The Influenza Epidemic, St. Louis, Missouri, 1918 When the influenza epidemic hit Missouri in October 1918, the mayor of St. Louis closed “all theaters, moving picture shows, schools, pool and billiard halls, Sunday schools, cabarets, lodges, societies [churches], public funerals, open air meetings, dance halls and conventions.” Despite these precautions and efforts by the Red Cross, within a month more than 21,000 people in Missouri became ill, and 500 perished. © akg-images/The Image Works