Barbra Mann Wall, "Disaster Narratives in Early Twentieth-Century Texas"

Dr. Wall explored two disasters that occurred in Texas, the 1937 New London school disaster and the 1947 Texas City Disaster, following ordinary men and women as they tried to make sense of their experiences. Mann Wall considered several questions: How did contextual factors of time and place shape disaster narratives? How did language shape narratives, as noted in newspapers, letters, and memoirs? How did persons affected by disasters choose to remember the traumatic events? See the full poster here.