Mask Mandates: 1918 versus 2020Mask Mandates: 1918 versus 2020

Creator: Maddy Davidson ’22 Health, Behavior & Society and Economics

The 1918 flu was a deadly strain of the influenza strain that swept the country in the early 20thcentury. States and cities most commonly responded to this crisis by having laws against public spitting, and gatherings, and a few states had mask-wearing mandates. The current Coronavirus has also been met with different state mandates for safety precautions including mask-wearing policies. These mandates were sometimes met with great resistance and often there were demonstrations by anti-maskers. This map shows the different states and whether or not that had mask mandates for the 1918 Flu, COVID, both or neither. The two points represent the largest and/or most dangerous protest against mask mandates. One was held in San Francisco in 1918 where several people were arrested, and another in Lansing in 2020 where protesters brought assault rifles and a plan to kidnap the governor.