Next month marks one year since coronavirus hit home. Continuing Coverage: Coronavirus in WisconsinOne year since public health emergencies went into effect closing schools and businesses and turning our lives upside down. As the anniversary approaches, the question is being asked: Can a look at Milwaukee's past help us survive the present?In the winter of 1918, the city of Milwaukee found itself amid a crisis almost exactly like our own. The Great Influenza Pandemic -- or Spanish flu -- sweeping the globe at the time, struck Milwaukee too."The influenza pandemic was fast," said Chris Cantwell, Ph.D., an assistant professor of digital history at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "You got it quick and you died quick. If you were going to die, that’s tragic. But that also allowed the flu to move through pretty quickly."Last semester, Cantwell studied the Spanish flu's impact on Milwaukee, creating a podcast series virtually with his graduate students. They worked in partnership with the Milwaukee County Historical Society to see if looking at the past could help us survive the present."Nothing like this had ever happened before in Milwaukee," said Kevin Abing, lead archivist at the Milwaukee County Historical Society. He wrote a book about that tumultuous time."In your studies, which pandemic is worse, from the Milwaukee perspective?" asked WISN 12's Joyce Garbaciak. "The current pandemic has been tougher because it's been drawn out so much longer," Abing said. Milwaukeeans are approaching one year of living with COVID-19, but the Spanish flu in Milwaukee was over much faster."The city of Milwaukee was only shut down for five weeks," Cantwell said. "Two shutdowns over the span of two months."Cantwell explained the city was so proactive and aggressive in its fight against the flu that it was able to head off the worst outcomes.The city's health commissioner at the time, Dr. George Ruhland, gets much of the credit."He was the one who issued the order to shut down theaters and restaurants; he closed the zoo," Abing said. "By and large, most Milwaukeeans -- they grumbled about it certainly, but they followed the rules."Residents complied with the lockdown orders and avoided crowds. And if they didn’t, it could cost them."People could be fined $100," Abing said. "Repeat offenders could be sent to the House of Correction for six months."They watched their distance and they wore masks."The whole mask thing definitely got more politicized than it was back then," Abing said."Milwaukee did really well during the Spanish flu," Cantwell said. "The city had the second-lowest death rate for a city its size across the country."While that rate was low, some 1,100 Milwaukeeans died of the Spanish flu. For comparison, Milwaukee County just surpassed 1,000 coronavirus deaths last week.The podcast created by Cantwell's class shares insights from key players then and now."So what can history teach us about the fastest way to get back to normal?" Garbaciak asked. "What was true in 1918 really remains true today in terms of trusting the professionals whose job it is to protect us," Cantwell said. "Trusting science, trusting research, and trusting expertise is the fastest way forward."The podcast is called "The Healthiest City," and the first of seven episodes will be released Monday. It's available on all app platforms and is accessible here.Sign up for coronavirus email alerts from WISNGet breaking news alerts with the WISN 12 app.Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube