Water Works
"Water Works: An Aquatic History of Milwaukee" is a production of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Department of History and the Milwaukee County Historical Society. In its first season, the show explored the the effects of the 1918 influenza pandemic and the current COVID-19 pandemic on Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this second season, the show tells the aquatic history of Milwaukee.
Water Works
Episode 4: The Healthiest City
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Milwaukee County Historical Society
When a disease folks then called the "Spanish Flu" was first detected in Milwaukee, the city's public health officials faced a choice not unlike the one we've debated for most of this last year: whether to close the community's schools. This episode of The Healthiest City follows the story of George Ruhland, who was Milwaukee Public Health Commissioner at the time of the influenza pandemic. It also features a current Milwaukee public school teacher to learn about how virtual learning over this last year.
For more information about the show, including images and documents from 1918, check out https://milwaukeehistory.net/podcast/.