2008 Woodie Awards
Lecture set to disprove some former flood beliefs
Brittany Twohig
Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: News
The beliefs that the people involved in the Buffalo Creek flood were all white and never returned to the area are two thoughts that Dr. Lynda Ann Ewen, co-director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Gender in Appalachia, and her colleague, Julie Lewis, have set to disprove.
These beliefs are just two of many misconceptions that will be challenged in the lecture, "Buffalo Creek Flood: It Wasn't Just White People," today at 7 p.m. in the Shawkey Dining Room of the Memorial Student Center.
The lecture is the first in the second annual series, Diversity in Appalachia, sponsored by the CSEGA and Multicultural Affairs.
In 1976, Kai Erikson, writer and social psychologist from Yale University, published "Everything in Its Path: Destruction of Community in Buffalo Creek Flood." He had no background in disaster research and came with typical Appalachian stereotypes, Ewen said.
"He selectively used data, only looking at information that backed his beliefs," Ewen said. "Just because he's from Yale, everyone believed him."
The 1972 flood was because of a collapsed coal waste dam that resulted in the deaths of 125 people and injured more than 1,100.
Ewen and Lewis have been researching the flood and Erikson's statements for years, and in 1999, their research, much of which combats Erickson's, was accepted for publication in "Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review." The flood affected many ethnicities, including Cherokees, African-Americans and Italians, Ewen said.
"We're a very diverse group, but we share a love for the mountains," Ewen said. "This idea of all Appalachians being white and ignorant is an assault on us as Appalachians."
Linda Spatig, co-director of the CSEGA, is looking forward to this year's series.
"So often Appalachia is stereotyped as a homogenous region that is dominated by white males," Spatig said. "I think it's important that we represent all of the other people that make up this region and bring out different aspects than those normally in the forefront of the media and literature."
Last year's presentation was a complete success and allowed for standing room only, Spatig said.
The next lecture, "Women Moving Mountains," by Dr. Marianna Footo-Linz, Dr. Pamela Mulder and Jean Battlo, is 7 p.m. March 29 in the Shawkey Dining Room at the MSC. The final lecture, "Protohistoric Appalachia A.D. 1550-1890: Who Were Those Indians?" is to be presented by Dr. Robert Maslowski at the South Charleston campus Administration Building at 7 p.m. on April 3 in Room 319.
Brittany Twohig can be contacted at twohig11@marshall.edu.
These beliefs are just two of many misconceptions that will be challenged in the lecture, "Buffalo Creek Flood: It Wasn't Just White People," today at 7 p.m. in the Shawkey Dining Room of the Memorial Student Center.
The lecture is the first in the second annual series, Diversity in Appalachia, sponsored by the CSEGA and Multicultural Affairs.
In 1976, Kai Erikson, writer and social psychologist from Yale University, published "Everything in Its Path: Destruction of Community in Buffalo Creek Flood." He had no background in disaster research and came with typical Appalachian stereotypes, Ewen said.
"He selectively used data, only looking at information that backed his beliefs," Ewen said. "Just because he's from Yale, everyone believed him."
The 1972 flood was because of a collapsed coal waste dam that resulted in the deaths of 125 people and injured more than 1,100.
Ewen and Lewis have been researching the flood and Erikson's statements for years, and in 1999, their research, much of which combats Erickson's, was accepted for publication in "Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review." The flood affected many ethnicities, including Cherokees, African-Americans and Italians, Ewen said.
"We're a very diverse group, but we share a love for the mountains," Ewen said. "This idea of all Appalachians being white and ignorant is an assault on us as Appalachians."
Linda Spatig, co-director of the CSEGA, is looking forward to this year's series.
"So often Appalachia is stereotyped as a homogenous region that is dominated by white males," Spatig said. "I think it's important that we represent all of the other people that make up this region and bring out different aspects than those normally in the forefront of the media and literature."
Last year's presentation was a complete success and allowed for standing room only, Spatig said.
The next lecture, "Women Moving Mountains," by Dr. Marianna Footo-Linz, Dr. Pamela Mulder and Jean Battlo, is 7 p.m. March 29 in the Shawkey Dining Room at the MSC. The final lecture, "Protohistoric Appalachia A.D. 1550-1890: Who Were Those Indians?" is to be presented by Dr. Robert Maslowski at the South Charleston campus Administration Building at 7 p.m. on April 3 in Room 319.
Brittany Twohig can be contacted at twohig11@marshall.edu.
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