On Oct. 3, 1918, the Health Officer for Washington, DC, Dr. W.C. Fowler ordered all public gatherings cancelled and all churches, theaters, and movie houses closed. All other businesses and shops were placed on a staggered operating-hours schedule to help alleviate streetcar congestion. Physicians were ordered to report all cases of influenza to the Health Department.

Public libraries were closed. George Washington University closed, and Georgetown University suspended regular classes while the school’s Student Army Training Corps units were placed under a campus-wide quarantine.

The federal government even took action, closing the Library of Congress and the Senate and House galleries, and postponing public court hearings. Army medical officers stationed in the city were tasked with helping civilian physicians with their caseloads.6 Washington, D.C. had finally gotten serious about its epidemic.