By coincidence, Kansas City exhibit looks at flu pandemic

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Just as the world watches a new influenza scare, an exhibit in Kansas City will look at a 1918 pandemic that killed 50 million people.

Part of an upcoming exhibit at the new National Archives near Union Station deals with the Spanish flu pandemic that swept the world -- and is widely believed to have originated in Kansas.

An enormous photo of a sickroom at Fort Riley, Kan., shows rows of young men on cots during the 1918 pandemic.

The free exhibit -- called "It's Big" -- runs from May 23 through Jan. 23.

The archives says the scheduling of the display -- at a time when the world fears another flu pandemic -- is coincidence.

Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com