Across America today there is confusion about a mandatory mask law, but did you know this has already happened in American history? You may know the saying, “history repeats itself”. You may not know about the group of American citizens who refused to comply with a new law passed by the city of San Francisco in 1918 curbing their freedom to appear in public without a mask during the influenza pandemic known as the “Spanish Flu”.
A result of the October 25, 1918 passing of a city ordinance that every citizen in public must wear a mask formed the The Anti-Mask League of San Francisco. The group made up of thousands, including physicians, met in public to resist the new order.
American disobedience in the face of authority is as American as baseball and apple pie, Virginians made tarring and feathering of tyrants an American pastime. It is no wonder then that some Americans found laws requiring masks be worn in public by all to be intrusive and questioned the science behind the popular scientific opinions of public health officials during America’s Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.
Christian scientists and libertarians were especially offended by the mask mandate, they rebelled against the obvious here, that the wearing of a mask was no longer voluntary but required by law. It was considered an infringement of constitutional liberty and an assault on individual freedoms.
What Was The Anti-Mask League of San Francisco?
The city of San Francisco is much like cities across America dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak now. They quickly saw the benefit of closing public-facing businesses that were seen as “non-essential”, such as bars, theaters, and schools during the Fall of 1918 in an effort to battle the Spanish Flu and its rising number of cases. The city required essential employees who were still working to wear masks, however this quickly changed when it became mandatory for everyone to wear a mask in public.
When a second surge of new cases came in December 1919, the city once again passed the restrictive order that affected not just the essential employees still working, but every citizen in San Francisco. The January 1919 ordinance had a much larger impact in creating resistance to wearing a mask in public by American citizens.
Despite what you may think, those in the Anti-Mask League of San Francisco were a diverse bunch of individuals with varying professional backgrounds. Its members included physicians, libertarians, and many others.
The 1919 Ordinance Created The Anti-Mask League
With Spanish Flu cases rising in September of 1918 the public health crisis was in full effect. On October 25, 1918 the city put into effect a law that required every citizen wear a mask when in public, “except at mealtime”. By November the law lapsed and citizens once again were not required to wear a mask by law.
A second surge in Spanish Flu positive cases in December 1919 led the city officials to re-institute the mandatory mask law, going into effect in January 1919.
However it too was short lived, on February 1, 1919 the city ordinance requiring every citizen of San Francisco going out in public to wear masks was voted down.
Read Tim Mak’s thread on Twitter which pulls together all his research on the events surrounding the formation of the Anti-Mask League of San Francisco.
The San Francisco Examiner writes in a 1919 paper “At the Anti-Mask League mass meeting last night at Dreamland Rink resolutions were passed denouncing the mask ordinance as contrary to the desires of a majority of the people.” The article continues, “Nearly 2,000 persons attended the meeting.”.
If you are wondering about a mandatory mask law for COVID-19 remind yourself that this has already happened twice in American history and if you do feel passionately about not wearing one, it has been protested successfully before in a pandemic caused by a much deadlier virus.
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