The Day The Sky Turned Black

New London Elementary School Before The Explosion | Photo courtesy of nlsd.net

Sometimes a regular, mundane, day can turn into a living nightmare. Everything can seem normal, even wonderful, then disaster can strike. The calm before the storm can happen without warning. No one knows that the blue skies are about to turn black. Thursday, March 18th, 1937 was one of those days for the children and teachers of New London, Texas Elementary School.  By the end of the day, unknown to the school and the residents of New London, there would be a massive explosion killing 294 students and teachers.

When the school was built, the school board opted to install gas heaters instead of using boilers and steam to heat the building, which was common at the time. The school received its gas by tapping into Parade Gasoline Company's residual gas line. Though it wasn't necessarily sanctioned by the gas companies, it was overlooked and was a common practice. The gas that the school tapped into was considered a waste product. This gas varied in quality and was odorless and colorless. 

Gas started leaking from the tapped line and had filled the crawlspace beneath the school and leaked into the upper floors of the building. The gas had been building up for months, so much so, that students had been complaining of headaches.

A shop instructor going about his day turned on an electric sander, unknown to him, by doing this simple action, the sander caused a spark that ignited the gas-filled air, triggering a huge explosion. It's said the explosion caused the school to lift into the air and fall back to the ground. A piece of concrete weighing two tons flew 200 feet and crashed into a 1936 Chevrolet. [1]

 

New London Elementary School After The Explosion | Photo courtesy of nlsd.net/index2.html

The scene was full of screaming children, bodies mangled under bricks, and dirt and debris everywhere. It's said that some children were hanging from the roof before it collapsed.

William Grigg, a student who was only 11 years old at the time recalled: 

"The building and ground shook like an earthquake, and the building seemed to suck in then blew out. I didn't hear anything, though it was heard for miles away. I ran away and in doing so I climbed a fence that was around the school. I had never been able to climb it before. But I did that day! Then I climbed back over and started to look for my brothers. I went around towards the front and remember seeing a girl who sat in front of me in class. All that remained of her was her head and upper torso." [2]

Molly Ward, who was a fourth-grader at the school, commented that 

"It's something that scars your mind--the screams, the cries--like some horrible disease you just can't shake." [3]

Heavy-duty equipment was used to speed up the search for victims. Texas Governor James Allred sent the highway patrol to help. Mother Francis Hospital in the city of Tyler was having a dedication ceremony but canceled it to help aid the injured. [4] 25 embalmers were also sent from the Texas Funeral Directors Association to help aid with the dead. "Of the 500 students and forty teachers in the building, approximately 294 died." [5]

Grave of one of the victims at Pleasant Hill Cemetery | Photo by: Diann Bayes via Flickr.com CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The news of the disaster spread across the country and throughout the world. A young reporter who worked at the United Press in Dallas, came to New London to cover his first major story. His name was Walter Cronkite. "Walter Cronkite went on to cover wars and other major events. He became the nation's leading nightly news anchorman. But he would later write that nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed that day in New London, and no other story ever equaled it." [6]

 

Photo by QuesterMark via Flickr.com | CC BY-SA 2.0

Unaware commuters on Texas State Highway 42 might notice a large granite structure in the median. They may not know what it is or why it's there. Time has blanketed the disaster erasing the devastation from recent memory. This structure is a cenotaph, a reminder of what happened, to say many were lost, many were affected, and many felt the pain and agony of the aftermath.

Some days start out normal, mundane even. There are no warning signs. There is nothing to indicate what is about to come. Sometimes blue skies turn black. Sometimes disaster strikes without warning forever scaring that moment in time.

Citations:

1.  “The New London Texas School Explosion.” The New London Texas School Explosion, New London Museum, 2017, nlsd.net/index2.html.

2.  Hillard, Robert E. “The New London Texas School Explosion.” New London School Explosion, New London Museum, 2017, nlsd.net/index2.html.

3.  INMAN, WILLIAM H. “1937 Schoolhouse Explosion 'Scars Your Mind': Texas Town Haunted by Blast That Killed a Generation.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 1987, articles.latimes.com/1987-03-22/news/mn-14795_1_natural-gas-leak. 

4.  “History and Heritage of CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances.” History and Heritage of CHRISTUS Trinity, www.tmfhc.org/about-us/history-and-heritage-of-trinity-mother-frances/.

5. Hillard, Robert E. “The New London Texas School Explosion.” New London School Explosion, New London Museum, 2017, nlsd.net/index2.html.

6. LAPIDUS, FAITH. “The Day a Texas School Exploded, and a Generation Died.” VOA, VOA, 18 Mar. 2012, learningenglish.voanews.com/a/texas-school-tragedy-remembered-75-years-later-143104106/611155.html.