History of the Great Flood in Johnstown, Pa., May 31, 1889, by Which over Ten Thousand Lives Were Lost
260 pages | 27 illustrations | 5.5 x 8.5 | 1889
Cloth edition is not available
ISBN 978-0-271-02494-3 | paper: $24.95 sh
Metalmark
Publisher J. S. Ogilvie's History of the Great Flood gathers many alleged first-person accounts of the Johnstown disaster. In what is largely a sensationalized compilation of articles concerning the events, Ogilvie claims the need for narrative form. Initially, the text appears to be the account of a single journalist en route to the flood site. Questions of integrity arise against claims of factual correctness in the preface, none more noticeable than the title's exclamation of 10,000 deaths‚ the official toll was just above 2,200. Mixed in with the facts and hype are illustrations including morbid images of bodies deposited in trees, tragic scenes of hospital wards over-flowing with flood victims, a few objective images of the town pre- and post-disaster, and depictions of rescue efforts among the ruins.
The intrigue of this work stands in sorting the edifices of truth and myth, as told by a traumatized community emerging from the floodwaters. This portrait of the memorialized Pennsylvania disaster is a valuable source for media studies, historiography, and trauma psychology.
J. S. Ogilvie was a prolific publisher with offices in New York and Chicago. Known for printing current events and biographies, Ogilvie tapped into several book markets with titles ranging from editions of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries to novelized versions of popular plays.