History Of Anti-Maskers

A small piece of cloth continues to spark big debate in the U.S. Some Americans believe mandates to wear a mask infringe on their personal freedoms. Turns out, this has happened before. Marian Moser Jones, formerly of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health, tells us about the ‘anti-mask league of 1918.’ Jones admits that today’s mask-wearing mandates can feel inconvenient, but says we can learn from the Spanish Flu pandemic: “The flu tells us, and the response to the flu tells us, that the more restrictions you have for longer periods of time, the lesser the mortality and the morbidity is going to be.”  Plus, how did that deadly flu play out in Baltimore?Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472