In January 1919 , San Francisco residents received some bad news : The second wave of the 1918 flu was roll through the metropolis , and masks were mandatory once again .
They already know the drill . On October 24 , 1918 , Mayor James Rolph , health officer Dr. William C. Hassler , and other agency had mandated protective masks to prevent the spread head of the disease , and the worldwide populace had promptly distinguish the practice session as a matter of life and last .
“ A hebdomad ago I laughed at the idea of the masquerade , “ local Red Cross chairman John A. BrittontoldtheSan Francisco Chronicleat the time . “ I wanted to be independent . I did not realize that the monetary value of such independency was the lives of others . ”
While most San Franciscans rose to the occasion and volunteers engineer masquerade - sewing events , there were still some staunch dissident . Law enforcement officers doled out $ 5 fines for anyone who fail mask - less in public , and a dyad hundred people who failed to comply were even carted off to clink .
“ John Raggi , arrested on Columbus Avenue , said he did not wear a mask because he did not think in masks or ordinances , or even jail , ” an article in theSan Francisco Chronicleread . “ He now has no occasion to discredit in jails . He is in the city prison house . ”
When Rolph declared that the worst had passed and wind the masquerade party ordinance in November , people jubilantly tore off their various face coverings and tossed them into the air . By the time Rolph reinstated the rule in January , everyone was used to breathing freely and many were reluctant to return to a masked macrocosm . Thus , the Anti - Mask League was born .
The league was chair by Emma Harrington , a lawyer who also go on to have become San Francisco ’s first female voter in 1911 . Two thousand people attend the first meeting , but city officials were n’t intimidated by the sizing of the opposite .
“ We can not in this matter pay any attention to any public fomenter against the masquerade for the obvious cause that the doubtfulness is one of public wellness and not of like or dislike of the mask , ” Arthur H. Barendt , president of the San Francisco Board of Health , separate the jam .
Though the Anti - Mask League continued to meet throughout the month , participants never really landed on a common , actionable finish . According toThe Washington Post , some people wanted to organize a petition to repeal the mask mandate , while others were simply demand that Hassler be fired . Meanwhile , the masque did seem to be helping the metropolis flatten the curvature . On January 15 , 1919 — the daylight before wellness officials issued their 2d fiat — there were 510 new grippe case and 50 Death . On January 26 , those numbers had plummeted to 12 and four , respectively .
At the conference ’s last gathering , having accomplished nothing , members replaced Harrington with a new chairwoman , and the meeting devolved into a state of such chaos that William Scott , who had rented the hall , simply shut off all the Light Within . The Anti - Mask League never recover from that badly - destine assembly , but they did n’t need to — on February 1 , city officials did out with the masque prerequisite for the second and concluding fourth dimension .
[ h / tSan Francisco Chronicle ]
