"Do the Right Thing Always": Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Global Pandemics of 1918 and 2020.

The article examines Laura Ingalls Wilder’s writings during the 1918 influenza pandemic and World War I, focusing on her nonfiction columns in the Missouri Ruralist farm journal. It highlights how Wilder urged readers to act as responsible citizens and good neighbors by doing their part for the community’s welfare, emphasizing selflessness, common sense, and civic duty amid crisis. While her Little House novels have been revisited during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic for comfort and inspiration, her Ruralist columns reveal a more pragmatic and community-centered approach to surviving hardship, including following medical advice and fostering neighborly cooperation. The article also addresses ongoing debates about cultural representations in Wilder’s fiction but centers on her real-time reflections on pandemic life, underscoring her belief that freedom entails personal responsibility toward others.