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William Park and Anna Williams
Wilmer Krusen was public health director of Philadelphia during the 1918 influenza epidemic, a time when politics in the city were known for widespread corruption. Krusen is perhaps best known for his decision to authorize the Liberty Loan parade against the advice of medical advisors, a decision which helped spread deadly influenza throughout the city quickly.
Wilmer Krusen Quotes in The Great Influenza
The The Great Influenza quotes below are all either spoken by Wilmer Krusen or refer to Wilmer Krusen. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 19 Quotes
Two days after Philadelphia’s Liberty Loan parade, Wilmer Krusen had issued that somber statement, that the epidemic in the civilian population “was assuming the type found in naval stations and cantonments.”
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Wilmer Krusen Character Timeline in The Great Influenza
The timeline below shows where the character Wilmer Krusen appears in The Great Influenza. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 17
...left the city. As the epidemic tore through Philadelphia, the city’s public health director, Wilmer Krusen, did nothing (although other public officials tried to take action). Krusen denied that the epidemic...
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...promote it, Philadelphia had scheduled a big parade, and despite objections from public health experts, Krusen didn’t cancel it. Krusen heard news that Paul Lewis might be on the verge of...
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The incubation period for influenza is 24 to 72 hours. Two days after the parade, Krusen announced that the epidemic had spread from military bases to the civilian population.
(full context)
Chapter 19
Two days after the Liberty Loan parade in Philadelphia, Krusen announced that influenza had exploded through the city. Hospitals had to start refusing patients. On...
(full context)
Chapter 28
...was arrested in the early days and became sick, doing nothing to help his city. Krusen had also lost everyone’s trust. Lewis felt the pressure to help his city, throwing himself...
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In October, Krusen finally took action. He ceded control of city nurses to a private organization run by...
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