It is estimated that more than 450 people - some estimates even top 1,000 - were swept to their deaths by the floodwaters which raged from the collapsed dam near Valencia and through the Santa Clara River Valley to the ocean.Arguelles said his students proved to be “good detectives,” including the challenge of finding and interviewing survivors; ultimately, students conducted 10 oral history interviews and devote a large section of the exhibit to the stories - often “heart-wrenching and emotional” - they gathered.Working as teams, students researched all aspects of the disaster, from the construction of the doomed St. Francis Dam to William Mulholland, the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power - at the time the highest paid civil servant in the state - who was responsible for its construction. Also studied was the Los Angeles Owens River Aqueduct system and theories explaining how and why the dam collapsed just seconds before midnight March 12.The students also discovered a corrido - a Mexican storytelling ballad -written soon after the disaster. “La Inundacion (The Inundation)” has been recorded by noted musician Xavier Montes who captures the emotions of the events as movingly today as it did when it was first sung.Before the disaster, a song favorite was “Waltz Me Around Again, Willie,” sung by Frank Eaton, coincidentally what could be a nickname for Mulholland. Prior to the collapse, Mulholland had become a folk hero, bringing water to Los Angeles and even more fortune to the syndicate that controlled it. A Feb. 22, 1925 affectionate cartoon of Mulholland is on display that was published in the Los Angeles Times, whose owner was a member of the water syndicate.A symbol of survival, the dishes purchased by Isabel Morales on a 25 cent a week payment plan, had been buried and pieces are on also included in the exhibit, which continues through January 20.For more information, call COM at 933-0076.
‘The St. Francis Dam Disaster: Memories & Memorials’ closes Jan. 20
January 09, 2002
Santa Paula News
Janice Rice remembers trying to comfort her grandfather, but the little girl’s efforts were for naught as they viewed the destruction of the St. Francis Dam disaster of 1928. “. . .no more was said, we just sat. . .” and gazed upon her grandfather’s decimated ranch.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesJanice Rice remembers trying to comfort her grandfather, but the little girl’s efforts were for naught as they viewed the destruction of the St. Francis Dam disaster of 1928. “. . .no more was said, we just sat. . .” and gazed upon her grandfather’s decimated ranch.Another memory is horrific: Moses Levario remembered that bodies were arranged on large pieces of paper, “like ears of corn in a row,” sprayed with hot water so their stiff limbs and the contortions of death could be corrected before identification by relatives. Then the bodies were sprayed with cold water for preservation efforts.The curator’s shot of the dozens of Santa Paula High School students who created “The Saint Francis Dam Disaster: Memories & Memorials,” at the California Oil Museum (COM), show young smiling faces next to scenes of the catastrophe, the second largest disaster in state history which occurred March 12-13, 1928.Most of SPUHS history teacher Edward Arguelles’ 65 students had no idea that California’s worst man-made disaster wreaked havoc and claimed dozens of lives in their own home town, but after weeks of research from primary documents and interviewing survivors of the disaster, students gained a keen understanding of the devastating flood.With a Timmons Foundation grant, their newly-acquired knowledge and training in exhibit curating working with Sespe Group-Creative Services, the students prepared the exhibit.Photographs, music, personal stories and memorabilia make this a multi-media exhibit, highlighted with a striking memorial monument, designed and created by the students. The imposing black structure is covered with hundreds of names of the identified victims of the disaster.
