The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in July 1976, when it hosted a statewide convention of the American Legion. Soon after, a pneumonia-like disease killed 29 people and sickened 182 more who had been in the hotel. The vast majority were members of the convention. The negative publicity associated with what became known as "Legionnaires' Disease" caused occupancy at the Bellevue-Stratford to plummet to 4 percent and the hotel finally closed on November 18, 1976. In 1977, Dr. Joseph McDade discovered a new bacterium, which was identified as the causative organism. It thrives in hot, damp places like the water of the cooling towers for the
American Legion of Honor Council. It had a ritual that taught benevolence and its motto was "We Work Together". Its total membership in 1896 was 2,500. The NLH "frankly admit[ed]" to being an "offspring" of the American Legion of Honor The Northwest Legion of Honor offered insurance certificates of $500, $1000, $2000 and $3,000. Assessments were graded by age, and one fifth was set aside for a fund to be used in the case of an epidemic or other increase in the death rate. American Legion of Honor The American Legion of Honor was a fraternal benefit order that was active in the late