Review: The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco by Marilyn Chase

Marilyn Chase's The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco is an easy-to-read, non-technical history of public health authorities' efforts to contain an outbreak of bubonic plague in San Francisco in the first decade of the 20th century C.E. Reading it during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, brings to mind the adage that "History doesn't repeat itself but it does rhyme," as Ms. Chase noted regarding a May 19, 2020 column she wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle.

The most obvious parallel is the reluctance of business elite and their political lackeys to take public health concerns seriously for fear of a reduction in profits. For years, San Francisco oligarchs used their influence with city and state officials and media to obstruct the work of public health officials. Only the threat of losing authorization to host a large United States naval fleet persuaded these authorities to address the threat of bubonic plague with the seriousness and resources public health officials had long sought.

Play: “The Who and the What”: Written by Ayad Akhtar, Directed by Hana S. Sharif

Lily Janiak wrote a review of The Who and the What, written by Ayad Akhtar and directed by Hana S. Sharif in the March 6, 2019 San Francisco Chronicle. It is playing through March 24 at the Marin Theatre Company, north of San Francisco.

I haven't seen a performance.