With ogdens guidance, the victims of the boston molasses disaster proved that the modern american regulatory regime was strong enough to actually hold businesses accountable. The spring 2011 one book one community selection is dark tide. I survived the great molasses flood, 1919 by lauren tarshis. Why the great molasses flood was so deadly history. Molasses flood is recalled in book the boston globe. The molasses flood of 1919 and other ethical failures in engineering. Booklist booklist on january 15, 1919, a twomilliongallon holding tank filled with molasses exploded, flooding bostons north end. Then all of a sudden a large tank of molasses exploded, sending shards of metal hundreds of feet away, collapsing buildings, and coating the harborfront community with a thick layer of stickysweet sludge.
Im proud to say that dark tide is still the only adult nonfiction book about the great boston molasses flood. Lauren tarshis tells the riveting story of one child who was swept up in the sticky storm of the great molasses flood and lived to tell the tale. Stephen puleo is the author of several books including the boston globe bestseller the boston italians and the critically acclaimed bostonarea bestseller dark tide. A molasses mess in the boston molasses flood of 1919, you read about a terrible disaster. This book chronicles the catastrophic events resulting from the collapse of a large tank containing molasses in the north end neighborhood of boston in 1919. A former awardwinning newspaper reporter and contributor to american history magazine, he holds a masters degree in history. Workers took a break for lunch, children played in the park, trains made trips between. Even just showing your students the sticky syrup will hammer home the facts of the boston molasses flood. The great boston molasses flood of 1919, journalist stephen puleo details what happened in this first book on the subject.
And then theres the massive metal tank that rises up over their crowded north end neighborhood. The great boston molasses flood of 1919 paperback september 16, 2004 by stephen puleo author. Until i picked this book up, id never heard of the great boston molasses flood, which is odd, because its one of the most eerie and fascinating disasters to occur in the 20th century. Bostons great molasses flood boston public library. The great boston molasses flood of 1919, its possible that the history books rarely take notice of the tragedy because no one.
Author stephen puleo talked about his book, dark tide. Fiery hot molasses floods the streets of boston on january 15, 1919, killing 21 people and injuring scores of others. The great boston molasses flood of 1919 by stephen puleo. But as the people of boston discovered on january 15, 1919, a dark, rushing wave of molasses can be as destructive as a tornado. The sticky science behind the deadly boston molasses disaster. But, oddly, when stephen puleo speaks about his book on the boston molasses flood, a good teehee is usually the crowds first response. I couldnt help but be incredulous about a molasses flood. Fictionalized accounts of the molasses flood can be found in joan hiatt harlows joshuas song 2001 and blair lents picture book molasses flood 1992.
In this activity, youll identify what caused the disaster to happen and what effects it had on the people of boston. Scientists finally decode the great molasses flood of 1919 nearly 100 years later, scientists have determined what exactly made boston s 1919 molasses flood so deadly. The great boston molasses flood of 1919 0807050210 by puleo, stephen. Boston its been referred to as the great molasses flood, the day a tank filled with more than 2 million gallons of molasses burst, and swept through bostons city streets swallowing. Molasses flood of 1919 scenes in the molassesflooded streets of boston. The wave moved at 35 miles per hour and was 25 feet high and 160 feet wide at its outset as it rushed through the citys densely populated north end. Sugarysweet molasses turned deadly on january 15, 1919, when a holding tank burst and sent 2. The great boston molasses flood of 1919 paperback september 16, 2004.
A new 100th anniversary edition of the only adult book on one of the odder disasters in us historyand the greed, disregard for poor. The boston molasses flood is my favorite quirky historical moment in boston, and this book showed me how much i didnt know about the tragedy. Shortly after noon, on that day in 1919, a storage tank containing over 2. The great boston molasses flood of 1919 killed 21 after 2 million gallon tank erupted. The great molasses flood of 1919 was bostons strangest. Deborah kops is the author of more than a dozen nonfiction childrens books. On january 15, 1919, boston suffered one of history s strangest disasters. The boston molasses flood 1919 narrative nonfiction. The boston molasses flood is worth taking seriously in 1919, a viscous 40foot wave slammed into the citys north end, killing 21 people. The molasses burst from a huge tank at the united states industrial alcohol. It flattened offices and homes, and lifted a firehouse off of its foundation. Bostons great molasses flood killed 21 people 100 years. On january 15, 1919, a huge steel tank filled with more than 2 million.
The main story is written for middle graders and follows carmen from when she and her father immigrated to the boston area to the aftermath of the great molasses flood. In fact, they thought life in boston was getting better. The resulting deluge, known as the boston molasses disaster, reached some 25 feet high at its peak. The great molasses flood, also known as the boston molasses disaster or the great boston molasses flood, occurred on january 15, 1919, in the north end neighborhood of boston, massachusetts, in.
Scientists finally decode the great molasses flood of 1919. Ucn, the way more common name is preferred as article title. Tuesday, january 15, 2019 is the 100 th anniversary of boston s great molasses flood. The great molasses flood of 1919 and millions of other books are. Boston, 1919 book online at best prices in india on. Smart news keeping you current the sticky science behind the deadly boston molasses disaster nearly 100 years after the massive molasses tank.
Boston molasses disaster great molasses flood per wp. After the molasses hearings, despite continued economic prosperity and a strong probusiness attitude in washington, the public began to fight back, puleo added. Puleo is a powerful historian, weaving together a wide context of political movements, changing views of big business, and military technologies into a hammock in which to rest this one event of 1919. Last year i read this story with a group of year 4 students in an extension reading group. Discover great boston molasses flood plaque in boston, massachusetts. The site of one of the strangest disasters in historya wave of deadly molasses traveling at 35 mph. How the boston molasses disaster ushered in the era of. The story of the bizarre and deadly deluge has been oft told over the years stephen puleos meticulously researched 2003 book, dark tide. Finally these concepts are illustrated with a description of the great boston molasses flood of 1919, for which a new possible cause was identified only in 2014. The source of what became known as the great molasses flood was a 50foottall steel holding tank located on commercial street in boston s. Deborah kops takes the reader through this bizarre and relatively unknown disaster, including the cleanup and court proceedings that followed. The great molasses flood, also known as the boston molasses disaster or the great boston molasses flood, and sometimes referred to locally as the boston molassacre, occurred on january 15, 1919, in the north end neighborhood of boston, massachusetts.
It swept across commercial street at as much as 35 miles per hour. One hundred years later, analyses have pinpointed a handful of factors that combined to make the disaster. Chuck lyons published in history today volume 59 issue 1 january 2009. Allison describes the molasses flood of 1919, which killed 21 people and destroyed part of the north end. Fill in the boxes below to identify the causes and effects of the molasses flood. The molasses flood of 1919 and other ethical failures in. Dark tide is the definitive account of americas most fascinating and surreal disaster. The great boston molasses flood of 1919, published by beacon press. Learn more about how immigrants came to america in the early 20th century with this great book.
The rupture of a giant molasses tank in boston just after the first world war caused devastation and led to the longest legal case in the citys history. Boston, 1919 paperback january 6, 2015 by deborah kops author. As stephen puleo writes in his excellent book, dark tide. The ugly tank, filled with sticky brown molasses, has always leaked. This book was easy to read and very, very compelling. I survived the great molasses flood, 1919 by lauren. Bostons great molasses flood of 1919 has got to be one of the most bizarre disasters ever, and kopss book makes great use of detailed personal stories to. Deborah kops the great molasses flood similar books.
The great boston molasses flood of 1919 killed 21 after 2. Surreal photos from the deadly boston molasses flood of 1919. The boston molasses flood is worth taking seriously. The great molasses flood, also known as the boston molasses disaster or the great boston. Its been four years since carmen and papa moved from italy to boston. The straightforward account centers on workers and area residents who either perished in the flood or miraculously survived. January 15, 1919, started off as a normal day in boston s north end. The great boston molasses flood of 1919 by stephen puleo 3,576 ratings, 3. Great boston molasses flood plaque boston, massachusetts. The people who lived along the narrow, hilly streets of boston s north end and worked on the nearby waterfront were not expecting a disaster.
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