Massive flood of Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1889
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Our final Diana Wynyard episode has arrived all too soon! We look at her two final key roles, in Alexander Korda's film of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband (1947) and The Feminine Touch (1956), a nurse drama that's better than its silly title. And in Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto, we cover the 2025 Toronto Silent Film Festival, focusing on three films built around miraculous performances, Victor Sjostrom's The Wind (1928), starring Lillian Gish, Victor Fleming's Mantrap (1926), starring Clara Bow, and Josef von Sternberg's The Last Command (1928), starring Emil Jannings (ably supported by Evelyn Brent), before turning our attention to a film that was entirely new to us, the blatantly anti-capitalist The Johnstown Flood (1926), featuring Janet Gaynor in her first major role. Time Codes: 0h 00m 25s: AN IDEAL HUSBAND (1947) [dir. Alexander Korda] 0h 23m 27s: THE FEMININE TOUCH (1956) [dir. Pat Jackson] 0h 41m 54s: Diana Wynyard – The Summing Up 0h 48m 01s: FEAR & MOVIEGOING IN TORONTO: Toronto Silent Film Festival 2025 at The Revue Cinema [The Wind, Mantrap, The Last Command, The Johnstown Flood, Leap Year, Assistant Wives] and Easter Parade (1948) at TIFF Lightbox. +++ * Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's piece on Gangs of New York – “Making America Strange Again” * Check out Dave's Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project! Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!
SPEAKING SOON TO RUSSELL SHORTO FOR HIS NEW "TAKING MANHATTAN: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America:" 3/4: Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob. by Russell Shorto https://www.amazon.com/Smalltime-Story-My-Family-Mob/dp/0393245586/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Family secrets emerge as a best-selling author dives into the history of the mob in small-town America. The best-selling author Russell Shorto, praised for his incisive works of narrative history, never thought to write about his own past. He grew up knowing his grandfather and namesake was a small-town mob boss but maintained an unspoken family vow of silence. Then an elderly relative prodded: You're a writer―what are you gonna do about the story? Smalltime is a mob story straight out of central casting―but with a difference, for the small-town mob, which stretched from Schenectady to Fresno, is a mostly unknown world. The location is the brawny postwar factory town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The setting is City Cigar, a storefront next to City Hall, behind which Russ and his brother-in-law, “Little Joe,” operate a gambling empire and effectively run the town. Smalltime is a riveting American immigrant story that travels back to Risorgimento Sicily, to the ancient, dusty, hill-town home of Antonino Sciotto, the author's great-grandfather, who leaves his wife and children in grinding poverty for a new life―and wife―in a Pennsylvania mining town. It's a tale of Italian Americans living in squalor and prejudice, and of the rise of Russ, who, like thousands of other young men, created a copy of the American establishment that excluded him. Smalltimedraws an intimate portrait of a mobster and his wife, sudden riches, and the toll a lawless life takes on one family. 1889 Johnstown Flood
Unearthing Leadership: Lessons from Historical Engineering Failures In this episode of the Engineer Your Success podcast, host Dr. James Bryant engages in a captivating discussion with geotechnical engineer Michael Bennett. They explore how historical engineering failures, like the 19th-century Johnstown Flood, provide valuable leadership lessons applicable to today's world. Bennett shares his unique journey that intertwines civil engineering and history, shedding light on the creation of his Geotechnical History blog. The conversation delves into Bennett’s leadership experiences, the importance of mentorship, and the role of effective communication and emotional intelligence in managing careers and teams. For emerging leaders, Bennett emphasizes the value of perspective, perseverance, and leveraging past knowledge to foster growth and innovation. 00:00 Introduction: Lessons from a 19th Century Dam Collapse 01:00 Meet Michael Bennett: A Passion for Engineering and History 04:55 The Birth of a Geotechnical History Blog 07:57 Exploring Historical Engineering Disasters 13:11 Leadership Lessons from Boy Scouts to Professional Life 19:51 Managing Up and Effective Communication 27:18 Future Endeavors and Advice for Emerging Leaders 31:40 Conclusion: The Role of History in Engineering ABOUT THE GUEST: Michael Bennett is a Geotechnical Engineer with Gannett Fleming Transystems and the author of the Geotech History Blog for the Geo Institute of ASCE. With a passion for both engineering and history, Michael explores the lessons learned from historical engineering failures and successes, showing how they continue to shape the field today. Michael's journey began with a deep fascination for railroads and historical structures, leading him to pursue a career in civil engineering while earning a degree in history. His Geotech History Blog has gained recognition for its detailed analysis of geotechnical events, including his five-part series on the Johnstown Flood. Through his work, Michael aims to bridge the gap between past engineering knowledge and modern innovation, helping professionals avoid past mistakes and apply proven solutions to today’s challenges. Contact: mdblcvt@gmail.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bennett-pe-7b62888a/ Connect with Engineer Your Success Let's connect! Find Dr. James Bryant on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. I'd love to hear from you. Grab Your Copy of the Engineer's Blueprint for Success Here: https://www.engineeryoursuccessnow.com/engineers-blueprint/ You have the strength of a hero within you. Check out my website, www.engineeryoursuccessnow.com, and learn how to unlock your potential and achieve success both in business and in life.
SERIES 3 EPISODE 78: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:44) SPECIAL COMMENT: How did this not generate more headlines? It's just a proposed maneuver out of the legal morass Judge Juan Merchan has helped Trump create. But New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg has suggested that one way to solve this sentencing/but he's president/but we can't dismiss the conviction is to treat Trump - in a legal sense - the way you treat a convicted defendant who DIES before he appeals or is sentence. In short: just pretend Trump is dead. SPEAKING OF A BROKEN LEGAL SYSTEM: I'm not advocating for that, nor for guys assassinating CEO's five blocks from my home. But our legal system is broken and it would behoove commentators, columnists, writers, those who suck up to the moneyed class, and conservatives to stop being so surprised at the idea that maybe a majority of Americans is not as outraged as the wealthy are at the actions of Luigi McDreamy. Maybe you need to wonder more about why they perceive the legal system to be broken and the corporations to be legal excuses for nobody being responsible for innocent people dying and being injured. CHRIS WRAY OBEYS IN ADVANCE: He'll quit as FBI director before the inauguration. Maybe he can make a comeback as Trump's second pick for DNI because Tulsi Gabbard is being attacked from the left, the middle, and now from The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board. Also Hegseth's been caught in another lie, about something he had said in public 48 hours earlier. B-Block (23:46) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: The World Cup goes to Saudi Arabia because everything is for sale. And an announcement of a candidacy for New York City Council suddenly made me realize that Bill DeBlasio and Eric Adams both became mayor here in part because between us one of my exes and I screwed around with the 2013 campaign. OOPS. (30:22) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Yes she sneaked a gold-plated gun into Australia but how else was she supposed to protect herself at clown school? Speaking of: Newsweek beats the L.A. Times to a "Fairness Meter" for its articles. And Elon Musk insists there's no homelessness because now is exactly the right time for a CEO to assert that. C-Block (39:00) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: My favorite Holiday story. The day, on my way to interview Mickey Mantle, I ran into somebody I mistook for just another fan - albeit a well-dressed man. Oops. Turned out he was one of the stars of the greatest movie ever made.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
PREVIEW: BEDFORD SPRINGS Colleague Salena Zito of the Washington Examiner examines the sweep and poignant character of Appalachia. More later. 1889 Johnstown Flood
For all who celebrate it, the Guys wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! News You Can Use and Share! MyHeritage has introduced LiveMemoryTM, a new facility to animate entire photographs. It runs from an app on your phone and is currently free. Ancestry announces its project to index and digitize Korean War-era military records housed at NARA. Vivid-Pix announces it will expand Alzheimer's Research by donating 5% of sales through 3 December 2024. FamilySearch celebrates 130 years of family discovery! Listener Email Brian asks whether there is a genealogy podcast that shares people's stories of family history research. Julie asks if there is a user guide/book discussing how to effectively research at MyHeritage. George has contacted Daniel Horowitz at MyHeritage for information. Stay tuned! Peggy expands on requesting U.S. military records from the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri, and what is available there. Anne suggests seeking information about WWII military service information in newspapers published near the basic training camps and through local libraries' scrapbooks and vertical files. With Donna Moughty retiring from leading Irish genealogy research trips, Judy asks whether other people might be conducting such trips. Kevin comments about natural disasters and how they impacted our ancestors. He cites his paternal great-grandfather who was born 3 days after the Johnstown Flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on 31 May 1889. Mike writes a follow-up about German immigration, discussed in Episode #429, and shares his research about his German ancestor. He also cites the sinking of the PS General Slocum on 15 June 1904 and its impact on the immigrant German community of Kleindeutchland in Manhattan, New York. Michael comments on annulments and the lack of divorce records, and about circumstances that might make such records non-existent. Book Review Drew reviews Nathan Dylan Goodwin's newest book, The Hollywood Strangler, the third installment of the Venator Series. Drew also comments on how he has just submitted his final assignment to Nathan for the pilot genealogy mystery writing online course. Please let us hear from you at genealogyguys@gmail.com with your questions and comments.
In May of 1889 the people of Johnstown, Pennsylvania were blindsided by a storm that was made deadly by those who chose profit over people. "Strange and Unexplained" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab & Three Goose Entertainment and is a journey into the uncomfortable and the unknowable that will leave you both laughing and sleeping with the lights on. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. Follow us on Instagram Episode Sponsors: Miracle Made. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to TryMiracle.com/STRANGE and use the code STRANGE to claim your FREE 3-PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF.
It was an American disaster that was hard to imagine. A giant flood and an immense fire were destroying a city of over 30,000 people...
It was one of the worst disasters in American history…the break of the south fork dam that created the great Johnstown Flood. In a moment...
This Day in Legal History: American Red Cross FoundedOn this day in legal history, May 21, 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. Inspired by her experiences providing care to soldiers during the Civil War and influenced by the International Red Cross in Europe, Barton established the organization to offer emergency assistance, disaster relief, and education in the United States. The American Red Cross received its first Congressional Charter in 1900, which was later updated in 1905 to formalize its responsibilities and relationship with the federal government.The charter defines the organization's mission to provide aid to victims of natural disasters and armed conflict, as well as to maintain a system of national and international relief in times of peace. Under Barton's leadership, the American Red Cross played a critical role in responding to natural disasters such as the Johnstown Flood in 1889 and the Galveston Hurricane in 1900.Today, the American Red Cross continues to be a vital component of the nation's emergency response infrastructure. It provides blood donation services, supports military families, offers health and safety training, and responds to over 60,000 disasters annually. The organization's founding marked a significant moment in the history of humanitarian aid in the United States, embodying a commitment to compassion and service that endures to this day.In recent developments regarding Rudolph Giuliani's bankruptcy, creditors are seeking documents from John Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of WABC Radio, which recently canceled Giuliani's show. The creditors' committee has filed a motion in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to subpoena Catsimatidis for communications and documents related to Giuliani's relationship with WABC, his compensation, and details about the shows he hosted.The move comes after Catsimatidis canceled Giuliani's show due to the former mayor's repeated false statements about the 2020 election. The creditors are also interested in information about Giuliani's termination, statements he made regarding the Georgia poll workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him, and other potential assets.Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following the defamation suit loss, and his recent attempt to challenge the judgment failed. The committee has expanded its efforts to subpoena over 20 individuals associated with Giuliani, including his son, to uncover additional assets for distribution among creditors. Giuliani Creditors Target Billionaire Radio Station Owner (1)Martin Gruenberg, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), announced he will step down following a report of a toxic work environment at the agency. The report, conducted by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, detailed allegations of harassment and discrimination, highlighting a problematic culture at the FDIC during Gruenberg's tenure. Despite surviving intense congressional hearings, Gruenberg faced increasing political pressure, notably from Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, who called for new leadership to implement fundamental changes.Gruenberg, who has been an FDIC board member since 2005 and served twice as chairman, promised to address the agency's issues but acknowledged his resignation once a successor is confirmed. The White House plans to quickly nominate a replacement to maintain the Democratic majority on the FDIC board, ensuring the continuation of the administration's regulatory agenda.The FDIC is currently collaborating with the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on new capital requirements for big banks, a contentious issue in the financial industry. Gruenberg's departure could impact these regulatory efforts, especially if the board becomes evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. House Majority Whip Thomas Emmer called for Gruenberg's immediate resignation, suggesting other capable leaders could take over.The White House expressed its commitment to appointing a new chair dedicated to consumer protection and financial stability, aiming for swift Senate confirmation. The unfolding situation underscores the ongoing challenges and political dynamics within federal financial regulatory bodies.FDIC Chair Says He'll Leave Job After Toxic Workplace Report (2)The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) is developing a new "environmental context" metric to provide law schools with more information about the socioeconomic challenges applicants face. This metric will include data on institutional student spending, graduation rates, and the percentage of undergraduates receiving federal Pell Grants. Unveiled during an American Bar Association meeting, the project aims to offer a fuller picture of applicants beyond grades and test scores.The initiative is a collaboration with The College Board, which already provides similar contextual tools for college admissions. LSAC's research director, Elizabeth Bodamer, highlighted the importance of understanding the hurdles applicants have overcome. This new metric comes after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 decision limiting the consideration of race in admissions, though LSAC had planned the project years earlier.Law schools are testing the metric on 2023 applications to evaluate its impact on admissions decisions. Initial findings show that applicants from high-challenge colleges are 2.5 times more likely to be first-generation students compared to those from low-challenge colleges. Additionally, nearly all applicants from low-challenge colleges are accepted into law school, while fewer than two-thirds from high-challenge colleges gain admission.Law school applicants' socioeconomic hurdles measured by new metric | ReutersIn my column this week, I discuss the IRS's acknowledgment of racial disparities in taxpayer audit rates, as highlighted by Stanford's Institute for Economic Policy Research in 2023. The IRS plans to reassess and refine its compliance mechanisms, but mere algorithm adjustments won't suffice. Accountability is crucial for addressing how these algorithms exhibited biases and ensuring taxpayers can trust the system's integrity. Transparency, such as open-sourcing the audit algorithms, is essential for enabling feedback from researchers and watchdog groups.The issue of biased algorithms extends beyond statistics. Racial disparities in audits undermine trust in the tax system, which is vital for voluntary compliance. Although algorithms aren't inherently biased, the people who create them can introduce biases, whether intentionally or not. This is evident in similar cases, such as the Netherlands' tax audit scandal, where policies flagged ethnic minorities for audits on childcare benefits, leading to widespread disallowance of said benefits and massive financial harm to numerous innocent individuals.In the U.S., the IRS's audit algorithms may disproportionately impact Black taxpayers due to the way they predict income misstatements. Stanford researchers found that Black taxpayers were audited at rates 2.9 to 4.7 times higher than non-Black taxpayers. Whether these biases are overt or incidental, the experience of those audited remains unjust.Greater transparency in audit algorithms is necessary to ensure equity across all demographics. While there are concerns about revealing audit selection criteria, the benefits of transparency outweigh the risks. Disclosing audit rates across demographics and open-sourcing the algorithms will allow for independent assessment and help identify and eliminate biases. Open-source algorithms can also expose vulnerabilities, enabling improvements.The column underscores that addressing biases in enforcement processes requires more than algorithm tweaks; it involves engaging with affected communities to rebuild trust through transparency and accountability. This level of openness is crucial for restoring taxpayer confidence in the fairness of the IRS's audit practices.IRS Racial Audit Disparities Need Accountability to Be Resolved Get full access to Minimum Competence - Daily Legal News Podcast at www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe
Join us on a journey through one of history's most harrowing natural disasters in this episode of The Crux, led by our host Julie Henningson. Picture yourself amidst the ordinary rhythms of life, navigating through your day on a rainy afternoon, when suddenly, a cataclysmic force interrupts the tranquility. In 1889, in the heart of Pennsylvania, the South Fork Dam burst, and what followed was a monstrous wall of water, holding within it 3.8 billion gallons, surged forth with terrifying speed for the towns below. But this was not just water; it was a relentless force of nature, carrying along with it a deadly payload of buildings, livestock, and debris. Its origins traced back to the Cambria Ironworks, where it amassed a deadly arsenal of barbed wire and railroad cars before hurtling towards unsuspecting communities. At 40 miles per hour, there was no escape from its wrath. Residents were thrust into a nightmare scenario, facing the impossible task of outrunning a deluge of biblical proportions. The sheer force of the flood tore through the landscape, ripping the very topsoil from the earth as it swept everything in its path with the unstoppable ferocity only moving water can possess. In today's episode, we delve into the chilling details of the Great Johnstown Flood, a calamity etched into the annals of history as a stark reminder of nature's awesome power and humanity's vulnerability in the face of its fury. Tune in as we uncover the tragic events and explore the profound impact this disaster had on the lives of those caught in its merciless grip.
National Park Ranger Doug Bosley's existence hinges on a few dangerous seconds in the life of his great-great grandfather, William Pickerill. On May 31, 1889, Pickerill worked as a telegraph operator down the valley from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Before it was washed away by the flood, his telegraph office relayed warnings about the impending collapse of the South Fork Dam. Today, Ranger Bosley joins host Mike Corey to talk about how William Pickerill survived, and how the Johnstown Flood National Memorial remembers those who didn't. Bosley also shares his own recollections of the Johnstown flood of 1977.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
After the flood leaves many Johnstown residents trapped by debris and fighting for their lives, several oil slicks from leaking industrial equipment catch fire, igniting a deadly inferno. Sixteen-year-old Victor Heiser must rescue a young woman whose leg is pinned by rubble as the fire grows closer by the second. And as the floodwaters finally recede, and residents return to where their homes once stood, they reckon with all that they've lost and will have to rebuild.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Despite the efforts of engineer John Parke, the South Fork Dam does break. The ensuing flash flood sweeps up a vast, moving wall of debris: mud, rocks, trees, fragments of bridges and smashed-up houses. Residents in Johnstown, including Reverend H.L. Chapman and his family, have mere seconds to flee to higher ground as the floodwaters and debris crash into their homes. The lucky ones find themselves clinging to rooftops amid the raging waters, fighting to survive.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Engineer John Parke and a team of workers furiously shovel dirt, trying to shore up the South Fork Dam as it threatens to overflow, amid torrential rains. Parke knows these efforts are their only chance of preventing a terrible flood. He decides he has to warn the towns in the river valley of the imminent danger — but it's a warning they've heard too many times in the past to take seriously. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We're releasing episodes from our mini failure library while we're on production hiatus. This week's Mini Failure is about the Johnstown Flood AKA that Great Flood of 1889. After heavy rainfall, the poorly maintained South Fork Dam failed, greatly impacting the unsuspecting residents downstream. Original Air Date: July 24, 2022 Episode Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood Ways to get in touch with us Email - thefailurologypodcast@gmail.com Website - www.failurology.ca
This week we return to Niʻihau for an insane adventure that followed the bombing of Pearl Harbor and learn about the Johnstown Flood and how dams are just like us and also like candy. A listener email finally puts the debate about white chocolate to rest.Episode Tabs:The Niihau Incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidentThis Dam Break Was One of the Worst Man Made Disasters in American History. It Could Have Been Prevented.https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a42384940/johnstown-flood/Listener Tabs:https://askinosie.com/blogs/the-nib/is-white-chocolate-really-chocolatehttps://annehelen.substack.com/p/larping-your-jobEmail your closed tab submissions to: 500opentabs@gmail.comContinue the conversation by joining us on Discord! https://discord.gg/8px5RJHk7aSUPPORT THE SHOW and 40% off an annual subscription to Nebula by going to https://nebula.tv/500opentabsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
It's May, 30th 1889, and the South Fork Dam in Western Pennsylvania is in danger. After nearly a month of hard rain, eight inches have fallen in one day, filling the lake behind the dam to capacity. And the dam's owners, the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club, have cut corners in repairing and maintaining it. It's threatening to break, which would unleash 20 million tons of water on the people in the valley below, including everyone living in the steel city of Johnstown. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, Marley enters her piranha era, Brianne must continually reckon with Froot Loops, we discover that there are two kinds of people, Melanie has a certain amount of knowledge about grave robbing, and we have a guest speaker for disaster relief.Content warnings: deaths of children 13:30-14:30, flooding deaths, deaths of horses, brief mention of vomit, discussion of a movie's depiction of sexual assault in disaster relief.
This week, we give lumberjacks a break from the female gaze, Melanie finally admits that she's the bottom, Brianne is actually the river planner for the city, we try to appease Ohio, it really is all about that bass, and a “peculiar whistle” saves lives.Content warnings: flooding deaths, very brief mention of deaths of mother and children.
A discussion about and look into the events surrounding the 2023 editions of Silent Movie Day and the Pittsburgh Silent Film Festival. The films we discuss in this episode are "Safety Last," "The Johnstown Flood," "Wings" and a variety of silent Shakespeare shorts. We also look at Pittsburgh silent film history from a number of historic Pittsburgh movie houses. Twitter/X - @goldensilents1 Instagram - goldensilentscast Pittsburgh Silent Film Society - https://pittsburghsilentfilmsociety.org/ Tom Roberts - www.tomrobertspiano.com
Historically Thinking: Conversations about historical knowledge and how we achieve it
In 1785, Jane Wellborn Spurgeon of Abbots Creek in Rowan County, North Carolina petititioned the North Carolina Legislature, attesting her right to 704 acres of land so that she might provide for her family of 12 children. Her husband, William Spurgeon, had been a leading Loyalist combatant during the Revolution. Now Jane sought to reclaim some of the property that had been taken from them by the rebel government of North Carolina. The Revolution had split their family, upended hierarchies, and now made James Spurgeon claim citizenship and some of the rights pertaining to it. Cynthia Kierner captures James Spurgeon, her world, and her voice in The Tory's Wife, A Woman and Her Family in Revolutionary America. Cindy Kerner is professor of history at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She was last on the podcast to discuss her book, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood. For Further Investigation The State Archives of North Carolina The Regulator Movement, described by the North Carolina Encyclopedia. For an overview of the American Revolution in the South, see my conversation with John Buchanan in Episode 110 Transcript [00:01:23] Al: Let's talk about your first meeting with Jane Wellborn Spurgeon. [00:01:30] Al: Do you remember? Do you remember where you were and what you felt? Because I bet you do. [00:01:37] Cindy: I, so like back in the mid 90s, I was writing a book about southern women, mostly white women. In the colonial and the revolutionary era, and it was a very open ended project, but from reading other books about the revolution, people like Linda Kerber in particular had used women's petitions to the state legislatures as a way of [00:02:00] getting at their voices. [00:02:01] Cindy: In other words, women who might not have left behind any other documents have left behind these documents where they told the legislators about their lives, about their problems as a way of getting some sort of help. And so I'm like, okay, I'm going to read all of these for Virginia and North and South Carolina, all the ones that were written by women. [00:02:22] Cindy: And what I'm really hoping to find is, women saying things like, Oh, we had this revolution. Isn't that awesome? Now we have rights. Woohoo. None of them did that. None of them did that. What they did when they asked for help was basically they said, Oh, I'm a poor, weak woman. Sob, sob, please help me. [00:02:43] Cindy: The one exception to that was Jane Spurgeon who, submitted three petitions between 1785 and 1791 and with each successive petition, when she didn't get what she wanted, she got madder and finally said, look [00:03:00] I should have the common rights of other citizens. And so I first. [00:03:03] Cindy: I met Jane in the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh in the mid 1990s, and I wrote a little bit about her at that point, but I've really been thinking about her petitions and her very strongly worded [00:03:18] Al: So we have to talk more about petitionary literature in a little bit because I get so nerdy and excited about it. It's like the coolest damn thing. Petitionary literature throughout the 18th century. But how many are there of these petitions? [00:03:32] Cindy: There were hundreds submitted by women alone within this sort of, 10 or 20 year period. Many more were submitted by men and groups of men. But what's different about this period is that prior to the revolution at least in these States women almost never, they did occasionally, but it was very rare. [00:03:55] Cindy: What the revolution did and what the war did really was created situations where a [00:04:00] lot of these women were on their own and they were needing to collect debts, needing tax relief, wanting their husbands back pay if their husbands were soldiers and so forth and so on. And they petitioned the legislature in order to get that.
The Johnstown Flood: https://amzn.to/3Z5J3Ya
From June 18, 2018:Al Roker gave us a call for a chat about his new book Ruthless Tide: The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America's Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster. After asking Al for some tips on getting up early and maintaining energy while working on multiple projects, we had a discussion about the history behind the event, the parallels that can be drawn between then and now, and how experiencing many weather events helps to inform his writing.
Episode 2633: After the Chicago Fire: A city shrugs off a cataclysm. Today, Chicago, after the Fire.
Robert Harris and James Mockoski on The Johnstown Flood, Napoleon, Lawrence of Arabia and other restorations • The Stoogeum's Gary Lassin, author of A Tour De Farce (89:08)
Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real talk! In some airline news, the Justice Department is suing to stop the planned Jet Blue/Spirit Airlines merger, and multiple airlines are ditching fees charged for families trying to sit together. Seemingly inspired by Elon Musk's moves at Twitter, Meta will soon be offering "Meta Verified:" aka paying $15 a month for the coveted Blue Check. Why is the Blue Check so desirable for some? Are there any cases where wanting one is warranted? If everyone can pay a monthly fee to be verified, does being verified lose its meaning? It's time for some unpopular opinions: we're inspired by a (now deleted) tweet, which asserts that most nonfiction books are unreadable. We have some hot takes of our own: your phone should be silent most of the time, being an "empath" isn't a thing, and airlines should get rid of the reclining functionality on all economy seats. In light (lol) of Daylight Savings Time returning in a few short days, Laura delivers her yearly gripe about how stupid changing the clocks 2x a year is. Will attempts at a permanent DST bill die in the House again this year? Probably. Though some of us would love a little more sunlight in the evenings, experts warn that a permanent switch to Standard time would likely be better for our health. This week's recommendations are mostly practical, with a little entertainment sprinkled in: Digital temperature readers (Andrew), 'Bass Reeves: No Master But Duty' (Laura), and AHC Natural Perfection Sunscreen Stick (Pam). And in this week's installment of After Dark, available on Patreon: What tragic event were we all obsessed with as kids? Titanic is the obvious answer for many millennials, but we have a treasure trove of morbid interests. The history, politics, and horrific assassination of the Romanov family, and subsequent mystery of Anastasia. How an interest in the Oregon Trail led Pam to an obsession with the Donner Party. Andrew has always been obsessed with water: the Johnstown Flood of 1889.
Engineering News – LIFTbuild Technology on the Exchanger Tower in Detroit, MI. (2:10) This week's Mini Failure is about the Johnstown Flood AKA the Great Flood of 1889 (7:20). After heavy rainfall, the poorly maintained South Fork Dam failed, greatly impacting the unsuspecting residents downstream. Check out our Patreon page for Mini Failure bonus episodes - https://www.patreon.com/failurology Photos/Sources/Summary from this episode - https://www.failurology.ca/ Ways to get in touch Twitter - https://twitter.com/failurology Email - thefailurologypodcast@gmail.com Linked In - https://www.linkedin.com/company/failurology-podcast YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh1Buq46PYyxKbCDGTqbsDg
Wrath, rivalry, or coverup? Despite over 2200 people dying in the Johnstown flood, no one has ever been held legally responsible for the neglected dam that caused it. Survivors were left to wonder: Was this an act of God, designed to punish them? Did a business rivalry between iron and steel magnates lead to this destruction? And did the dam's owners know they were liable… and tried to cover it up? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After years of neglect, the decaying South Fork dam gave way in May 1889 — flooding a town of steelworkers, and killing thousands. In the aftermath, the surviving townspeople looked to the dam's wealthy owners for answers. But they'd already fled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In which an earthenwork dam enjoyed by millionaires fails and a town of steelworkers disppears from the map, and John is terrified by the menace of West Virginia. Certificate #33180.
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The catastrophic Johnstown Flood occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889. Park Ranger Elizabeth Shope relays background of the club that owned the earthen dam that gave way and tells about Clara Barton's rescue efforts following the torrent of destruction on the Conemaugh Valley. The Johnstown Flood National Memorial's visitor center is located at the site of the dam.
Listen to the story of the worst flood in US history. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/larry-bentley/message
Listen to the story of the worst flood in US history. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/larry-bentley/message
The Johnstown Flood killed 2,209 Pennsylvanians in 1889, caused by the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam. Join Matt and Carolanne this week as they talk about one of the deadliest floods in American history. Our linktree: linktr.ee/boozedandconfused This week's booze of choice: Revolution's A Little Crazy and Ruffino Limonata Wine Spritz Sources https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3157463,-78.9276442,3a,75y,134.4h,63.61t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNyozvgS_OtAtGRhlCRgFSbzOl_CY8zJNBd0kOR!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNyozvgS_OtAtGRhlCRgFSbzOl_CY8zJNBd0kOR%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya8.511984-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Fork_Fishing_and_Hunting_Club https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandview_Cemetery,_Johnstown https://www.history.com/news/how-americas-most-powerful-men-caused-americas-deadliest-flood https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-johnstown-flood#:~:text=The%20South%20Fork%20Dam%20in,Conemaugh%20and%20Stony%20Creek%20Rivers.
Welcome to the seventeenth episode of “We Effed Up,” where we learn why professional qualifications are essential.SourcesColeman, Neil M., Wojno, Stephanie, and Kaktins, Uldis. (2016). Dam-breach hydrology of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 – Challenging the findings of the 1891 investigation report. Paper No. 178-5. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 7. https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2016AM/webprogram/Paper283665.html“Johnstown Flood National Memorial.” National Park Service. 15 February 2022. http://www.nps.org/joflMcCullough, David. The Johnstown Flood: The Incredible Story Behind One of the Most Devastating Disasters America Has Ever Known. Simon & Schuster, New York, 1968. “Statistics about the Great Disaster.” Johnstown Flood Museum, The Johnstown Area Heritage Association. 3 June 2019. http://www.jaha.org/attractions/johnstown-flood-museum/flood-history/facts-about-the-1889-flood/Zebrowkski, Ernest. Perils of a Restless Planet: Scientific Perspectives of Natural Disasters. Cambridge U. Press, London, 1998. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.
It's May 31st. This day in 1889, a wall of water rushing down the Conemaugh River wiped out the mountain town of Johnstown, PA. It was one of the worst “natural” disasters in American history, and due in large part to negligence by wealthy developers. Jody, Niki and Kellie discuss the details of the flood, the class dynamics, and how the incident changed liability law. Plus: what to make of David McCullough, who wrote his first book about the flood. Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com And don't forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, out now from Radiotopia. This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.com Get in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich, Executive Producers at Radiotopia
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, lies hard against the Conemaugh River in its deep valley in the western part of the state. Founded in 1770, it grew quickly as the Civil War approached, fortunes were made in iron, coal and steel. By 1860, the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown was the leading steel producer in the United States, outproducing steel giants in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. After the war it became the center of America's growing industrial might and the site of many struggles by workers for recognition. High above the city, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania built a dam between 1838 and 1853, as part of a cross-state canal system, creating Lake Conemaugh, the reservoir behind the dam. As railroads superseded canal barge transport, the Commonwealth abandoned the canal and sold it to the Pennsylvania Railroad. The dam and lake were part of the purchase, and the railroad sold them to private interests. A group of speculators, from Pittsburgh purchased the abandoned reservoir, modified it, and converted it into a private resort club for some of those that had made their fortunes in local industry. Development included lowering the dam to make its top wide enough to hold a road, and putting a fish screen in the spillway that also trapped debris. These alterations are thought to have increased the vulnerability of the dam. Moreover, a system of relief pipes and valves, a feature of the original dam, previously sold off for scrap, was not replaced, so the club had no way of lowering the water level in the lake in case of an emergency. Floods were almost a yearly event in the Conemaugh valley during the 1880s. On the afternoon of May 30, 1889, following a quiet Memorial Day, it began raining in the valley. The next day May 31, 1889 water filled the streets, and rumors began that a dam holding an artificial lake in the mountains to the northeast might give way. It did, and an estimated 20 million tons of water began spilling into the Conemaugh River valley that led to Johnstown 14 miles away. The destruction in Johnstown occurred in only about 10 minutes. What had been a thriving steel town with homes, churches, saloons, a library, a railroad station, electric street lights, was buried under mud and debris. Out of a population of approximately 30,000 at the time, at least 2,209 people are known to have perished in the disaster. Compounding the disaster and contributing to the death toll was a major fire that burned much of what was left of the city. The flood established the American Red Cross as the pre-eminent emergency relief organization in the United States. Founder Clara Barton, came to Johnstown with 50 doctors and nurses and set up tent hospitals as well as temporary "hotels" for the homeless, and stayed on for five months to coordinate relief efforts. The people of Johnston were resilient and the town came back from the brink. The people never forgot the aid the nation gave to them and when the great Galveston Hurricane hit Texas and killed more than 6,000 people in 1900 the people of the city of Johnston contributed more money than any other city in the United States despite not even ranking in the top 100 cities in population. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
“The recording is of South Fork Creek in Pennsylvania, which runs through the site of the Johnstown Flood of 1889. The creek used to be the source of a reservoir […]
Join us today as we talk about one of the greatest engineering failures in American history. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
As season two continues under construction, It Happened One Year is again making with the bonus oddities - this week, Sarah & Joe kick around what they know of the Johnstown Flood of 1889, thus the abbreviated running time! Listen as the discussion quickly ranges between what people might've kept in their basements in the late 19th century to a frustrating argument with the Alexa over Jack the Ripper facts.
Disaster relief became an instrument of U.S. foreign policy in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. The "progressive presidents" particularly utilized aid for American interests, sparking a trend. Prof. Julia Irwin joins me to discuss her upcoming book on this very topic.Essential Reading:Julia Irwin, Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation's Humanitarian Awakening (2013).Julia Irwin, "Our Climatic Moment: Hazarding a History of the United States and the World," Diplomatic History 45, no. 3 (June 2021): 421-44.Recommended Reading:Cynthia Kierner, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood (2019). Ted Steinberg, Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America (2000).Olivier Zunz, Philanthropy in America: A History (2012).Heather Curtis, Holy Humanitarians: American Evangelicals and Global Aid (2018). William N. Tilchin, “Theodore Roosevelt, Anglo-American Relations, and the Jamaica Incident of 1907,” Diplomatic History 19, no. 3 (1995): 385-405 Salvatore LaGumina, The Great Earthquake: America Comes to Messina's Rescue (2008). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In the late spring of 1889, southern Pennsylvania's South Fork Hunting and FIshing Club was gearing up for another summer of luxurious hiking, boating, and swimming, when an unexpected rainstorm dropped 10 inches of water on their pristine mountain getaway. The resulting rise in the club's lake, Lake Conemaugh, spelled disaster for the dam holding it back. And with the failure of the dam came the horrific flood in the valley below, a flood which took out railroad bridges, knocked over factories, tore houses off their foundations, and wiped out downtown Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in less than an hour. In this episode, we're getting into the details of what that flood looked like to eyewitnessses; why the dam broke; the Carnegie libraries (it's relevant!!), the astonishing amount of money in the steel industry, and what exactly the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club was doing up there in the Alleghany Mountains. Main sources for this episode include: Charles Guggenheim's documentary "The Johnstown Flood", 1898 "How Andrew Carnegie Built the Architecture of American Literacy", by K. Capps, Bloomberg City Lab, 2014 "A history of Johnstown and the great flood of 1889: a study of disaster and rehabilitation" by N D Shappee, 1940 "Through the Johnstown Flood" by D J Beale, 1890
Today we are joined by our first guest - the fabulous history teacher Liza Thurmond! We chat about the best history books and authors out there! Whether you're a history buff, or you don't think history is for you, we think you'll find a read you're excited about. Books mentioned in this episode: - Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by D Brown - The Hiding Place by C Ten Boom - The Great Bridge by David McCullough - Seabiscuit by L Hillenbrand - Unbroken by L Hillenbrand - 1776, Johnstown Flood, The Pioneers, and John Adams by D McCullough - Destiny of the Republic, River of Doubt, and Hero of the Empire by C Millard - Up From Slavery by BT Washington - Narrative of the Life of Frederic Douglas by F Douglas - Endurance by A Lansing
We conclude this two-part devotion looking to the tragedy of the Johnstown Flood to see what spiritual lessons we can learn. The people of Johnstown knew the dam was going to fail. But they lived as if it wouldn't be in their time. In Matthew 24 we are reminded that Jesus is returning... will we be ready or are we living as if it won't be during our time? Share your stories, prayer requests, or your response to this devotional in the comments below. If you would like to know more about who we are, what we believe, or when we meet, visit http://newlife.church. Or you can fill out a digital connection card at http://newlife.church/connect - we would love to get to know you better!
We begin this two-part devotion looking to the tragedy of the Johnstown Flood to see what spiritual lessons we can learn. Nothing good happens when we forget our purpose or neglect important things. Instead we should keep our focus on what's most important and remember to practice those basic but important disciplines which will pay dividends into the future. Here are two questions to consider: Are your spillways clogged? Are you living without margins? Share your stories, prayer requests, or your response to this devotional in the comments below. If you would like to know more about who we are, what we believe, or when we meet, visit http://newlife.church. Or you can fill out a digital connection card at http://newlife.church/connect - we would love to get to know you better!
This week the Bros have Cory Porterfield, Sr Pastor of Jesus Name Community Church, joining them to discuss …… --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/kenny-james65/message
It's Infrastructure Week on The Weirdest Thing! Our fearless cohosts discuss two catastrophic and deadly engineering failures: the St. Francis Dam Disaster of 1928 and the Johnstown Flood of 1889.