The Unsung Heroes Behind the Masks
One hundred years ago today, on January 17th, 1919, students at the University of Missouri were required to wear masks. Why? Because the scourge of influenza had returned. It was thought the nightmare had ended. The influenza epidemic had surged through the fall of 1918 and had dampened the joy over the end of the war on November 11, 1918 and had sickened as many as one third of the world’s population, killing between 50 and 100 million. Here’s how it played out in Columbia…
