[Assembly in College Hall at which students wore hygienic masks because of the influenza epidemic, ca. 1918]

Although the quality of this photograph is poor, it is nevertheless presented here because of its important historical significance. This was an assembly in College Hall at which all of the students wore hygienic masks as a precaution against the virulent World War I influenza, which broke out in a massive epidemic in 1918. The school was forced to close for three months (October through December). Hundreds died in Utah County, and some families were entirely wiped out. The disease also hit the two companies of soldiers in the BYU Student Army Training Corps on campus, but none of the soldiers died. Women of the community baked and cooked for the student soldiers and nursed them back to health.