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_Through A Night of Horrors..._ by Casey Edward Greene and Shelly Henley Kelly



The events of September 11 have had its impact on the archival community
without any doubt. The initiative to gather related material in NY (and
elsewhere) for documenting the tragic affair is gaining momentum, and the NCC
Update has also noted a bibliography.

I attended a session on disasters while at SAA (2001) and was initially
impressed with visions of great heights (I'm a very impressionable
acrophobiac), probably due to the last paper dwelling on mountain climbing
accidents.  But there was valuable insight in the papers (Thank you, Bruce
Stark, for bringing these together!).

Why am I bringing this up?

I just finished reading Casey and Shelly's _Through a Night of Horrors:
Voices from the 1900 Galveston Flood_.  I had a sense of deja vu reading
Casey's introduction.  It felt like reading about events of September 11 all
over again.  I'll highlight two paragraphs:

 (page 7) The accounts...that follow are dramatic evidence of the thoughts
and actions of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary
circumstances.....Their words, which are remarkable for their sometimes
passionate, other times detached--almost clinical -- tone, illustrate
firsthand the ways in which people respond to cataclysms. ...In the emergency
phase, they try to flee or escape the threat.  When flight is impossible,
they seek protection and attempt to protect their loved ones, friends, and
neighbors.  They try to be with their families.  They display heroism.
Panic, however, is an uncommon response to disasters....

And this one:

(page 9) The rumor mill thrives in the wake of a disaster, and rumors abound
in the absense of an official explanation of the calamity.  Their value lies
in helping survivors come to terms wirth their circumstances. [Casey cites
Saundra Schneider's _Flirting with Disaster_]

Casey then proceeds to describe the cathartic effect of recording one's
story.

Holly's comments:
This is the archival element.  The gathering together of stories is what we
do.  Bringing them together assures participants/victims that the events will
not be forgotten for the future.  In their own words.  Later historians can
write however much they want about these events, but it is the words of the
survivors' accounts, first hand accounts (primary sources) that will continue
to have the ringing passion that no others can convey.  Thanks, Casey and
Shelly, for this inspiring publication of the accounts of survivors and
reminding us of the healing power of our work to "remember forever for the
future."

Holly Hodges

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