2/26/2010:
When a communicable disease strikes, one strategy is to keep it contained. And when people live in close proximity, such as on a college campus, quarantine has even been used. So in 1937, when two North Dakota boys at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house in Fargo were discovered to have scarlet fever, the fifteen young men who lived there were placed under an eight-day quarantine. In response, the students hoisted a white dish towel and a pair of red flannels above the house, to tell the rest of the campus they were not allowed to leave.
It could have been worse; one of the young men who came down with the disease had travelled to Grand Forks to spend the night at the ATO frat house there, exposing that chapter and 200 students from the North Dakota Agricultural College. School officials ordered that the 200 get their throats painted in a pre-emptive measure.
The quarantined boys tried to make the best out of a bad situation. They played bridge, and arranged some other entertainment, including a telephone-broadcast of the Bison-Sioux basketball games. They also planned parties for after their release.
It wasn't all bad. After news of their illness got out, they received a box of cigars and a carton of cigarettes from Fargo's businesses. Since the boys were complaining that their family only sent them medical supplies, rather than anything edible, they set out a donation box. Those on the outside took the hint. Among the gifts were cigarettes, tobacco, cream puffs and potted plants.
In the end, though, after another check-up and after each had gotten his throat sprayed, on this date, at 5:00 pm, the fifteen young men at Alpha Tau Omega stepped outside into the cold, fresh air. Rejoicing, they tore down the signs that covered their house, and staging a ceremony, lowered the white towel (and the red flannels). Finally, free of cares and illness, they strode out into the world, ready to face the new day.
Dakota Datebook written by Sarah Walker
Sources:
Fargo Forum, Tuesday, February 23, 1937, p.1
Fargo Forum, Wednesday morning, February 24, 1937, p.6
Fargo Forum, Saturday morning, February 27, 1937