webinar Recorded live on February 13, 2025
The Los Angeles City Historical Society invites you to watch a previously recorded webinar Britton Gustafson, UCLA History PhD student, who will discuss how the Los Angeles Pneumonic Plague Epidemic of 1924 served as the final urban plague outbreak in the U.S., and how a robust public health intervention prevented the outbreak from engulfing the entire city.
Although minor, the Los Angeles Pneumonic Plague Epidemic of 1924 served as the final urban plague outbreak and major epizootic in the United States.
A rat epizootic and poor living conditions led to a plague outbreak in the Macy Street District or “Sonoratown”, a Mexican neighborhood, serving as the epicenter of the outbreak with Mexican migrants making up the majority of cases.
A robust public health intervention, including housing reforms and a rodent eradication program, prevented the outbreak from engulfing the rest of the city. City, county, state, and federal authorities worked together even amidst bureaucratic disagreements. The success of the campaign is a crowning achievement in the history of public health in the United States.
The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.
About the Speaker
Britton Gustafson is a History PhD student at UCLA, where he studies African history. He focuses on East Africa and disease. In 2023 he graduated with honors from Michigan State University with a BA in History, BA in Anthropology, and a minor in African Studies.
This is a free webinar, but we welcome donations if you would like to support our programs. If you are not already a LACHS member, please consider joining LACHS today. Donate and/or become a member online. Your support is very much appreciated!
If you have questions about the event, please email us at lacityhistoryevents@gmail.com.
