David McCullough’s THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD was an appropriate read after we visited the National Park site in June. However, seeing the photos, dioramas, recorded memories of the survivors, and looking out from the huge windows of the visitors’ center did not bring the tragedy alive as did the book.
At the end of the last century, Johnstown, PA was a booming coal and steel town filled with families transitioning from rural to industrial societies. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort for the likes of Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. On May 31, 1989 when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, more than 2,000 people were killed.
McCullough’s compilation of facts and first person accounts of this terrible tragedy makes this a story worth telling and remembering.
After reading the book, I’d like to visit the sight again. I think I would “see” so much more.
Respectfully Submitted,
Kathy Albers
