New London School explosion

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The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion, destroying the New London School of the city of New London, Texas. The disaster killed in excess of three hundred students and teachers, making it the worst catastrophe to take place in a U.S. school building.

1 Background
2 Thursday, March 18, 1937
3 Explosion
4 Reaction
5 Aftermath
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Background

In the mid-1930s, the Great Depression was in full swing, but the New London school district was one of the richest in the country. A 1930 oil find in Rusk County had boosted the local economy, and educational spending grew with it. The New London School was constructed at a cost of $1 million (approx $13 million in 2003 dollars), a large structure built of steel and concrete. The New London Wildcats (a play on the term wildcatter for an oil prospector) played football in the first stadium in the state with electric lights.

New London School before the explosion

The school was built on sloping ground, and a large dead air space was contained beneath the structure. The school board had overridden the original architect's plans for a boiler and steam distribution system, instead opting to install 72 gas heaters throughout the building [1].

Early in 1937, the school board, in order to save money, cancelled their natural gas contract, and had plumbers install a tap into Parade Gasoline Company's residue gas line. This practice, while not explicitly authorized by local oil companies, was widespread in the area. The natural gas extracted with the oil was seen as a waste product and was flared off. As there was no value to the natural gas, the oil companies turned a blind eye.

[edit] Thursday, March 18, 1937

Friday's classes had been cancelled to allow for students to participate in Henderson's Interscholastic Meet, a scholastic and athletic competition. As per the school's normal schedule, first through fourth grade students had been let out early. A PTA meeting was being held in the gymnasium, a separate structure roughly 100 feet from the main building.

Unknown to anyone, natural gas (which in its natural state is odorless, and therefore undetectable) had been leaking from the tap on the residue line, and had built up inside an enclosed crawlspace that ran the entire 253-foot length of the building's facade. Students had been complaining of headaches for some time, but little attention had been paid to it [2].

At 3:05 pm, "instructor of manual training" Lemmie R. Butler turned on an electric sander.

[edit] Explosion

The sanding machine's switch is believed to have caused a spark that ignited the gas-air mixture.

Reports from witnesses state that the walls of the school bulged, and then the roof briefly lifted off the building. The roof then crashed back down and the building collapsed. A 2 ton concrete block was thrown clear of the building and crushed a 1936 Chevrolet parked nearby. [3].

The remains of the New London School after the explosion of March 18, 1937

Estimates of the number dead vary from 296 to 319, but that number could be much higher, as many of the residents of New London at the time were transient oilfield workers, and there is no way to determine for certain how many of these roughnecks collected the bodies of their children in the days following the disaster, and returned them to their respective homes for burial. Approximately 600 students and 40 teachers were in the building at the time. Only about 130 escaped without serious injury.

[edit] Reaction

The explosion was its own alarm, heard for miles. The most immediate response was from parents at the PTA meeting. Within minutes, area residents began arriving. They began digging through the rubble, many with their bare hands. Roughnecks from the oil fields were released from their jobs, and brought with them cutting torches and heavy equipment needed to clear the concrete and steel.

New London School bus driver Lonnie Barber was engaged in ferrying his load of elementary students to their homes, and his bus was within sight of the school as it exploded. Barber continued his two hour route, returning children to their parents before rushing back to the school to look for his four children that were still there. His son Arden died, but the others were among those that were not seriously injured [4]. Barber retired the next year.

Over the next few hours, aid poured in from outside the area. Governor James Allred dispatched Texas Rangers, highway patrol, and the Texas National Guard. Thirty doctors, one hundred nurses, and twenty five embalmers arrived from Dallas. Airmen from Barksdale Field, deputy sheriffs, and even Boy Scouts took part in the rescue and recovery.

Most of the bodies were either burned beyond recognition, or blown into hundreds of pieces. One mother had a heart attack and died when she found out that her daughter died with only part of her face, her chin and a couple of bones recovered. Yet another boy was identified merely by the presence of the pull string from his favorite top in his jeans pocket.

Rescuers worked through night and rain, and seventeen hours later, the entire site had been cleared. Buildings in the neighboring communities of Henderson, Overton, Kilgore and as far away as Tyler and Longview were converted into makeshift morgues to house the enormous number of bodies, and everything from family cars to delivery trucks served as makeshift hearses and ambulances to ferry the dead and wounded.

Mother Frances Hospital in nearby Tyler was scheduled to open the next day, but the dedication was cancelled and the hospital opened immediately [5].

Reporters arrived in the city, but found themselves swept up in the rescue effort. Former Dallas Times Herald executive editor Felix McKnight, then a young AP reporter, recalled, "We identified ourselves and were immediately told that helpers were needed far more than reporters." Walter Cronkite also found himself in New London, on one of his first assignments for United Press. Although Cronkite went on to cover World War II and the Nuremberg trials, he was quoted as saying decades later, "I did nothing in my studies nor in my life to prepare me for a story of the magnitude of that New London tragedy, nor has any story since that awful day equalled it." [6]

Classes resumed ten days later in tents.

According to the History Channel's Modern Marvels series, Adolf Hitler, who was at the time the German Chancellor, paid his respects in a form of a telegram (a copy of which is on display at the London Museum).

[edit] Aftermath

A new New London School was completed in 1939 on the property, directly in front of the location of the destroyed school. The school is now known as West Rusk Consolidated High School, and their mascot is the Raiders. A large granite cenotaph on the median of Texas Highway 42 across from the new school commemorates the event. Directly across the highway, is the London Museum and Tea House; curator Mollie Ward is a survivor of the explosion.

The majority of the victims of the explosion are buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, minutes from New London.

The top of the London School cenotaph

Experts from the United States Bureau of Mines concluded that the connection to the residue gas line had been faulty. The faulty connection had allowed the gas to leak into the school, and since natural gas is invisible and has no inherent odor, this leak was not noticed.

In an effort to reduce the damage of future leaks, Texas began mandating that thiols (mercaptans) be added to natural gas. The strong odor of many thiols makes any leak quickly detectable. The practice quickly spread to the rest of the world.

Shortly after the disaster, the Texas Legislature met in emergency session and enacted the Engineering Registration Act (now rewritten as the Texas Engineering Practice Act). Public pressure was on the government to regulate the practice of engineering due to the faulty installation of the natural gas connection [7]. The use of the title "engineer" in Texas remains legally restricted to those who have been professionally certified by the state to practice engineering[8].

A lawsuit was brought against the school district and the Parade Gasoline Company, but the court ruled that neither could be held responsible. However, Superintendent W.C. Shaw was forced to resign amid talk of a lynching. Shaw lost a son in the explosion.

The New London School explosion has received little attention since. Explanations for this are speculative, but most center around residents' unwillingness to discuss the tragedy. L.V. Barber said of his father Lonnie, "I can remember newspaper people coming around every now and then, asking him questions about that day, but he never had much to say." Another reason cited is the overshadowing effect of the Hindenburg disaster, which happened two months later.

As of 2005, the New London School explosion is the third deadliest disaster in the history of Texas, after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, and the Texas City Disaster.