DOCSLIB.ORG

The Commodification of American Urban Disaster, 1861-1906

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Commodification of American Urban Disaster, 1861-1906 W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2014 Ruins Reframed: The Commodification of American Urban Disaster, 1861-1906 Zachary Michael Hilpert College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Hilpert, Zachary Michael, "Ruins Reframed: The Commodification of American Urban Disaster, 1861-1906" (2014). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539720327. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-em77-7a13 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ruins Reframed: The Commodification of American Urban Disaster, 1861-1906 Zachary Michael Hilpert Vermillion, South Dakota Master of Arts, Bowling Green State University, 2006 Master of Science, Northern State University, 2005 Bachelor of Arts, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, 2002 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the College of William and Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy American Studies Program The College of William and Mary August, 2014 APPROVAL PAGE This Dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Zachary Miehael Hilpert Approved by the Committee, June, 2014 Cornmittee Chair Associate P/bfessdr Charles McGovern, American Studies The Cettege of William & Mary Associate Professor Alan Braddock, American Studies The College of William & Mary Associate Professor Hiroshi Kitamura, History The College of William & Mary ABSTRACT This dissertation explores images of urban disaster and related events produced from the Civil War to the dawn of the 20th century, seeking to understand the role such visual media played in the formation of American identity and racial perceptions. Images of disasters that appeared throughout this period demonstrate a desire on the part of a largely white, native-born consumer class to share in a collective grieving process, one that initially recalled the comforts found in the communal suffering of the Civil War, but habitually eschewed the most tragic elements in favor of an optimistic, nationalistic narrative free of lasting trauma. Out of this desire for mutual grieving and recovery emerged a market for tokens of palatable tragedy in the final decades of the nineteenth century. This market was fed by a growing industry of disaster commodification that co-opted urban destruction in the service of an ultimately white supremacist formulation of American identity. These images gave consumers the ability to experience disaster and loss remotely, in more immediate and vivid ways than news reports or letters. Yet a line of acceptability was drawn in the process of commodifying these disasters, and resulted in a wealth of imagery that tells a far different - and far more hopeful - story of each disaster than the death tolls and oft ignored tales of costly human error could ever have crafted. The images instead create a fantasy narrative of disasters and aftermaths firmly under human control, and a racist, ultra- nationalistic view of the world in which white Americans are challenged by adversity, but always persevere to construct a new and better world - often in spite of the efforts of the racialized monsters in their midst. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii Dedications iv Introduction Creating an Aesthetic of Urban Disaster in the 19th Century United States 1 Chapter 1. “Unearthly, hideous, terrific”: The Civil War and the Dawn of Modem Disaster Imagery 41 Chapter 2. The Great Chicago Fire and the Rise of an Aesthetic of Calamity 79 Chapter 3. “A Carnival of Slaughter”: The Johnstown Flood, Industrial Monsters (Real and Imagined), and the Theater of the Macabre 109 Chapter 4. “The Dreadful Burden of the Dead”: Death, Life, and Race after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 143 Chapter 5. New Monsters: The Audience Joins the Image Makers among the Ruins of 1906 San Francisco 178 Conclusion 221 Appendix 229 Bibliography 366 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A project such as this begins as the idea of a solitary individual, but very quickly becomes a communal effort. My particular experience has been no exception. Everyone listed below, and the many more who have joined me during this process, share in the successes of this work. As for any mistakes, oversights, and shortcomings, I alone am responsible. My advisor and dissertation committee chair, Charles McGovern, has been a source of so much insight and support along the way, and I humbly offer him my greatest thanks. Charlie’s expert guidance and assistance has helped me to see new avenues of inquiry for my project that I never could have discovered on my own. My committee of Alan Braddock and Hiroshi Kitamura at William & Mary, and Scott Sandage at Carnegie Mellon University, all stepped in during the final stages to provide invaluable critiques, questions, and suggestions for my work, and I thank them each for their generous efforts. Many other faculty members at William & Mary have lent their own insights and expertise in conversations throughout this process; I would like to thank, in particular, professors Chandos Brown, Arthur Knight, Leisa Meyer, and Maureen Fitzgerald for the time they have spent with me in meetings and conversations regarding this project over the past six years. Thank you, as well, to the Executive Council of the American Studies Program at William & Mary for financial support in the form of much appreciated research travel grants. The research for this dissertation has led me to numerous archives across the country, and in each one I have found knowledgeable staff eager to help advance my work. For their insights, their energetic assistance, and their dedication to the vital archives for which they care, I thank the following people and the institutions they represent: Jeff Bridges and the Reference Section staff at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division; Robin Rummel and Dan Ingram of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association and the Johnstown Flood Museum; Thomas Carey and the staff of the San Francisco Public Library’s San Francisco History Center; Mary Morganti, Wendy Welker, Alison Moore and the reference staff of the California Historical Society Library and Archives; David Haberstich of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s Archives Center; Robert Glass of the National Archives and Records Administration-Pacific Region, the reading room staff and archivists of the Bancroft Library at the University of California-Berkeley; the staff of the Research Center at the Chicago History Museum; and the staff of the Harold Washington Research Center at the Chicago Public Library. Thank you, as well, to Doug Owlsey and Kari Bruwelheide of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Physical Anthropology Division for their assistance in interpreting a particularly gruesome photo of a Johnstown flood victim, and to my graduate student colleague Tonia Deetz Rock for putting me in touch with them. My work received an early and immensely beneficial boost from the Social Science Research Council in the form of a Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship during the spring and summer of 2008. Along with generous financial support from the SSRC, I received invaluable guidance from Urban Visual Studies field directors M. Christine Boyer and Edward Dimendberg, and support and suggestions from other fellows in my field, including Jennifer Boles, Mona Damluji, Bridget Gilman, Max Hirsh, Nathan Holmes, Alfredo Rivera, Annis Sengupta, Joshua Soliere, Sara Stevens, Jia Tan, and Alla Vronskaya. Thank you, as well, to Steven Neal Profitt and Emily Cincinnati for their efforts in managing and organizing the fellowship and its related workshops. Many friends have helped along the way. Among them, Jason Kirby has been an ever-present study partner, emotional supporter, example of dedication, and all- around great friend. Srin Chakravorty has always been there to talk me through the most stressful moments. Ben Anderson has been an eager partner in commiseration. Kevin Kosanovich spent many an evening talking out ideas with me during our time together in the Keio Program. Sarah Glossen, Jenna Simpson, Ben, and Kevin also participated in a dissertation support group that provided great feedback for a number of my chapters. Through all of the years I’ve worked toward my Ph.D., my parents, Pat and John Hilpert, have encouraged me to follow my curiosity, wherever it took me. Their encouragement, assistance (emotional and financial), and guidance have propelled me forward through every stage of this process. Whatever success I achieve is thanks in no small part to their love and support. Finally, this journey has only gotten better since my partner and soon-to-be wife, Sandy Flemming, has come into my life. Her love, friendship, and support over the last four years have made my completion of this work possible. Thank you, sweetheart. To Sandy and Henry, who always welcome me home with love. Introduction: Creating an Aesthetic of Urban Disaster in the 19th Century United States This dissertation explores images of urban
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Wasn't That a Mighty Day Galveston Hurricane Song Prompt Folk Song
    Wasn’t That a Mighty Day Galveston Hurricane Song Prompt Folk song lyrics are often flawed with respect to facts. This results from generations passing along verses which, though fraught with emotion, are sometimes lacking facts. Also, needing rhyming words may inject error into historical accuracy. The purpose of this prompt is to assess the accuracy of the lyrics of a popular song about the 1900 Galveston hurricane, Wasn’t That a Mighty Day? There are at least six errors/exaggerations among the verses listed below. After reading the account below, write a one page double-spaced essay describing your findings. I remember one September, When storm winds swept the town; The high tide from the ocean, Lord, Put water all around. Chorus: Wasn't that a mighty day, A mighty day A mighty day, Great God, that morning When the storm winds swept the town! There was a sea-wall there in Galveston To keep the waters down, But the high tide from the ocean, Lord, Put water in the town. The trumpets warned the people, 'You'd better leave this place!' But they never meant to leave their homes Till death was in their face. The trains they all were loaded With people leaving town; The tracks gave way to the ocean, Lord, And the trains they went on down. Great Galveston Storm Article Paraphrased from Wikipedia Information At the end of the 19th century, the city of Galveston, Texas was a booming city with a population of approximately 38,000 residents. Its position on the natural harbor of Galveston Bay along the Gulf of Mexico made it the center of trade and the biggest city in the state of Texas.
    [Show full text]
  • He Politics of Business in California 1890-1920 SI 2.50
    he Politics of Business in California 1890-1920 SI 2.50 The Politics of Business in California. 1890-1920 Manse/ G. Blackford The American experience between the Civil War and World War I can perhaps be best understood as an attempt to reorder national life in the wake of a radical social and eco­ nomic disruption that was brought on by rapid industrialization. In California, even more than in other areas of the nation, fundamental and dramatic changes were to occur throughout the period as various sectors of the state's rapidly ex­ panding economy became both increasingly differentiated and more closely interdependent. Through a series of mergers and consolida­ tions, large, diversified, integrated, and multi­ level firms came to replace smaller, more specialized, independent, and single-level companies. Trade associations, marketing com­ bines, and other affiliations served to organize these emergent firms within each industry; and businessmen, acutely aware of a need for recognition of their status as members of a profession, began increasingly to act in con­ cert as a special-interest group, both in public, in their representations to legislative bodies, and in private, as apologists for commercial practice and as agents working to suppress competition and increase efficiency. Professor Blackford examines three of Cali­ fornia's more important basic productive in­ dustries—agriculture, oil, and lumber—and three of its principal supportive businesses — banking, investment banking, and insurance — together with two major issues that cut across industry lines: the growing movement to bring about state regulation of railroads and public utilities, and the effort to effect tax reform.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cupola National Register of Historical Places
    Oakland City Landmark 1975 The Cupola National Register of Historical Places Newsletter 1976 of the Alameda County Historical Society Landmark 1985 Pardee Home Museum California Historic Landmark Fall / Winter 2013 1998 PARDEE FAMILY DRESS MAKER Aura became a Modiste (dress sleds with wide runners so By Cherie Donahue designer) and had many well- that they would not sink into known clients including the the snow. On these was a Aura Prescott was born in a log Pardees. Aura designed and wagon-box. The bottom house on a Minnesota farm on sewed the beaded gown Mrs. was covered with straw and March 31, 1871. Her family George Pardee wore to the then hot stones and jugs of moved eight miles south to governor’s inaugural ball in hot water were placed and Albert Lea, Minnesota in 1876. Sacramento. This dress has all covered with blankets. This was the first time Aura had recently been located in storage The family was seated at ever seen a town. She and her in Sacramento. She spent six both sides and then more siblings could now attend weeks each summer in blankets. All the way the Sunday School and participate Sacramento in the Governor’s family would sing in concert. in group activities. In 1880 the Mansion while George Pardee Prescott’s moved to the newly Aura Prescott’s great was governor. opened Dakota Territory. Aura granddaughter, Cherie taught school in the Dakota Miss Helen and Miss Madeline Donohue, is a Pardee Home Territory before taking the train related memories of Aura living Museum board member, docent, to the 16th Street Station in at the family’s Oakland home and tea committee member.
    [Show full text]
  • Hurricane Guide
    HOUSTON/GALVESTON HURRICANE GUIDE CAUTION HURRICANE SEASON > TROPICAL STORM BILL 2015 ©2016 CenterPoint Energy 161174 55417_txt_opt_205.06.2016 08:00 AMM Introduction Index of Pages Hurricanes and tropical storms have brought damaging winds, About the Hurricane devastating storm surge, flooding rains and tornadoes to Southeast Page 3 Texas over the years. The 1900 Galveston Hurricane remains the Storm Surge deadliest natural disaster on record for the United States with an Page 4 - 5 estimated 8000 deaths. In 2008 Hurricane Ike brought a deadly storm Zip Zone Evacuation surge to coastal areas and damaging winds that led to extended Pages6-7 power loss to an estimated 3 million customers in southeast Texas. A Winds, Flooding, and powerful hurricane will certainly return but it is impossible to predict Tornadoes Pages8-9 when that will occur. The best practice is to prepare for a hurricane landfall ahead of each hurricane season every year. Preparing Your Home, Business and Boat Pages10-11 This guide is designed to help you prepare for the hurricane season. For Those Who Need There are checklists on what to do before, during and after the storm. Assistance Each hurricane hazard will be described. Maps showing evacuation Page 12 zones and routes are shown. A hurricane tracking chart is included in Preparing Pets and Livestock the middle of the booklet along with the names that will be used for Page 13 upcoming storms. There are useful phone numbers for contacting the Insurance Tips local emergency manager for your area and web links for finding Page 14 weather and emergency information.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Perspective
    kZ ­­_!% L , Ti Historical Perspective 2.1 Introduction CROSS REFERENCE Through the years, FEMA, other Federal agencies, State and For resources that augment local agencies, and other private groups have documented and the guidance and other evaluated the effects of coastal flood and wind events and the information in this Manual, performance of buildings located in coastal areas during those see the Residential Coastal Construction Web site events. These evaluations provide a historical perspective on the siting, design, and construction of buildings along the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Great Lakes coasts. These studies provide a baseline against which the effects of later coastal flood events can be measured. Within this context, certain hurricanes, coastal storms, and other coastal flood events stand out as being especially important, either Hurricane categories reported because of the nature and extent of the damage they caused or in this Manual should be because of particular flaws they exposed in hazard identification, interpreted cautiously. Storm siting, design, construction, or maintenance practices. Many of categorization based on wind speed may differ from that these events—particularly those occurring since 1979—have been based on barometric pressure documented by FEMA in Flood Damage Assessment Reports, or storm surge. Also, storm Building Performance Assessment Team (BPAT) reports, and effects vary geographically— Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT) reports. These reports only the area near the point of summarize investigations that FEMA conducts shortly after landfall will experience effects associated with the reported major disasters. Drawing on the combined resources of a Federal, storm category. State, local, and private sector partnership, a team of investigators COASTAL CONSTRUCTION MANUAL 2-1 2 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE is tasked with evaluating the performance of buildings and related infrastructure in response to the effects of natural and man-made hazards.
    [Show full text]
  • Hurricane Preparedness Guide (PDF)
    hurricanes... Unleashing Nature’s Fury FEMA Hurricane Floyd, 1999/NOAA A PREPAREDNESS GUIDE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service Revised August 2001 What is a Hurricane? The term hurricane has its origin in the indigenous religions of old civilizations. The Mayan storm god A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone–an organized was named Hunraken. A god considered evil by rotating weather system that develops in the tropics. the Taino people of the Caribbean was called Huracan. Hurricanes rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hurricanes may not be considered evil but they Hemisphere. Tropical cyclones are classified as follows: are one of nature’s most powerful storms. Their ■ Tropical Depression—An organized system of potential for loss of life and destruction of property persistent clouds and thunderstorms with a closed is tremendous. Those in hurricane-prone areas low-level circulation and maximum sustained winds need to be of 38 mph (33 knots) or less. prepared for hurricanes and ■ Tropical Storm—An organized system of strong tropical storms. thunderstorms with a well defined circulation and Even inland areas, maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph well away from (34-63 knots). the coastline, ■ Hurricane—An intense tropical weather system can experience with a well defined circulation and sustained winds destructive winds, of 74 mph (64 knots) or higher. In the western North tornadoes and Pacific, hurricanes are called typhoons, and similar floods from storms in the Indian Ocean are called cyclones. tropical storms and hurricanes. Hurricane Iniki/NOAA 1998 Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season Summary/NOAA 2 Tropical depressions and tropical storms, while generally less dangerous than hurricanes, still can be deadly.
    [Show full text]
  • Tropical Cyclone Report for Hurricane
    Tropical Cyclone Report Hurricane Ike (AL092008) 1 - 14 September 2008 Robbie Berg National Hurricane Center 23 January 2009 Updated 18 March 2014 to correct intensities from 90 kt to 95 kt at 12 September 1200 and 1800 UTC in the intensity table (Table 1) Updated 10 August 2011 to update total damage estimate, number of direct deaths in the U.S., and number of missing people in Texas Updated 3 May 2010 to revise total damage estimate and number of missing people Updated 18 March 2009 for amended storm surge values in the observation table Updated 4 February 2009 for adjustment of best track over Cuba, additional surface observations, an updated rainfall graphic, additional storm surge inundation maps, revised U.S. damage estimate, and updated missing persons count Ike was a long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused extensive damage and many deaths across portions of the Caribbean and along the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. It reached its peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale) over the open waters of the central Atlantic, directly impacting the Turks and Caicos Islands and Great Inagua Island in the southeastern Bahamas before affecting much of the island of Cuba. Ike, with its associated storm surge, then caused extensive damage across parts of the northwestern Gulf Coast when it made landfall along the upper Texas coast at the upper end of Category 2 intensity. a. Synoptic History Ike originated from a well-defined tropical wave that moved off the west coast of Africa on 28 August. An area of low pressure developed along the wave axis early the next day and produced intermittent bursts of thunderstorm activity as it moved south of the Cape Verde Islands on 29 and 30 August.
    [Show full text]
  • An Empirical Analysis on the Relationship Between Tropical Cyclone Size and Storm Surge Heights Along the U.S
    Earth Interactions d Volume 18 (2014) d Paper No. 8 d Page 1 Copyright Ó 2014, Paper 18-08; 46402 words, 2 Figures, 0 Animations, 4 Tables. http://EarthInteractions.org An Empirical Analysis on the Relationship between Tropical Cyclone Size and Storm Surge Heights along the U.S. Gulf Coast Hal F. Needham* and Barry D. Keim Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Received 3 September 2013; accepted 25 November 2013 ABSTRACT: In the past decade, several large tropical cyclones have gen- erated catastrophic storm surges along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. These storms include Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Isaac, and Sandy. This study uses empirical analysis of tropical cyclone data and maximum storm surge obser- vations to investigate the role of tropical cyclone size in storm surge generation. Storm surge data are provided by the Storm Surge Database (SURGEDAT), a global storm surge database, while a unique tropical cyclone size dataset built from nine different data sources provides the size of the radius of maximum winds (Rmax) and the radii of 63 (34 kt), 93 (50 kt), and 119 km h21 (64 kt) winds. Statistical analysis reveals an inverse correlation between storm surge magnitudes and Rmax sizes, while positive correlations exist between storm surge heights and the radius of 63 (34 kt), 93 (50 kt), and 119 km h21 (64 kt) winds. Storm surge heights correlate best with the prelandfall radius of 93 km h21 (50 kt) winds, with a Spearman correlation coefficient value of 0.82, significant at the 99.9% confidence level.
    [Show full text]
  • CURRICULUM on CITIZENSHIP Eureka!
    State of California – Military Department California Cadet Corps CURRICULUM ON CITIZENSHIP Strand C1: The State of California Level 11 This Strand is composed of the following components: A. California Basics B. California Government C. California History Eureka! “California, Here I Come!” Updated: 15 Feb 2021 California Cadet Corps Strand C1: The State of California Table of Contents B. California Basics .................................................................................................................................... 3 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................. 3 B1. California State Government – Executive Branch ........................................................................... 4 B2. California State Government – Legislative Branch ......................................................................... 7 B3. California State Government – Judicial Branch .............................................................................. 8 B4. State: Bill Becomes Law .................................................................................................................. 9 B5. California Governors ..................................................................................................................... 11 B6. Voting and the Ballot Initiative Process ........................................................................................ 19 References .................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • California State Library Foundation Bulletin Is Reproducing an Illuminated Manuscript for His Folio, Status De Published When We Are Able
    California State Library Foundation BulletinN u m b e r 8 4 2 0 0 6 California State Library Foundation N u m b e r 8 4 2 0 0 6 EDITOR Bulletin Gary F. Kurutz EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Table of Con T e n T s Kathleen Correia COPY EDITOR 2-10 . The Glories of Chromolithography: M. Patricia Morris Color Plate books during the Victorian era BOARD OF DIRecTORS By John Windle Kenneth B. Noack, Jr. President 11-16 . a “Colored” Mosaic: a Vibrant african american George Basye Community in antebullum san francisco Vice-President By Meredith Eliassen Thomas E. Vinson Treasurer 17-22 . Jerry Kilbride: an appreciation Barbara Campbell By Kevin Starr Secretary 23-26 . California state library Responds to 1906 san Robert Dickover Mead B. Kibbey francisco earthquake and fire Commemoration Allan Forbes Virginia Livingston By Gary F. Kurutz Donald J. Hagerty Thomas Miller J. S. Holliday Sue T. Noack 27-29 . foundation notes Herbert Hunn Marilyn Snider Sandra Swafford Triumph of Helios exhibit Catalog available Joann levy Makes Presentation for Women’s History Month Gary F. Kurutz Julia Schaw A Southern California Album Executive Director Administrative Assistant 30-32 . Recent Contributors Susan Hildreth State Librarian of California Front Cover: Chromolithograph by Godefroy Engelmann The California State Library Foundation Bulletin is reproducing an illuminated manuscript for his folio, Status de published when we are able. © 2004-2006. L’Ordre du Saint-Espirit au Droit Desir (1853). Opinions of the authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of their institutions, Back Cover: A plate from Bosqui’s Grapes and Grape Vines of the California State Library or the Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Suburbanization of Manufacturing in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1850-1940
    INDUSTRY BUILDS OUT THE CITY: THE SUBURBANIZATION OF MANUFACTURING IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, 1850-1940 By Richard A. Walker Department of Geography University of California Berkeley, CA 94720 [email protected] Published version (with maps) in The Manufactured Metropolis edited by Robert Lewis Temple University Press 2004 pp. 92-123 ANYONE MAY DOWNLOAD AND USE THIS PAPER WITH THE USUAL COURTESY OF CITATION. COPYRIGHT 2004. 2 ABSTRACT The San Francisco Bay Area provides a clear example of industrial dispersal creating the sprawling form of the American metropolis. Neither change in transport modes nor residential suburbanization is principally responsible for shaping the outward spiral of urbanization. Manufacturing began its outward march from the outset of the city’s industrialization, establishing peripheral nodes of employment and working class residence within San Francisco, then beyond the city limits in South San Francisco and especially the East Bay. The primary cause of decentralization has been industrial shifts, or the outbreak of new activities in new places; these have normally taken the form of industrial districts, at various spatial scales. A second cause has been the orchestration of development by business leaders through property ownership and political maneuvering guided by a general vision of metropolitan expansion (whether in cooperation or competition with one another). List of Figures 1. Bay Area manufacturing (employment & output), 1860-1940 2. Bird’s eye view of San Francisco -- lithograph by Currier & Ives, c. 1880 3. Schematic map of industrial zones of San Francisco, c. 1890 4. Bird’s eye view of Bay Area -- San Francisco Daily Commercial News, c.
    [Show full text]
  • Fatalities Due to Hurricane Katrina's Impacts In
    FATALITIES DUE TO HURRICANE KATRINA’S IMPACTS IN LOUISIANA A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Ezra Boyd B.A., The University of Chicago, 1999 M.A., The University of New Orleans, 2003 August 2011 © Copyright 2011 Ezra Clay-Kelly Boyd All Rights Reserved ii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to the people of southeast Louisiana who lost their homes and family members to the 2005 flood disasters. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincerest appreciation for the support and assistance from the many people who helped make this dissertation possible. My committee members, Dr. Barry Keim, Dr. Marc Levitan, Dr. Ivor van Heerden, Dr. Craig Colten, and Dr. Troy Blanchard, all provided extremely helpful advice, insights, encouragement, and companionship. I would like to particularly acknowledge the personal sacrifices that Dr. van Heerden has had to endure because of his dedicated pursuit of the true underlying causes of this horrible disaster. During a time of tragic loss and overwhelming sorrow, Dr. Louis Cataldie and Frances Kosak, of the Louisiana State Medical Examiner’s Office, embraced my research goals, allowed me into their world, and shared their data and experiences with me. Their openness and support made this research possible. A number of my classmates and colleagues have provided invaluable advice and data. These people include DeWitt Braud, Hampton Peele, Ahmet Binselam, Stephanie Pedro, and many others. Also, I want to thank the many LSU students who assisted in the field surveys.
    [Show full text]