On Oct. 10, 1918, ‘Des Moines goes under quarantine today.’ Thus read the first line of a front-page article on the influenza epidemic in the cityﾒs newspaper, the Des Moines Register. Influenza had been circulating in the city for the past two weeks, but the number of cases reported had been small. It was at Camp Dodge, a dozen miles or so northwest of Des Moines, where the epidemic was raging.

On Dec. 16, social distancing measures were removed and Des Moines residents were once again able to attend dances, go to football games, and ice skate in the city’s rinks.