Publication Date

8-2024

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Margaret Gripshover, David Keeling, Jun Yan

Degree Program

Department of Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

The Ohio River flood of 1937 was the most devastating flood in the recorded history of the Ohio River Valley and is commonly referred to as the “Great Flood of 1937”. In January 1937, after nearly two months of continuous precipitation, over 60% of the city of Louisville, Kentucky, was flooded and at least 23,000 residents were displaced. The purpose of this research was to document, map, and compare the pre-flood residential locations, evacuation destinations, and post-flood residential locations of African American and White Louisville refugees from the 1937 Ohio River flood. Socioeconomic information from the manuscript versions of the 1930 and 1940 U.S. Censuses of Population and other archival records, including Louisville City Directories, were used to compile, analyze, and map refugee locations before and after the flood in an historical GIS (HGIS), and to determine if flood refugees stayed at their original address, moved elsewhere within Louisville or the state of Kentucky, or relocated out of state after the flood waters receded. The results indicated that Louisville’s African American refugees had fewer evacuation destination options than White refugees, and household locations before and after the flood illustrated the degree of racial segregation within Louisville. White refugees, on the other hand, were more widely distributed across Louisville. The 1937 Ohio River flood exacerbated the economic hardships that these Louisvillians faced during the Great Depression, which reinforced racial segregation and led to urban disinvestment in the area.

Disciplines

African American Studies | Environmental Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Race and Ethnicity | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies | Social and Behavioral Sciences

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