RC Public Library Remembers 1972 Flood
Local News
by
Stephany Beshara
last edited on
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
The Rapid City Public Library is doing its part to remember the flood by collecting, preserving, and displaying online historical documents on the flood.
The library's website has a page dedicated to the local impact of the 1972 flood. The website has video interviews, pictures, documents, and personal insight about surviving the flood.
Library officials say oral histories like this help humanize events like the flood, which had such a major impact on the community. By reading first hand accounts and seeing pictures of the devastation, it helps those learning about the flood to put themselves in the shoes of those who lived through it.
The Outreach Services Coordinator, John Pappas, says, "You get a lot of the personal connections with the oral histories. A lot of the smaller details and facts get lost when you look at the grand history of an event. It provides that personal touch, I think, and that insight that you may have lost just reading that history."
To view the oral histories, click on the Rapid City Public Library link.