On Dec. 10, 1918, following another increase in influenza cases among children, the Los Angeles Board of Education ordered all public schools closed until further notice.

In the end, Los Angeles experienced a lower epidemic death rate than many other American cities: 494 deaths per 100,000 people. By contrast, San Francisco – which acted slowly and which relied heavily on the purported protection of gauze face masks to stop the spread of influenza – had an excess death rate of 673 per 100,000.