1

Randy Hunter, telephone interview by author, Mar. 22 1997, Texas City.

2 John Gillinger, Survival! prod. Sherman Grinberg, videocassette. 3 Texas City, Texas, Disaster (Dallas: Fire Prevention and Engineering Bureau of Texas and the National Board of Fire Underwriters, 1947), p. 7; John Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," American History (February 1996): 49; "Texas City Blows Up," Life, Apr. 28, 1947, p. 29; Roland Castanie, telephone interview by author, Feb. 11, 1997, Texas City; Meriworth Mabry, "Texas City Memorial Cemetery," p. 1, Moore Memorial Library, Texas City.

George Armistead, Jr., Report to John G. Simmonds and Company, Inc., Oil Insurance Underwriters, New York City, on the Ship Explosions at Texas City, Texas, on April 16 and 17, 1947, and Their Results (1947), p. 5; Hugh W. Stephens, "The Texas City Disaster," Industrial and Environmental Crisis Quarterly 3 (November 1993): 192; Harvey B. Williams, "The Texas City Story," speech delivered at the Internal Industrial Security Symposium, Chicago, Feb. 15, 1951, Moore Memorial Library, Texas City; Eldon Cagle, Jr., "The Day Texas City Died," Southwest Airlines Magazine, April 1984, p. 100; Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," p. 49.

"Why?" New Republic, Apr. 18, 1947, p. 8.

6 Armistead, Report to John G. Simmonds and Company, p. 6; Stephens, "Texas City Disaster," p. 193; Texas City, Texas, Disaster (Fire Prevention and Engineering Board), pp. 5, 7; Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," p. 48; Hugha F. Cobb, deposition in re:Texas City Tort Claim Suit, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division, p. 24, National Archives and Records Administration-Southwest Region, Fort Worth, TX; Ron Stone, Disaster at Texas City (1987), p. 12.

7A.A. Hoehling, Disaster: Major American Catastrophes (1973), p. 118; Milton MacKaye, "Death on the Waterfront," Saturday Evening Post, Oct. 26, 1957, p. 95; "The Texas City Disaster: Staff Report," National Fire Protection Agency Quarterly (July 1947): 27; G. M. Kintz et al., Report of Investigations: Explosions of Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizer on Board the S.S. Grandcamp and S.S. High Flyer at Texas City, Texas, April 16, 17, 1947, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines (1948), p. 10; Texas City, Texas, Disaster (Fire Prevention and Engineering Bureau), p. 37; Mabry, "Texas City Memorial Cemetery," p. 2; Stephens, "Texas City Disaster," p. 195; Texas City Explosions April 16, 1947 (1948), p. 17; "Monsanto Dedicates $26 Million Plant," Galveston Tribune, Apr. 8, 1949, p. 1.

8 Kenneth DeMaet, Texas City, letter to author, Jan. 13, 1997. "Stephens, "Texas City Disaster," p. 195; Williams, "Texas City Story"; Mabry, "Texas City Memorial Cemetery," p. 2.

10 Mabry, "Texas City Memorial Cemetery," p. 3; Kintz et al., Report of Investigations, p. 14; Jeff Rhoads, "Forty-five Years Ago Today, a Series of Explosions and Fires Rocked the Industrial Town of Texas City," Daily Texan, Apr. 16, 1992, n.p.; MacKaye, "Death on the Waterfront," p. 95; Cobb, deposition, p. 103, NARA-Southwest; "Poison Gas Feared; Many Trapped in Flaming Factory," Chicago Tribune, Apr. 17, 1947, p. 2.

11 "Staff Report," NFPA Quarterly, p. 32; Texas City, Texas, Disaster (Fire Prevention and Engineering Bureau), pp. 37-38; Kintz et al., Report of Investigations, pp. 9, 14.

12 MacKaye, "Death on the Waterfront," p. 98.

13 "Staff Report," NFPA Quarterly, pp. 32-33; Stephens, "Texas City Disaster," p. 199; "Flames Threaten High Octane Gas Tanks After 714 Killed, 3,000 Hurt," Arkansas Democrat, Apr. 17 1947, p. 1.

14 Henry Gilander, ed., Texas City Disaster: News Reports, Interviews, Relief Programs, and Speeches, cassette, Latexo, TX: Audio Archives (1985).

15 MacKaye, "Death on the Waterfront," p. 98.

16

Ragnar Benson, Fire, Flash, and Fury: The Greatest Explosions in History (1990), p. 96; Texas City, Texas, Disaster (Fire Prevention and Engineering Bureau), p. 38; Peggy Robbins, "A Town in Flame," American History (January 1979): 26; Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," pp. 53, 61; Stone, Disaster at Texas City, p. 71.

17 Stone, Disaster at Texas City, pp. 44-45;"Red Cross at Texas City Disaster," American Journal of Nursing (June 1947): 400; Leonard Ormerod, The Curving Shore: The Gulf Coast from Brownsville to Key West (1956), p. 88; "Texas City Blast Aid Ends," New York Times, Aug. 28, 1959, p. 12.

18 Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," pp. 57, 60; Robbins, "A Town in Flame," 27; Benson, Fire, Flash, and Fury, p. 94.

19

Stone, Disaster at Texas City, p. 48.

20 "Red Cross Sets up $250,000 Fund for Blast Relief," Chicago Tri

bune, Apr. 17, 1947, p. 1; "Planes Offered by Air Lines for Aid in Disaster," Chicago Tribune, Apr. 17, 1947, p. 1; MacKaye, "Death on the Waterfront," p. 98; Texas City Explosion (American National Red Cross), p. 33; Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," p. 60; Benson, Fire, Flash, and Fury, p. 96; Survival! videocassette; Kintz et al., Report of Investigations, p. 2.

21 Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," p. 64; Stone, Disaster at Texas City, p. 72; Gilander, Texas City Disaster.

22 Texas, House Concurrent Resolution 97 (1947). 23 Ibid.

24 Inez Robb, "World's Sympathy Helps to Heal Wounds Suffered by Texas City," Houston Post, Mar. 1, 1949, p. 10.

The Texas

Volume 33- Number 139
Number 139 Texas City, Texas

NEW SERIES

ROCKS SHAT

Partial List of Known Dead

Lists including the names of more than 100 persons who have been listed as dead as a result of the disaster here Wednesday have been released by Texas City police and the Monsanto company. Official lists, both sources said, will not be completed for days.

Included in the list, released by the authorities are: Geo. Ayola

Lawrence Armatta
Longnois Anguilena
E. C. Arnett
W. S. Bellow
John Boldecker
L. J. Brown
Geor. E. Boer
Issac Burton
L. Q. Brown
Julian Castillo
Edw. P. Campella
A. H. Cannon

Richard Joseph Herris E. C. Hartnett

25 "Verdict Stuns Texas Citians," Galveston Daily News, June 9, 1953, p. 1; Robb, "World's Sympathy," p. 10.

26 MacKaye, "Death on the Waterfront," pp. 98, 100; C. C. Pryor, "Monsanto Only Texas City Plant Materially Damaged by Ship Blast," Petroleum Refiner (May 1947): 170; "Monsanto to be Rebuilt," Texas City Sun, Apr. 18, 1947, p. 2; "Finishing Touches Applied to Grounds of T.C. Dead," Galveston Tribune, Oct. 17, 1947, p. 12; "Monsanto Dedicates Plant," Galveston Tribune, p. 1; Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," p. 64; Stone, Disaster at Texas City, p. 90; "Texas City: Up from Ashes," Newsweek, Apr. 19 1948, p. 30.

27 Dalebite v. United States, 346 U.S. 15 (1953); "Texas City Blast Suits Now Total Over $22 Million," Galveston Daily News, Mar. 30,

City Sun

Thursday, April 17, 1947

OF BLASTS

TERED CITY

? Nitrate Ships Explode At Docks; 1 Dead

A second series of explosions! of foamite cked an already shocked and ing distric attered Texas City early this usinessme orning while state-wide forces tled and st ttled the raging industrial, aster side

1948, p. 7.

28 Joint Subcommittee of the Committee of the Judiciary, Texas City Disaster 1955 Hearings, prepared by Austin Y. Bryan, Jr., 83d Cong., 1st sess., May 30, 1955, p. 4.

29

Dalebite v. United States; Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," p. 63; Tort Claims Procedure: Exceptions, 28 U.S.C. 2680(a).

30 Jay Walz, "Texas City Claims on U.S. Ruled Out," New York Times, June 9, 1953, p. 53; "Texas Blast Case Opens," New York Times, April 7, 1953, p. 47; "U.S. Blamed in Texas City Blast; $200,000,000 in Suits are Affected," New York Times, Apr. 14, 1950, p. 46; "Disaster Suits Wiped off Slate of District Court," Texas City Sun, Nov. 29, 1953, n.p.; In re: Texas City Disaster Litigation, 197 F 2d 771 (5th Cir. 1952). 31 Dalebite v. United States, pp. 1427, 1447.

32 Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," p. 64; "TC Disaster Claims Bill is Approved," Texas City Sun, Aug. 12, 1955, n.p.; "TC Disaster Bill Due," Texas City Sun, Feb. 9, 1955, n.p.; "Texas City Victims to Get 'Gratuities," New York Times, July 31, 1955, p. 59; Lillian E. Herz, "Claims of $12 Million Due to be Paid," Galveston Daily News, Aug. 13, 1955, p. 1; "TC Disaster Claims Bill is Signed," Galveston Daily News, Sept. 26, 1959, p. 1; 69 Stat. L. 864, pp. 707-708 (1955); "Disaster Claim Settlement is Received Here," Texas City Sun, May 28, 1956, n.p.; MacKaye, "Death on the Waterfront," p. 100; Texas City Explosions (American National Red Cross), p. 17; James Jimenez, telephone interview by author, Mar. 22, 1997, Texas City; Mattie Lou Westmoreland-Higgs, personal interview by author, Dec. 23, 1996, Texas City; 73 Stat. L. 86, pp. 706-707 (1959); "Disaster Aid Widened," New York Times, Sept. 11, 1959, p. 22.

33 Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," p. 64; Robbins, "A Town in Flame,” p.

34 "The Texas City Disaster: April 16-17," Moore Memorial Library, Texas City, p. 8; Charles Doyle, telephone interview by author, Mar. 31, 1997, Texas City; Duncan Aker, telephone interview by author, Mar. 21, 1997, Texas City; Fred Grissom, telephone interview by author, Mar. 18 1997, Texas City.

35 Hugh W. Stephens, The Texas City Disaster, 1947 (1997), p. 116. 36 Texas, Civil Protection Act: Art. 6889-4, Revised Civil Statutes, pp. 780-781, (1951).

37 Ferling, "Texas City Disaster," p. 63; Anne Dingus, "Boom Town,” Texas Monthly, April 1997, p. 26; Coast Guard Final Findings at Texas City (1947), p. 2; Stephens, Texas City Disaster, pp. 108-109.

38 John Hill, interviewed by Susie Moncla, Dec. 17, 1996, tape recording, Moore Memorial Library, Texas City; "Disaster: Texas City Temper," Newsweek, May 5, 1947, p. 30; Stephens, Texas City Disaster, p. 112.

Headlines of April 17. INSET: Dockside fires and two-thousand-foot smoke clouds viewed from City Hall: The explosions destroyed the industrial section and an area twenty blocks long by twelve blocks wide.

establish and reinforce the national identity and patriotism. In some cases, American symbols are based on recognized associations. The ideals of Greek democracy, the power of Imperial Rome, or the refinements of European fashion frequently are reflected in federal designs. At other times and for other purposes, designers created icons using images unique to this new country, its new form of government, and America's aspirations to world power. They created a visual vocabulary based on New World flora and fauna, Native American culture, depictions of America's

Hopkinson introduced the arrow and olive branch as symbols of war and peace. He also introduced red, white, and blue as the colors for the shield. Another proposed national symbol in the show is the "Design for American flag with Fifty Stars," created by Olga de Alvares in 1959, which was also not approved.

As the new country grew, the federal government continued to need designs for improvements. The nation's security demanded forts, warships, and weapons. Civilian needs required post offices, customhouses, and courthouses. The government also

creative energy, and vistas of the nation's dramatic landscape. This combination of influences has resulted in designs for flags, seals, shields, and other emblematic devices, as well as for the memorials that commemorate the heroic figures and events of the American past.

The earliest drawing in the exhibit is a design for a national symbol, Francis Hopkinson's 1780 concept for the Great Seal of the United States. Although this design was not adopted, several elements seen on this pencil and ink drawing were incorporated into the 1782 approved design by Charles Thomson.

sponsored projects to aid commerce, communication, and settlement of the vast American interior. Many federal agencies produced designs, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Office of the Supervising Architect of the Department of the Treasury, the Bureau of Ships, and the Public Buildings Service were established for the purpose of obtaining designs and supervising construction projects. Occasionally drawings of improvements designed by localities, states, or the private sector found their way into federal files and eventually into the National Archives. Designs for improvements dominate the show.