The Mill River Flood 150 Year Commemoration
Who Was Responsible for the Mill River Disaster?
May 31, 2024 at 7:00 pm
June 1, 2024 at 1:00 pm and at 4 pm
June 1, 2024 at 1:00 pm and at 4 pm
Old Hampshire County Courthouse
99 Main Street, Northampton, MA 01060
99 Main Street, Northampton, MA 01060
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lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/fyq9yefRegister: May 31, 2024 at 7 pm
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Register: June 1, 2024 at 7 pm
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Attend a readers’ theatre presentation about the coroner’s inquest into the cause of the Mill River disaster. The audience will be invited to participate by reading some of the testimony and commentary from the inquest. Elizabeth Sharpe, author of In the Shadow of the Dam: The Aftermath of the Mill River Flood of 1874, will narrate. Meet Ansel Wright, the special coroner appointed by the district attorney. Hear the testimony of witnesses. Read the verdict of the six jurors.
Five days after the flood, the county coroner began an inquest which lasted seven days. A jury heard a full accounting from scores of witnesses about the dam's construction and the reasons for its failure. In its verdict on July 3, the jury charged five parties with abrogating their responsibilities: 1. The Massachusetts legislature for lax laws; 2. The dam owners for privileging profit over lives; 3. The engineers for poor design; 4. The contractors for poor construction; 5. The County commissioners for lack of oversight. With so many parties named, the blame stuck to no one. No criminal or civil suits were carried out, and none of the responsible parties were penalized or held accountable.
The Boston Globe called the flood "not an accident but a crime." In this program we will see how the moral codes of the people involved slipped and how all were lulled into complacency to accept as safe something that everyone could see was unsafe.
In the mid-19th century, the construction of a safe dam relied on the moral responsibility of the dam owners, engineers, builders, and inspectors. When any of these parties showed no personal ethics, there was no way to check their unsafe actions or to hold them accountable. And so it was with the Williamsburg dam. While the coroner's inquest jury named all these parties at fault, there were no indictments and no civil suits were carried out. The MIll River flood was a terrible calamity, but in this late-19th century era of industrial expansion and laissez-faire capitalism, the Mill River flood was one incident out of thousands for which no one was held accountable. In this program we will see how the moral codes of the people involved slipped and how all were lulled into complacency to accept as safe something that they knew was unsafe.
In the mid-19th century, the construction of a safe dam relied on the moral responsibility of the dam owners, engineers, builders, and inspectors. When any of these parties showed no personal ethics, there was no way to check their unsafe actions or to hold them accountable. And so it was with the Williamsburg dam. While the coroner's inquest jury named all these parties at fault, there were no indictments and no civil suits were carried out. The MIll River flood was a terrible calamity, but in this late-19th century era of industrial expansion and laissez-faire capitalism, the Mill River flood was one incident out of thousands for which no one was held accountable. In this program we will see how the moral codes of the people involved slipped and how all were lulled into complacency to accept as safe something that they knew was unsafe.
Events Designed by These Local Organizations
Historic Northampton | Leeds Civic Association | Smith College Department of Landscape Studies
Thank you to our sponsors for their generosity
Holmberg & Howe Land Surveyors | Loven Excavating & Construction, Inc.
National Grid | Whalen Insurance | Finck & Perras Insurance Agency | Florence Bank
Daily Hampshire Gazette | Nasami Farm | Arthur King Fund | Greenfield Savings Bank
Berkshire Design Group, Inc. | O'Reilly Talbot & Okun Associates, Inc. | Florence Casket Company