The deaths of those buried here are estimated to have been 90 percent from influenza and 10 percent from industrial accidents. About 1,000 people died on these projects as part of some 2,000 deaths across Shoals Area communities. Many who died during this period were returned by train to hometowns across America. About 30 percent of this workforce was African American, and there was also an uncounted number of Mexican and Cuban workers.

Sheffield, Alabama · United States