Vision WINTER 2013 CJ STEMM Center to Open in August

100 Years Ago at Franklin & Ludlow StreetsThe Great Dayton Flood of 1913The story of the flood has been preserved, and is retold here, through resourcesavailable from the Dayton Metro Library’s “Dayton Remembers: Preserving theHistory of the Miami Valley” collection, and a handwritten accountfrom the Notre Dame Academy Archives.Flooding began Easter Sunday, March23, 1913, when storm clouds convergedover the Miami Valley, bringing nine to11 inches of precipitation during a fivedayperiod. Having thawed from its winterfreeze, the saturated ground in earlyspring could not hold the excess water.Instead, runoff filled the Great Miami,Mad and Stillwater Rivers and surroundingtributaries beyond capacity.Heavy showers Monday caused levees tofail early Tuesday morning, allowing theforce of an estimated four trillion gallonsof water to rush into downtown. Itwas reported that the amount roughlyequalled the volume of water that passesover Niagara Falls in 30 days time, and14 square miles of Dayton were covered.The Sisters at Notre Dame Academy,located at Franklin and Ludlow Streets,were left stranded in the heart of the devastation.Beginning at 5:25 that morning,one sister scribed journal entries detailingthe disastrous events.“The water forced its way into the basementwith the roar of Niagara, and wehurried to the next floor, to remove furnitureto a place of safety,” she wrote. In thehours that followed, a fiery explosion isdocumented on Washington Street andthe 12-foot wall surrounding the conventis said to succumb to the flood.Waters were reported to crest 10 to12 feet above ground level, reaching ashigh as 20 feet in places of lower elevation.Gas main leaks fueled fires that de-stroyed other parts of the city. TheSisters who were penning the journalwere advised to put out their lightsto avoid a similar fate. Before nightfall,the current is recorded at 50 milesan hour and a boat carrying five is witnessedto capsize on Franklin Streetnear Emmanuel Church.“Water rose steadily until one o’clockbut contrary to expectation, when itstopped rising it did not begin to godown. [...]Away over the hill the electriclights from St. Mary College and fromthe National Cash Register (NCR)only made the darkness over the strickencity darker still. The rain poured;wind blew; cold intensified; the wearyhours wore away.”“Fr. Kassmann said: ‘Sisters, this blessing now is for you.’We could not see him, the darkness was intense. Shortly after this weheard explosions and saw fire on Third Street. This lighted up the roomand the silent Tabernacle became visible.”— SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR, NOTRE DAME ACADEMYThe Marianists and citizens unaffectedby flood waters at St. Mary (laterrenamed the University of Dayton in1920) and NCR ramped up relief efforts,building boats in order to rescueand supply food, and providing shelterfor the displaced. On Wednesday,Gov. James M. Cox declared a state ofemergency, placing Dayton under martiallaw (an order that would last approximatelyone month) and calling inthe Ohio National Guard. Cox wouldeventually appoint NCR PresidentJohn H. Patterson head of the Citizens’Relief Committee.“Every school house and every churchoutside the flooded district was utilizedas a relief headquarters and as a place ofLudlow between 5th & 6th StreetsCourtesy of Dayton Metro Library, Mont. Co. Picture File4th & Ludlow StreetsCourtesy of Dayton Metro Library, “Flood Postcards”refuge,” reported the Dayton Daily Newsin the March 28 ‘Flood Extra’ edition,issued from the offices of NCR. Rev.Father Bernard O’Reilly, president ofSt. Mary’s, is quoted to have taken in 520at his boarding school where students’Easter break allowed for extra vacancy.“Thursday, [March] 27. All day thewaters kept going down slowly. TheThermometer [sic] registered 45 dg [sic].In the rooms, the corridors were evencolder. That day we helped ourselves tothe little food that was left. In the morningwe had puffed rice and rain water,”the Sister’s entry described. By3 p.m., the National Guard had reachedthe iconic red brick building by boat inwater now “only six feet [deep] inthe streets.”A message sent from the Sisters to Fr.O’Reilly elicited a delivery of ham sandwichesand bottled water in reply fromthe Marianists Friday morning afterrain and snowfall ceased. These provisionswere followed by another deliveryof bread and water. With supplies beingdelivered and floodwaters receding, theWINTER 2013 6