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On The Record

Anti-Mask Sentiment Has A History

By Sheilah Kast,

Melissa Gerr

Published August 5, 2020 at 10:30 AM EDT

A small piece of cloth has sparked a 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, Associate Professor in The University of Maryland School of Public Health, tells us about the Anti-mask League of 1918. Jones admits that today’s social distancing and mask-wearing mandates can feel inconvenient, but says we can learn from the Spanish Flu pandemic. Plus, how did that deadly flu play out in Baltimore? To learn more about Baltimore during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, visit this Baltimore Sun link.

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Sheilah Kast

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.

See stories by Sheilah Kast

Melissa Gerr

Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'

See stories by Melissa Gerr