The Plague of San Francisco | Duty and Truth | 3

0:00American scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research.

0:26It's early February 1901 at the Angel Island Quarantine Station in San Francisco Bay. Dr. Joseph Kenyon is in his lab, searching frantically through his files. Last week, an independent commission of three doctors arrived in California from the East Coast. Their purpose was to establish once and for all whether Kenyon has been telling the truth about the bubonic plague in San Francisco. If those three doctors back him, Kenyon hopes the city will finally agree to do what is necessary to stop the spread of the disease. But if they rule against him, his once-glittering career is likely over. Damn it.

1:32Ah, damn it! The laboratory door opens and Kenyon's wife Lizzie rushes in. Joseph, are you hurt? Watch out for the glass. The damn ladder fell down. You're bleeding. No, I'm fine. It's nothing. Let me see. I said I'm fine. Kenyon hauls himself upright, wincing. His hair hangs damp and unkempt around his face. His shirt clings with sweat. Lizzie frowns with concern. What were you even doing up there? Looking for some autopsy records. The commission needs to see them before they make their decision. Well, Joseph, they'll see the truth. But will they speak it? Schrader didn't. White didn't. Wyman practically handed me my walking papers rather than support me.

2:11Kenyon has been disappointed by his fellow doctors before. He showed compelling proof of the plague to the famous physician George F. Schrader. But Schrader didn't support him. And when Surgeon General Walter Wyman sent a new doctor to take charge in San Francisco, he distanced himself from Kenyon as well. Kenyon just shakes his head. You know, I really thought I could count on them. Well, that wasn't your fault. You gave them the facts. They chose politics instead. And what if these men do the same? What if they decide that Joseph Kenyon is just too poisonous to associate themselves with? Well, you said they're good doctors, right?

2:43They came here to judge the evidence, not your reputation. That's the whole point, isn't it? Kenyon doesn't answer. Lizzie eases a stray hair away from his face and smiles. Trust the science, right? You told that to everyone else. Maybe it's time to tell it to yourself. When Dr. Joseph Kenyon first arrived in San Francisco in 1899, he wanted nothing more than to be transferred back east. Now, though, he's desperate not to leave, not with his work unfinished and his name in the gutter. For months, he's been vilified by the local press and ostracized by fellow doctors in California. But Kenyon knows he's right.

3:18The plague is here in this city, and the Independent Commission isn't just his last chance. It's San Francisco's as well.

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4:23From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American Scandal.

4:47By January of 1901, San Francisco's bubonic plague crisis was 10 months old. But despite the rising body count, local politicians, business leaders, and newspaper reporters continued to downplay the seriousness of the outbreak. They believed the health measures designed to contain the plague were a greater threat than the disease itself, and they attacked anyone who suggested otherwise. As head of the federal quarantine station in the city, Dr. Joseph Kenyon was soon in their crosshairs. But Kenyon received little support from his bosses in Washington, D.C. Instead, he was demoted, and another doctor was put in charge in San Francisco.

5:22So with his reputation shredded and his career in freefall, Kenyon pinned his hopes for redemption on an independent commission of doctors. But as he anxiously awaited their report on the spread of the plague in San Francisco, powerful forces were already moving in the shadows to suppress it. This is Episode 3, Duty and Truth.

5:45It's February 28, 1901, at the Governor's Mansion in Sacramento, California. Governor Henry Gage paces in front of the fireplace, the heels of his cowboy boots thumping on the polished floor. Behind him, his butler pours a brandy for his visitors, the editors of the four most popular newspapers in San Francisco. For the past year, Governor Gage has been defending California's reputation against what he sees as a medical conspiracy against his state. He's convinced these rumors about bubonic plague in San Francisco are all vicious lies, concocted by the federal government to punish California for its economic independence.

6:20dependence. But just a few days ago, he heard disturbing news. An independent commission of three doctors has confirmed the presence of plague in Chinatown, and now the report is headed to Washington for publication. So Gage knows he must act quickly. If this doctor's report is made public, the consequences for California's economy could be disastrous. So Gage has summoned the editors of the San Francisco Chronicle, The Call, The Bulletin, and The Examiner to his home in Sacramento for a talk. Once the butler has finished filling their drinks, Gage gets down to business. He tells the editors that the commission's verdict could be a death sentence for their city.

6:57Looking the man right in the eye, Gage says it's up to them to stop that from happening. News of the doctor's impending report must be buried. The newspaper men share cautious glances with each other, and after a pause, the editor of the examiner clears his throat. He says it'll be difficult to suppress the report if it's endorsed by the federal government. But Gage just waves away at that objection. He's sending men to Washington to ensure the report disappears into a forgotten office somewhere. But in the meantime, the newspapers in California must do their part. He points out that they've been unified in their opposition to Dr.

7:32Kenyon so far. For months, the Examiner has done nothing but mock and scorn him. Gage is simply asking that they continue. But the editor shakes his head. Criticizing the activities of one single doctor is different from taking a stand against the entire U.S. government. Gage tightens his grip on his brandy and then takes a moment to calm down. He knows intimidation won't work with these men. They've seen it all before. Instead, he decides to target what he knows matters to them more than anything else, money and power. So with a low growl, Gage says that if the commissioner's report is ever made public, California's economy wouldn't just suffer, it would collapse.

8:11The tycoons who owned the local newspapers would lose millions. And who could say how they would react then? They might cut costs at their newspapers. Or they could even shut them down entirely. The editors look at each other again, knowing most of their owners wouldn't think twice about firing them if it came to it. So with a nod, one by one, they all agree to Governor Gage's demands. So having secured a media blackout, Gage moves on to the next phase of his plan. He sends some of San Francisco's top power brokers across the country to Washington. Among them are industrial leaders and executives from the mighty Southern Pacific Railroad.

8:47Their goal is to put pressure on Surgeon General Walter Wyman to suppress the commission's findings. But once Dr. Joseph Kenyon learns that Gage has sent this small army of influential men to D.C., he immediately dashes off a telegram to Wyman. He alerts him to the scheme and tells him that any representatives of the governor are not to be trusted. But he fears this warning will go ignored because Henry Gage and his delegates are not the only ones with an interest in burying the truth.

9:18Surgeon General Walter Wyman sits in his office at the Marine Hospital Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. Rain and fog swirl outside the window, casting weak gray light on the dark wood and brass of the room. California Governor Henry Gage's delegates sit across from Wyman, and one of the Southern Pacific's impeccably-dressed executives holds up a copy of the commission's report. Well, Surgeon General Wyman, may I say this is an exceptionally thorough document. Your commission has done excellent work. They are diligent men. Well, you know, in my experience, diligence only tends to flourish under strong leadership.

9:52Washington is fortunate to have such a steady hand at the helm. I think you're flattering me, sir. Well, it's true. Now, may I ask who else has read this report? Aside from its authors, no one outside this room. Well, that's good. The executive leans forward. Because, Doctor, I have been empowered by Governor Gage to make a proposal. Ah, I see. And what does the governor have in mind? He proposes a full sanitation campaign in Chinatown, removing all the trash, fumigating infected areas, a thorough cleanup paid for by the city and the state. I see. And in return? Well, the governor, all of us, would wish for this report to remain confidential.

10:28Its findings would cause irreparable harm to commerce, to the state's reputation, to the trust our citizens place in their superiors. Wyman leans back in his chair. Then he opens the desk drawer beside him and places his copy of the doctor's report inside. Then he closes the drawer and nods to the men across the table. It's for the greater good. Well, then we have only one final concern. Your man in San Francisco, Dr. Kenyon, he's a... Well, he's not inclined toward discretion, is he? If he suspects an arrangement has been made, he'll shout it from the rooftops. You want him removed? We wouldn't be so bold to make any demands, but your cooperation would be more enthusiastic without him.

11:10Perhaps it would just be best if he were moved on, for the greater good, as you said. Well, you know, I had high hopes for Kinion once, and I thought of him as a protege. So I understand this is not an easy decision for you. Well, sadly for all his many gifts, Dr. Kinion is yet to appreciate the value of compromise and diplomacy. I think it might be time for him to learn that lesson, but somewhere else. Despite the fears that he expressed privately, Surgeon General Walter Wyman has never publicly acknowledged the plague in San Francisco. He saw what happened to Joseph Kinion for speaking out, and so he stayed silent.

11:47But if the commission's report is published, Kinion will be vindicated, and questions might be asked of Wyman about why he refused to speak out earlier and act more forcefully. So he struck a deal to bury the report and Kenyon's career along with it.

12:05Soon after this meeting in Washington, Dr. Joseph Kenyon receives a telegram. In it, Surgeon General Walter Wyman explains his decision not to publish the commission's report and announces that Kenyon is being reassigned to a less politically sensitive role in Detroit. Wyman says Kenyon must set aside his pride in the wider interests of public health. It's all for the greater good. But Kenyon sees through his boss's ruse, and he has no intention of going quietly. Against Wyman's wishes, Kenyon uses his remaining time on the West Coast to give lectures and speeches to other doctors. He justifies his actions as sharing what he's learned during his tenure in San Francisco, but he can't hide his bitterness at how he's been treated.

12:47Addressing physicians in Sacramento, he says that any doctor reporting plague must be prepared to be made a target, to submit to all the lowest forms of persecution, simply because he had no more sense than to do his duty and to tell the truth. But soon enough, Kenyon's time in San Francisco comes to an end. In early May of 1901, he and his family pack up their belongings on Angel Island and take the ferry across the bay for the final time, and there's no leaving party to see them off. Kenyon stands on the deck of the ferry, watching the quarantine station fade into the fog behind him. Feels very different from the young doctor who arrived in California only two years ago.

13:25Back then, despite his unwanted assignment in San Francisco, Kenyon believed his future in the Marine Hospital Service was full of promise. Now he's been sidelined and humiliated. He leaves California with nothing except bad memories. But he still hopes for the sake of the nation, that Dr. Joe White, his replacement on Angel Island, can succeed where he did not. Dr. White has experienced epidemics in Europe and elsewhere in the United States. But when he arrives on Angel Island, he understands that the scale of this new job is daunting. Between overseeing health inspections of incoming ships, tracking new cases of the plague, and managing relations between city, state, and federal officials, it quickly becomes too much for him.

14:07He realizes that the stubborn, argumentative Kenyon may have been the only thing preventing a full-blown public health catastrophe in San Francisco. And what's worse, White quickly sees that the deal struck between California and the federal authorities was a sham. The promised cleanup of Chinatown is half-hearted at best, and despite Governor Gage's pledges of cooperation, he is in fact doing everything he can to disrupt the work of federal health inspectors. So in late May of 1901, White himself goes down to a morgue in Chinatown to conduct an autopsy on a suspected plague victim. He's still completing his initial assessment when the door flies open.

14:45Two men in dark suits and protective face masks stride into the room. They tell the startled White that they're representatives of the governor tasked with overseeing the plague sanitation efforts in Chinatown. One of the men steps forward and grabs White's notebook out of the doctor's hands. Staring at the contents inside, he can't decipher the medical shorthand. His brow furrows. He grows angry as he demands to know what White is hiding with this strange code. White tells him that he's just taking note that the bacteria in the tissue extracted from this body indicates bubonic plague. But before White can finish, the other man interrupts.

15:20He argues that the body shows none of the usual signs of plague. There are no swollen lymph nodes, no blackened skin, no pustules. Dr. White tries to explain that plague symptoms can differ from case to case. In fact, the most deadly form of the disease attacks the lungs and kills the victim before any external signs can develop. So the only definitive diagnosis can come from a microscope. But the governor's men just scoff. One of them snatches the patient's medical file, stripping White of the documents he needs to record an official cause of death. And when he demands them back, the two men refuse, accusing him of fabricating the diagnosis.

15:56Burning with indignation, White picks up his microscope and stashes the tissue slides inside his briefcase, then strides out of the morgue before the governor's men can do any more harm. But over the weeks that follow, Governor Gage and his agents continue to obstruct, disrupt, and delay the work of federal health officers as they try to track the spread of the plague. Dr. White feels increasingly overwhelmed by the job he's inherited. He writes to Surgeon General Wyman, urgently requesting reinforcements. He's only been in San Francisco for a few months but already he's drowning. So a few weeks later, yet another young Marine Hospital Service doctor will pack his bags and head west, hoping to succeed where first Dr.

16:35Joseph Kinion and then Dr. Joe White failed. Because if there is plague in San Francisco, this new doctor must turn back the time and stop the Black Death from marching across the country.

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18:59For most of his life, 33-year-old Rupert Blue has lived in the shadows of others. The son of a Civil War hero and the brother of another decorated soldier, there were high expectations that he would follow his family members into the military. He shared their tall build and boxer's frame. But the bookish Blue was never cut out for Army life. Instead, he decided to carve out a name for himself by becoming a doctor. He enrolled in medical school in 1890, then applied to the Marine Hospital Service. He specialized in bacteriology. Blue had always wanted to travel the world, studying infectious diseases, and in 1900, he got his wish.

19:37He was posted to Italy, where he investigated rumors of plagues spreading in Rome. Blue and his wife Juliet loved the glamour and romance of life in Europe, so they were disappointed when he was brought back to the U.S. on assignment to Milwaukee. But that was a short-term appointment. Only a few months later, Blue accepted a new posting to San Francisco. Dr. Blue hoped that on the West Coast, he and Juliet would be able to recapture some of the excitement they experienced in Rome. But when they arrived, they realized there's nothing romantic about San Francisco in 1901. So Dr. Blue dedicates himself to the work he's here in the city to do.

20:14As Dr. Joe White's second-in-command, Blue is tasked with overseeing the heart of the epidemic, Chinatown. Tensions remain high in the district, where the authorities are still regarded with fear and suspicion. If he's to succeed in this mission, Blue quickly realizes that he will have to do something few white doctors have managed before, win the trust of the local population. For all his strengths, Dr. Joseph Kenyon was not a people person. He was cool and aloof and saw Chinatown more as a petri dish than a place where real people lived and worked. But Dr. Blue is more affable by nature. He treats the Chinese residents with respect, and in return, they begin opening their doors to him.

20:54and for the first time, Marine Hospital Service staff are granted access to the parts of the district most in need of sanitation, the garbage-filled back alleys and wood-lined basements overflowing with sewage. Blue's progress and hard work impress his superiors. Within weeks, the exhausted Joe White steps down and recommends that Blue replace him. Surgeon General Walter Wyman agrees. White is transferred out of San Francisco, and responsibility for fighting the plague falls to the young Rupert Blue. He begins implementing changes immediately. For over a year, the federal efforts to fight the plague have been managed from Angel Island, the remote quarantine station five miles offshore.

21:33There's plenty of peace and quiet there, but Blue believes it's cut off Marine Hospital Service staff from the people they're meant to be helping. So he relocates his headquarters from Angel Island to a rented office in Chinatown and sets up a new laboratory near the heart of the outbreak. He's convinced that if he can show the people of Chinatown that he is on their side, they will be more willing to help him fight the plague that is stalking their district. But it's not just Chinatown where Blue needs to win hearts and minds. San Francisco's mayor, James D. Phelan, isn't actively blocking Blue's efforts, but he hasn't endorsed them either.

22:07Meanwhile, the city's press remains hostile to all federal interventions, and Blue knows that the majority of the San Francisco public still doesn't take the plague threat seriously. But by the summer of 1901, Blue hopes that one of those obstacles is about to disappear. Phelan's time in office is coming to an end, and the city is getting ready to elect a new mayor. Blue prays that the people will choose someone more responsible, who might acknowledge the danger of the plague and welcome efforts to contain it. But unfortunately, there is already a plot brewing to elect a mere puppet as the next mayor of San Francisco.

22:40The man who intends to pull the strings is 37-year-old Abe Roof, who on one hot evening in July of 1901 sits in an upscale restaurant, patiently watching the door. Roof is a successful attorney who established himself as a major power broker in San Francisco. And recently, he took control of local political group the Union Labor Party. But Roof doesn't really care about workers' rights. What he wants is influence. Taking over this political party was just the first step. Now he intends to find a candidate for mayor who can, with the right manipulation, win the election. Roof looks up as a tall, handsome man enters the restaurant.