The Church display includes every major denomination that was in East Texas in 1930. The impact of the boom was also felt by the churches. One example is that the Presbyterian Church became surrounded by oil derricks and eventually moved to a new location.
The stained-glass window displayed is from a Methodist Church in Trinity, Texas, and was donated by the King Family, who lost a sibling in the New London explosion. It serves as a memorial to more than 300 adults and children that lost their lives in the New London school explosion on March 18, 1937. The window is the only item in the museum that has a plaque and was given in memory of someone.
The New London explosion was the worst school disaster ever to occur in the world. The school was built with tax monies from the newly found East Texas Oil Field and was the most modern in existence. Steam radiator heaters received heat from the gas-fired boilers, fueled with the natural gas coming from newly drilled wells on the school grounds. Natural gas, heavier than air, will settle in low areas.
The accumulated gas had no odor and the leaking fuel settled under the school. The ignition source will never be known, but one possibility was an electric grinder in the boy's shop class which had an electrical short. Lemmie Butler, a teacher, had worked on the grinder that morning. Another possibility is that an electric light switch in one of the classrooms might have shorted out.
The explosion occurred just minutes before dismissal from school for the day. Many parents were on campus to pick up their children or participate in a PTA meeting, along with visiting state education officials from Austin.
The explosion was heard and felt miles away and oil field workers and the general citizenry responded to the disaster scene. Doctors and nurses came from Dallas, Tyler, Longview, Henderson, and Houston. Ambulances responded from all available sources. Bread trucks, pickups, and any other available vehicle with wheels were used to transport the injured and dead to area hospitals and funeral homes. Makeshift morgues were created. In Tyler, Mother Frances Hospital, planning a dedicatory ceremony the following day, opened to help deal with the crisis.
Wire service reporters arrived on the scene. A young journalist named Walter Cronkite arrived from Dallas and remained for several days sending news by telephone and telegram. Cronkite went with families as they buried their children at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
School children from all over the US collected pennies and sent their donations to the Henderson First National bank official, Mose Marvel was charged with collecting the memorial gifts. The first foreign head of state to send a telegram expressing sympathy to the New London School Superintendent was Adolph Hitler of Germany.
New laws passed as a result of the New London school explosion resulted in the mandatory odorant placed in natural gas before its being shipped via pipeline. A new Texas law required the licensing of engineers by the state with periodic recertification.
Items of interest within the exhibit include:
Paper fans were used because there was no air conditioning. Many churches and funeral homes furnished the fans while some people provided their own.
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