Mr. Hillard:

My name is Nelma Cummins Martinez. I just ran across your article regarding the New London School Explosion. My sister and two cousins were killed in this terrible accident. Their names are Marcella Cummins, Betty Mussetter Rider and her brother Oliver Mussetter Rider.

I was six years old and had just gotten home from first grade when we felt the explosion. My Mother and Aunt took me with them to the High School immediately after the explosion. The building was crumbling as we arrived. This was a horrible sight for a child (or ANYONE) to see. There were parts of bodies lying were they had been blown. There were rows of bodies lying on the ground, some covered, some not. There were hysterical parents, relatives and survivors every where, it seemed. It was hours before we found out that my brother, Earl Dean Cummins, was not been among the dead. He had been helping remove the injured and dead from the ruins (he has since died.) My sister and two cousins funerals were held at the same time in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Gaskill Funeral home held the services.

This accident was particularly terrible for my mother because she had just lost my father in an oil field boiler explosion in Andrews, Texas on December 21, 1935.

I had nightmares for years, needless to say.

I don't know if you will be interested in this bit of information, but I thought I would share it with you.

Sincerely,
Nelma Cummins Martinez

      

Dear Sir,

My name is Darlene Lummus. My mother was a student at London School at the time of the explosion. However, she missed just one day from school, March 18. Her mother, a strict disciplinarian, was coaxed by Mother, to let her stay home that day. Mother told me, when she first talked about the explosion when I was quite young, that she had a horrible headache, and my grandmother allowed her to stay home. Mother told me that they lived near the school and when the explosion happended, it shook their house. Granny was terrified as well as my mother. Little did they realize, that the school had exploded. At that particular time, in East Texas, we had a great oil boom beginning...strangers and native East Texas men, their families, etc., were striving to support themselves doing oil well work.

As soon as the explosion happened, just shortly, men with trucks, cars, whatever type of vehicles, came to the aid of the school..digging through the rubble, finding both dead and living, but severly injured children, teachers, and visitors. The National Graud was called in, to help with crowd control. At that time, a young cub reporter named Walter Cronkite, was sent to cover the story. His very first story. In nearby Tyler, Texas, a new hospital, Mother Frances, was set to have opening ceremonies the next day. Instead, the doctors, nurses, and whomever else could, rushed to the aid of the hurt, dying and dead children and others. This tragedy, was indeed, the worst ever in the State of Texas, and other states.

The school even got a telegram from Germany by a fellow by the name of Adolph Hitler. Thank you so much for reading this. I know a lot of it is probably reparations of stories you may already have. I do this to honor my Mother. Had she gone to school that day, she would have died, and not been the world's most perfect mama to 6 very active children.

Respectfully,
Darlene Lummus

      

Robert,

I enjoyed reading your article on the New London School disaster of 1937. My 80 year old mom died last April. I never knew much about her Texas childhood, but I did remember that she had told us about the New London disaster, where she went to school. She was in the 7th grade, but left for a time to live with her father in Oklahoma. She later returned to New London where she was the homecoming queen and graduated in 1942. She always felt blessed that she was spared, but was sad for all of her friends who perished. We decided to see the town and find out what we could about the disaster while on a return trip from Colorado to Mississippi last August. Unfortunately, the museum was closed, but we did see the monument and read the names of mom's classmates who perished. It was a touching moment for me and I hope to return soon and visit the museum.

Thanks again,
Richard Cain

      

Robert,

My grandfather was working the oil fields of East Texas (my mother was born in Overton) when the explosion occurred. In a "give-away" calendar book, he keep as a diary, he recorded comments and specifics regarding what occurred.

(Click on any picture for a closer look at pages of the diary)
    

      

I am writing to you because I am very closely connected to the new London school Disaster. My grandfather was a survivor of the of the explosion. He never said anything to me or my siblings but my mother told me the story. my grandfather was very nervous around small children and would be scared of loud noises . So I asked my mother why is he like that why does he not like little kids. My mother then told me the story of the disaster. She also told me that that morning he went down to the basement to turn on the switch for some type of shop class and when he flipped the switch the whole school went up. His name was Morris Lechtonburge he died a few years back I was just a small boy then but my grandfather was the person who flipped the switch and unknowingly exploded the whole school. My name is Danny Vasquez.

      

Robert,

I read your e-mail responses from those that occasionally mention the film. The film is in the development stage, that being where the many pieces come together, and as with any potential epic film project, takes time. However, the time taken at this stage, to secure the proper funding and secure talent attachments are being done so as to make the feature film, "London Texas" a winner. The story will stick to the facts as we know them, and give a true picture of the metal of our people. Patrick Butler, at the Tyler Morning Telegraph, has a wealth of information about this project.

Thanks, Ronald Hollomon (the screenwriter).

      

Robert,

My name is Amanda Bush, my Grandmother Carolyn Jones survived the NL Explosion. Her older sister Helen, and her Uncle where killed. She survived, because she was studying for a spelling contest, and was in a small secluded room. She and another boy crawled out a broken window, and ran and hid following the fire. Her mother and father assumed she was dead, but when she finally came out of hiding they were amazed to see her. She tells the story of a family who worked near the school coming right away to find their son. They amazingly found him, and ran for the car, to take him to a hospital. Only in the car did they realize that his brains were falling out the back of his head into his terrified mother's lap.

My Grandmother was pictured on Life Magazine following the fire. She spoke to congress about school safety. I don't think she was even 10 yet. Only two years ago did she go to the reunion with my mother. It took her a long time to go back, understandably.

I would really appreciate any information about the documentary you worked on, and other broadcasts others have mentioned in this site. Did the movie ever get made?

Thank you for your help.
Amanda Bush

      

Robert,

Thanks so much for this website.

My uncle W.C. Shaw was the superintendent of New London schools at the time of the explosion. My aunt Hazel Shaw was a teacher at the school. She was away with students at a UIL contest on March 18th. My father, Alf Shaw, ran a hamburger stand at the school and knew most of the kids. Dad would never talk about the explosion, so I'm not sure how he managed to survive. I've heard that he was driving a school bus, and also that he had just stepped out the back for a coke.

Three Shaw children were killed that day, Sambo Clifton, Dorothy, and Marvin. Each of my grandfather's brothers lost a child, including W.C., the superintendent. All are buried at Pleasant Hill.

In 1938, my mother, Miss Ann Parish, came to New London to be the new kindergarten teacher. I am attaching a picture of her class. I hope some of her former students or their children are out there and will contact us. Mom is 90 now and still doing well.

Also, I have a 1936 Londana, the school yearbook. Would be happy to share pictures with any family members who ask.

Best regards,

Marjorie Shaw
Dallas

      

Mr. Hilliard,

I have attached my grandfathers story of his involvement in the New London Explosion. He is 95 now, and I wanted to make sure we had captured his story.

I grew up listening this story and every year he goes to the ceremony in New London on the anniversary date. He still gets choked up talking about it and at has nightmares of the event.

I went this year with to New London on that date, and in the museum there are no stories of rescue workers are pictures of them. I hope at some point these brave gentleman will be recognized for there contributions.

I think you have done a wonderful job on your website and if you need any help with the New London information, I would be glad to help in honor of my grandfather.

Cordially,
Debra K. Seacrist, M.Ed, M.A., LPC

Click Here to view "The Explosion That Shook The Nation", by Howard Coleman

      

My discovery of your website resulted from wondering if anybody remembered the horror of a March afternoon in the heart of the oil country of east Texas. In response to your solicition for input relating thereto, I submit the following for your consideration:

The New London School disaster was the second of three traumatic events placed in my memory bank before reaching age nine.

The first was being taken in 1934 to see the Ford in which Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker had been shot to death a few days previously. It was sitting in a small town street in East Texas or Louisana. I don't know which. I was aged 5 and remember it being a light color and had thought it to be tan until I saw it again in 1992 in Whiskey Pete's casino in Nevada. It was then a ghostly gray and exuded a strange, unpleasant odor which was easy to understand given the amount of blood which must have been shed given the number of bullets which caused the car to resemble Swiss cheese.

March 1937 found us in a tiny community between New London and Henderson. This was due to our itenerate lifestyle of following my father who peddled his concoction he called Swamp Root to black folks in those piney back woods. But that is another story. Anyway there had been talk of my attending the NLS but I was instead in second grade at a school nearby whose name can't recall.

The evening of either the day of the explosion or the next my father took me to a mortuary, I think it was in Henderson, in which were laid out several corpses. I remember them as being children a little larger than myself. They were lined up parallel to each other and were on the floor with their heads close to a wall. In retrospect it was as if they had just been brought in from the site, and the mortuary was overwhelmed by the numbers as doubtless others in the area must have been.

A second mental picture of this catastropy is of accompanying my parents to the very site itself. This would have been, I believe, four or days after the fact because there didn't seem to be the frantic activity that must have prevailed in early hours and days following the explosion and continued until all were convinced there were no more survivors or bodies to be discovered. There were still plenty of people and activity but the impression I'm left with is one of reasonable organization. The scene was utter distruction with piles of rubble higher than my head and huge blocks of, I guess, concrete. (Could my recollection of a day of sunshine and puffy clouds be correct? Perhaps a weather record would tell.) We picked up a book with a hard cover, blue or green as I remember, which had a deep triangular gash caused by, it would seem, the corner of perhaps a steel beam. No one saw the future historical value of it, so, in time, it disappeared.

I am now struck by the easy access we had to these places. I know lawmen from many agencies came in, but if I saw one of them it made no impression because I witnessed no effort to limit anyone's presence or activity.

The third of my tragedy memories occurred just four months later while still living in the "tourist cabin" east of NL. This time I "saw" only with the mind's eye as I listened to the radio reports of a plane on a round-the-world flight and then its disappearance. The intensity of the search for the Lockheed Model 10 piloted by Amelia Earhart with her navigator, Fred Noonan, riveted the world's attention for days and I felt helpless and saddened when it was finally conceeded they were gone.

It is good that God made us with memories, but a shame it is often filled with so much of tragedies, especially while young so that it remains for life.

Charles Mullins, Cottonwood, AZ

02/09/2004

Mr. Hilliard,

The New London anniversary approaches soon. I think back to an old trunk in my parent's house. Opening it one day I found numerous photos of a devastated building with searchers frantically combing the debris. I asked my father ,Henry Kyle, about them and he told me the story of how as a young man he worked in a photography studio in downtown Kilgore. He had been there through the oil boom and had taken many pictures of the derricks that lined the streets. Some are published in a book called "Glory Days".

Dad took many photos of prominent people that passed through Kilgore and enjoyed the riches from under the ground. Upon hearing of the explosion in New London, he was sent by his boss to take pictures of the disaster. He was horrified as a 17 year old boy to see the destruction before him. He did as requested by his employer, brought the photos back and developed them himself in the darkroom in the back of the studio which still stands right down the street from "The World's Richest Acre".

After reliving the horrific sights he'd captured, he and his employer decided not to publish the photos. Some are probably with Jack there in Kilgore and there are a few in my Dad's trunk. He is gone now but I can still see the welling of tears in his eyes so many years after the disaster as he told me the story. This from a man that later served two hitches in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict and a salty Merchant Marine who sailed the oceans with tankers of oil and molasses. I look at them and others today as my wife prepares a paper for her college class on Safety Compliance and understand his reluctance to speak of the incident.

For the remaining survivors and the families of those that perished....a prayer for you in the memory of my father...may you all have peace.

Doug Kyle

      

02/01/2004

I just found your site on the Internet and quite interested in it. I haven't gone all through it just yet, but I remember that during the State Fair in Dallas, Texas in the 1920s, my brother Ralph Owen Queen, was invited there to demonstrate fingerprinting since it was a new way of identification then. I was told that a teacher or teachers from the New London School took their class or classes to the fair, and my brother fingerprinted all of them. Then, when the disaster struck, he went to New London and was able to identify the deceased children by their fingerprints that he kept copies of. He was with the Texas Department of Public Safety in the Identification Section, and was, at one time, called the "Ellery Queen" of the south.

If you get this message, I would love to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Donna O'Donnell

      

01/19/2004

My grandfather, his brother and sister were all survivors of the school disaster. Unfortunately, I did not know my grandfather. He died before I was born. But his story of what happened to him was passed down to my father and now me. My family was very fortunate. My grandfather was Raymond Vickers. His brother, Scotty, was playing hooky that day and his sister,Vera, only broke a leg. I know my grandpa was a man who would not cry, but anytime he spoke of this, my father told me he would. He was about 13 when it happened. After football practice, the coach instructed him to go pick up the equipment. He said as he reached down to pick up a football, the school exploded. According to him the whole town heard it, so he ran home to tell his mom what happened and to let her know he was okay. He went back to the site to help. His father came from the oil fields to help. He found his sister-supposedly a teacher jumped out of a window with her and she broke a leg. When the school exploded half of her room went down, she froze, so her teacher grabbed her and jumped. Everybody feared my great-uncle was dead because they could not find him. Little did they know he didn't go to school that day. My grandfather told my dad there was one sight he would never get out of his mind. Before it happened his friend was sucking on a lollipop. When he was looking through the rubble-he found his friend's head with that lollipop through the top of his head. Although I did not know my grandfather, I have tremendous respect for him to go back and help-a 13 year old boy. These visions of my grandfather will remain, along with him serving in WWII. My father has many original newspaper clippings from when it happened. On another note, I had a government class in college. My teacher mentioned two things involved with my family-this was one. He mentioned this because of the legalization of the gas smell. He was so interested when I told him my family were survivors.

Audra Vickers

      

11/12/2003

My mother, Alvarine Mozelle Smith, was a teacher at this school when the tradgedy happened. I'm not sure, but I believe she taught 3rd or 4th grade. She lived in Overton, TX with her father, Ellis W Smith who was an employee of Humble Oil Co.

My guess is that her experiences that day in 1937 have never been made known outside our immediate family, and I thought I would relay them (as I know them) for history.

It was apparently a practice for school teachers to ride the busses with the children to and from school. According to my mother, the teachers rotated the chore and on this day, she had agreed to replace another teacher on Bus duty at the last minute. This chance event undoubtedly saved her life, and parenthetically, gave me mine since she was not married at the time. She was on a bus across the street and saw and heard the explosion and watched the building go down.

She was obviously one of the first to be there to aid survivors. Mention of the event would cause tears in her eyes up until the day she died in 2000. These memories were so strong and clear that they penetrated even through Alzheimers disease which eventually took her life. She would sometimes mention New London in the last year of her life. She lived in the past in her mind, much of the time then.

I remember asking her to tell me about the explosion when I was about 12 years old. I had learned from a book I was reading about the law requiring an odorizer in all gas systems, and that the law came as the result of a school explosion in the 1930's, where no one noticed the gas leak since natural gas is, by nature oderless. Somehow I knew that she had taught once at the school and I asked her about it. Reluctantly she did, but it caused her such grief remembering and talking about it, that I never really brought the subject up again in detail. What agonized her the most was her memories of the parents who came to the site to find that all of their children were killed. She recalled people holding small bodies or pieces of bodies for hours in grief, until workers finally came to take them away.

In the confusion that followed the explosion, my mother was reported missing since she was not scheduled to be on bus duty that day. It was assumed she had been in the building when it went down. Her fiance' (and my future father) Edwin G. Morrow, of Gorman Texas heard of the disaster and needed to go to the scene to see for himself. Distraught,he got in his car and drove to New London expecting to find her dead. The only part of the entire memory my mother could smile about was the relief she saw on Edwin's face when they were reunited.

I am convinced that this close call caused them to be married sooner than they had originally planned. My mother was (or became) a believer in "do it now" after this, believing that the opportunity might not be there later. I believe they had a happy marriage from what I was told. I did not come along for a few years, as the war and other events intervened in their lives. My father enlisted and was one of the last casualties of WWII in the European theater, several weeks after I was born in January 1945.

Ultimately, my mother remarried, had another son and in 1956, we moved to Northern California from where they had settled in Marshall, Texas.

Thanks for your time.

Ed Morrow

      

06/06/2003

Dear Robert:

I Thank You for your web site and your remembering the students and teachers killed in the New London, Texas natural gas explosion.

My Grandfather, Mr. Charles Gill, invented the rotten egg stench Natural Gas additive now required by the U.S. Government, called Captan, remembered here:

http://www.oxychem.com/products/odorants/newlondon.html

My Grandfather lives on, as I am also an inventor, and look exactly like him when he was my age (42).

Sincerely,

Robert Dowling
BobbyD777@aol.com

      

04/15/2003

Hi, I just read your website and wanted to let you know my dad was also a survivor of the New London School Explosion. His name was Charles H. (Cub) Williams. He had 1 brother and 2 sisters that were killed in the incident (Aubrey Williams, Doris Dean Williams and Irma Jean Williams). My father passed away 3 years ago April 12th of a heart attack, but I had just learned of the upcoming movie and searched the website to get more information. My dad died at Lake O Pines where he was awaiting 2 of his classmates to join him in some camping and fishing while they would be in town for the reunion. Just wanted to share his story:

He was in 3rd grade which let out earlier than the other grades and had gone back to get a drink of water when the bus was pulling up to pick up the kids. His friend Billy Ray Tilley told the bus driver to hold the bus, that “Cub” was coming. The bus driver did wait on him and as they rounded the corner the school exploded. Dad told us that the kids would kick at a pipe close to a radiator in the janitor’s room and when the wood shop flipped a switch, that was all it took. It took his mom and dad days to find one of his sisters, as they had make shift mortuaries everywhere. They finally found her in one they had already been to. Daddy also told me that there was a kid in school they called “Bugger Red”, that he had a brand new pair of red cowboy boots that everyone was envious of. Dad said when his mom and dad and himself went back to the site of the school he saw 2 legs that had a pair of red cowboy boots. He said he would never forget that.

I am looking forward to the upcoming movie. That was such a historical event I am surprised that one has not already been made. Did you know it was Henry Kissenger’s first newscast? Did you know Adolf Hitler sent his condolences?

Shelly Williams
Longview, Texas

      

03/01/2003

I was only 7 years old living in Kilgore, Texas at the time of the New London School disaster. I was sick and at home and remember all the fire trucks and police cars leaving town. During that era, we had many oil well fires and were quite used to hearing the noise. I lost several friends there and think of the school often. I wish that the History Channel would develop a TV program about the disaster. Remember, it was because of the gas blast that laws were enacted to add a smell to natural gas.

Bob Blum
near Woodstock, Georgia
Home of the Atlanta Braves and Falcons
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/NN/yqn1.html

      

02/23/2003

Current events bring up memories from the distant past. The terrible night club fire of recent days has resurrected memories of the New London school disaster. At the time I was in Jr. Hi school in Kilgore. I remember my father joining the rescue and recovery efforts at New London. But my clearest memories comes from an incident two years later at the Rose Festival in Tyler. I participated in that festival as a member of the Kilgore Hi marching band. Bands from all over East Texas attended and marched in the grand parade. As we came to the end of the parade route, we retired to the edge of the street to watch the other bands march by and admire their bright , colorful uniforms. We began to hear a rising swell of cheers and applause from down the parade route. Here came the proud marching band of the new New London High School, very plainly dressed in simple white pants and shirts, but with heads held high and stepping smartly. Tears came to our eyes and cheers to our lips as they smartly marched by. I clearly remember the bass horn had an obvious repair in it's bell, but that didn't dampen its performance. There wasn't a dry eye in the crowd as we again shared memories of the tragedy of that day in 1937.

Ken Whitaker
Lafayette, La.

      

12/17/2002

Hi,

My mother, Paula B. Echols (Campbell) was a senior when the school exploded. One story I'd like to tell is the one mom told me about the purple ambulances. The nite before the explosion, my mom told me that when she would close her eyes to go to sleep, she would envision a purple ambulance. My grandmother told her that she was just tired from studying and was dreaming. Besides, who had ever heard of a PURPLE ambulance?? Mom said, that she wasn't asleep, that she would just see these purple ambulances when she would close her eyes! They put it off as mom being tired. The next morning, my mom would realize the significance of her vision...........Mom was on the spelling team and she usually sat at the back of her english class to study the spelling words. The day of the explosion, she asked her english teacher to sit with the rest of the class as she was tired of studying spelling. The teacher told her to take her assigned seat. Mom said she hadn't been seated but a very short time when it happened. Mom was trapped under her desk and couldn't move........that is when the desks were bolted to the floor. There was a young man that mom knew that ran by and she yelled out to him.......I don't recall names, but supposedly this was one of the smaller members of the school and rather a frail person.........anyway, he stopped to help my mother and literally pulled the desk up from the floor, bolts and all, to free my mother. Mom saw her brother, Lee Echols, go by and called to him. Lee helped mom to the edge of a concrete slab that had been the wall or ceiling......and mom crawled down to the ground from that point. Lee returned to help others.......The concrete dust was thick and choking, but mom said as soon as she got clear of the haze, she looked up and the first thing she saw was........a purple Ambulance!! It was the first day the ambulance had been in use!! My mom was injured in the explosion and taken to one hospital (I don't recall all the names, it may have been Henderson or Overton?) and the hospital caught on fire! They moved her to another hospital and while lying there, she heard her name announced over a loud speaker that was listing those that had died! The announcer said, "Pretty Paula Echols, her voice is no more!" The insurance company even contacted my grandmother with a check later, because they thought mom had died! I guess when they transferred hospitals, it caused confusion and they thought mom was among those killed. Mom got a broken back from the explosion and they told her she'd never walk again.......well, Thank God for my mom's strong will!! Not only could she walk, but she could dance! Mom never went anywhere at a walk. I remember having to run along side mom as a small child because she walked so fast! My mother said she remembered pictures of the school explosion and that they found body parts blown everywhere. She returned to school and graduated as Valedictorian! Mom went to as many reunions as she could depending on her location at the time. Mom was married to Wilburt Campbell before she graduated, and then, 8 years later married my Dad, James Allen Thrash.

I have been to visit the school and even seen the inside of the new school and the memorial built to all those that died. It is very touching. My mom died in 1988 from Cancer. Many times her doctors would ask her how long she smoked.........and my mom NEVER smoked. They finally decided that it must have been the effects of all the concrete dust from the explosion that damaged her lungs!

Thank you for your site and these email listings! I wish I would have known more of the people that were actually involved with my mother during her early life, but I never knew them. My grandparents died before I was born and Uncle Lee died when I was only about 5 years old, I believe. Uncle Lee did have an adopted daughter Melanie, but I don't know what her name is now? If by chance anyone reading this should know, Please let me know! Thanks!

Cheryl Thrash Standridge
Ourpaints@wmconnect.com

      

12/03/2002

Robert:
I found your page while researching the story of this upcoming movie. I thought you'd like this information.
Danette from CA

ANGELIC DEVELOPS
LONDON TEXAS

Press Release

San Diego, CA, December 3, 2002 — Entertainment Group Angelic Entertainment announces the start of pre-development work on their newest feature-length motion picture project, "LONDON TEXAS." This 1937 period drama takes viewers along an emotional roller coaster ride through a dreadful tragedy and the rescue efforts of hero's from day's past. This dramatic feature definitively states; "Character alone holds a hero to the task in the face of unspeakable horror!"

"The story about the LONDON TEXAS disaster has long been over looked. Only now are we living in times when people search for answers to difficult questions regarding community, family and most of all faith", stated Ronald Dale Hollomon author of the screenplay. "And this story certainly delivers those answers as history is always there with the response teaching us how to react in the face of an awful tragedy."

Hollomon first approached Angelic with his script in early August 2000. But it wasn't until Jerry G. Long, Principal & Executive Producer of Mustang Pictures, Inc., a Texas based movie production funding company became interested and in late November 2002 a co-venture was negotiated and the LONDON TEXAS project finally got off the ground.

Long stated, "I was impressed with the integrity of Mark Maine and Angelic's management team; not to mention the company mission statement of 'content-responsible' entertainment. I've known Ron all my life and I absolutely love the story he's written, and even my dad recalls the event as he was only 18 years old at the time. In fact, everyone I've talked with here in Texas has either heard about this incident or has even had their own family touched by it in some way. I know it will be a fantastic movie."

"LONDON TEXAS is a powerful and catastrophic drama filled to the brim with heroic real life characters, especially that of a 12 year old heroine. It's also a morality tale that connects the young and elderly", stated Rex Piano. "It was really heart-wrenching to learn of this disastrous historical event and yet humbling to be a part of accurately telling such a painful story."

Piano, an established and respected producer/director, has already worked on a number of pre-development projects for Angelic, and he recently produced and directed Angelic's first film a multi award winning romantic comedy "The Month of August."

"Hero's, especially Firemen, have often been seen as American idles, and anything involving them is a very hot topic," states Mark Maine, Chairman & CEO of Angelic Entertainment. "I've been intrigued how the subject of tragedy has been handled on the big screen, and LONDON TEXAS is Angelic's chance to tell a true and compelling story encompassing the real people and individuals involved in one of the most devastating natural disasters in our history. And the movie will actually show us all just how precious and fragile life really is with this heart-twisting life-changing story. I know audiences will be thoroughly touched by this film, and I'm excited that this inspirational script was not discovered by Hollywood first."

-------------------------------------------------------------

About Angelic Pictures:
Angelic Pictures mission is to provide a high-volume, profitable stream of respectable motion pictures following the Hollywood studio model. Angelic selectively acquires scripts with strong story lines that stand on their own, without adding gratuitous content. Because, these are the type of scripts that attract investors, distributors, moviegoers, and most importantly of all, profits.

About Angelic Entertainment:
Angelic Entertainment, formed in 1997, with the mission and purpose to develop, produce and present “Content-Responsible” entertainment to an audience disenfranchised from most feature films, television and music currently in release. Based in San Diego, Angelic’s unique business strategies and solid commitment to dilute the steady stream of gratuitous violent and vulgar product currently generated from Hollywood, have securely placed Angelic well on the road to success. With numerous projects ready for production, Angelic can swiftly supply a volume of high-quality entertainment. Unlike other entertainment groups, Angelic welcomes dialogue with companies interested in product representation in future projects and potential financial partners who are interested in the creation of “Content-Responsible” entertainment.

      

Dear Mr. Hilliard:

Thank you for your site on the New London School Explosion.

My father, Cecil E. Ketchum, age 16 at the time, was in the explosion and helped his teacher and some other students escape from the building. He was in shock and walked home. About 3 miles from the school he found his locker door, from which he removed the number, and his brother's Senior English Lit. book.

His older brother, William Artice Ketchum, was killed. He is buried in the Rock Creek Cemetery, near Duncan, OK.

Their parents did not have William's name put on the monument - I do not know why - shock and grief, I suppose.

My mother and her family were in Overton and many of them helped identify and transport the victims. It was a terrible, horrible experience for everyone in the area.

Many of us who grew up hearing the phrase "the school explosion" knew it was awful, but never fully comprehended the scope of it until we were older. I know I was mercifully spared the details until I was a teenager.

Kitty Ketchum Ingram
Longview, TX

      

Dear Sir,

I recently visited your site about the New London school explosion. My great- uncle Mr Roy Clark, not the singer, was working as a rough-neck in the oil fields near there at time and like many he went to help. He has since passed away. My grandmother, Mrs. Lena C Robertson taught at Carlisle ISD for 30+ years has passed the history of New London and its importance to our daily lives. Thank you for taking the time to put the history out for the people who were not as lucky as I to have someone to pass it to them first hand.

God Bless,

Donna Lynne Mitchell
Rusk, Texas

      

Robert,

My mother, Annie Ruth Hudson, was a fourth grader on the playground when the New London explosion occurred. Of the ten children in her family, nine were in school that day. Her little sister Louise, a first grader, stayed home that day because she lost one of her shoes. She only had one pair and could not go to school barefooted.

My mother was supposed to be in the PTA program in the auditorium doing a dance called "Put Your Little Foot", but her partner was absent so she could not perform. When the school exploded, the girl my mother was playing jump rope with had a large portion of the calve of one leg avulsed from a flying brick. Three of mother's brothers were injured, and her brother Elisha was killed. He was 12 years old. One of her other brothers had mortar in his scalp until he died in 1985. Mothers father identified Elisha, who was in a long line of bodies laying beside each other. Many other parents had to travel to Dallas and Shreveport to find out the fate of their children. Ambulances came from all over and took the injured and the dead without identifying them, so those parents who didn't arrive on the scene promptly were left to wonder and travel to Dallas and Shreveport. I understand that due to this abuse of power to drum up business laws were changed regarding the transport of victims in disasters such as this.

I was in Lufkin last weekend with my mother and we discussed the tragedy again. I too am fascinated by this disaster. Were you aware that Adolph Hitler sent a letter of condolence?

Just wanted to share this with you.

Gary Long
Principal
College Station Middle School
College Station, Texas

      

My Great-Grandfather was selling life insurance in New London at the time of the explosion. He was a friend of the janitor and happened to be in the school visiting him that day. He asked the janitor to come have a coke with him across the street at the drug store. The janitor said no, he had to get back to work because the PTA was meeting that day. But grand dad convinced him.

While they were sitting in the drug store facing the school, it exploded. They were two of the men working that night digging out bodies.

Grand dad lived in Denton most of his life, and he said that while he was digging, he found the bodies of several high school girls he had talked to about going to UNT in the fall. He said their faces and clothes were blown off, and he cries. He has nightmares still sometimes.

There was a woman in town who had bought insurance from grand dad. Her neighbor wanted to buy some on her kids, but her husband was a drunk and he wouldn't have let her, so the neighbors arranged for grand dad to meet the woman at her neighbor's house.

Since the woman's husband was a drunk and unemployed, she had to take in wash to support their 5 children. She met grand dad that day at her neighbor's house, and he wrote a policy for each of the kids. If she paid the ... I forget what it's called, but some kind of start-up fee... if she paid that right then, the policies would go into effect immediately. Otherwise, it would be two weeks or so.

Well, she didn't have the money. It was 25 cents per child...no, actually, I think it was 25 cents total, because he loaned her a quarter. Four of her children were killed in the explosion before the policies had even come back. It was enough money to bury them.

I thought you might like to know some of these details. I've been looking around on the internet, and so far your site is the most detailed on the subject, but it's still not quite as much so as grand dad's story.

Sincerely,
Aubrey Lively

Hi,

I found your article while combing through historical data about WWII and the New London School disaster so that, my 12 year old daughter has some information when she presents her grandfathers Navy medals to her Social Studies class tomorrow.

My father's name is JC Hogue. His birthday was on March 17th, the day before the explosion. He jumped out a window and survived that day. His 14 year old sister, Margarita, died. He later joined the Navy and received the Navy Cross during WWII. He died from surgical complications January 29, 1966.

Debbie Hogue Vitale

Robert,

I just checked out your web page and it is really nice.

I would like to invite you to come visit our Museum at New London if you haven't seen it.. It is across the street from the school in the old McConnico drug store building.

Molly Ward is our Museum Director. You probably interviewed my uncle Arthur Shaw, he was the one who tells the story about the pipe in the hallway.

Ronny Gaudet
President London Museum

Hi.

My name is Lynda and I am currently searching out information on the New London School Disaster. My step-mom-to-be (Arlene, currently 74) went to the New London school and lost a sister during the explosion. Arlene was supposed to be at school that day but had played hooky. Her mom was upset, but her dad decided she would be allowed to stay home. She also had a brother that would have been there but was home sick.

I also was intrigued by this story and am in search of information. Can you give me any help? Is there a way that I could get a copy of the documentary you worked on? I would love to hear from you.

Thanks,
Lynda Wright

Hi Mr. Hilliard,

I just returned from visiting my grandfather in Madill, Oklahoma. He was very interested in obtaining a copy of the documentary you mentioned on your home page, "New London, the Day the Clocks Stood Still." If you have any idea of where I might write to obtain a copy for him I would be very much obliged.

My grandfather Calvin Fowler was working in the oil fields near New London back in the 1930's when one day his little brother, Junior, turned up on his doorstep announcing that he had run away and wanted to stay with Calvin. My grandfather called their mother to let her know where Junior was and they agreed that they would not be able to keep Junior in school in Madill so she would move down there and join her boys. So on March 18, 1937, my grandfather and great-grand mother enrolled Junior in the New London school. They drove to Overton and bought him some school clothes because when he ran away he hadn't taken anything with him. On their way to pick him up that afternoon, my grandfather says he heard a terrible explosion and thought one of the wells had exploded. He pulled into the school grounds and saw a huge cloud of yellow dust and rocks still failing from the sky. He spent the next few hours helping to pull bodies from the disaster. My father, who was only four years old at the time says he can still remember the gruesome sight of children's bodies everywhere. They found Junior at the Overton mortuary the next day. They were able to identify him because he had his fathers watch in his pocket and a whistle.

James Pickney Tatum, Jr. was killed in the blast in New London and buried in our family plot in Madill, Oklahoma. Texaco oil company paid for his burial and headstone. His name is listed in the Museum across the street from the new high school in New London. He is not listed on the memorial out front, presumably because of the confusion surrounding his first day.

I think you are right. Truth is better than fiction any day.

Thank you for any help you might be able to give me in tracking down this video for my family.

Sincerely,
Susan Barraza

Sir,

My name is Brandon Stubblefield. I live in Abilene, Texas. My grandfather was at the school when it exploded. He was supposedly asking his teacher a question and survived because the door was blown on top of him.

I would like to get a copy of the documentary if at all possible as well as a listing of any known survivors. My family is very interested in taking a trip there to do some personal family history research. We would be able to talk to my grandfather, but he passed away in 1993. Any help you can provide would be greatly coveted and appreciated.

Brandon Stubblefield

Bob,

Just found your web page about the above explosion. It is the only place I have found that has any information on the explosion. You have a very good writeup and I am sure I have your video tape. I was down for the fiftieth reunion and appeared on Charles Kuralt's Sunday Morning program.

You will not find my name in any school records, since I had only gone there about 3 weeks. My cousin, Betty Houston still lives in Henderson, and is married to a prominent attorney, Rex Houston. I was visiting my grandmother, so I had to enroll in school.

I now live in Pittsburgh, Pa and if you have a copy of Charles Kuralt's Program, you will be able to see me on it. Thanks for taking the time to write it up and if you should know of any other sources of information about the explosion, let me know.

I have several clippings from newspapers, but I never seem to get enough information about it. I still to this day cry when I play the Kuralt tape. I also appeared on CNN news coverage of the fiftieth anniversary in 1987.

Bobby Clayton

P.S. When I visited the new school they had a picture from the newspaper showing me and a rescuer John Patterson displayed in a glass window.

Tonight is one of those late nights with nothing much to do but turn on the iMac and surf the web. As i have done a few times in the past, but with no luck, I typed in New London, Texas. This time I found 2 hits, thank you northernlight.com, pertaining to the school explosion.

My mother survived the explosion and it was an event my family knew well of. I was surprised when, about four years ago, I found an article in the high school library where I teach about the explosion. I was further surprised to read that my uncle, Don Nelson, was what I would call, a hero of the day. He was in the school that day helping his step mother, and after the explosion helped to free several students trapped under a fallen bookcase. His stepmother did not survive but his brother John and sister Evelyn, my mother did.

I appreciate your column and photos, would you mind if I used them in my high school English classes?

Thank you
Doug Gregory
Stettler, Alberta, Canada

Hello,

My name is Tammy Bowen Eaton and have just now heard from my brother Kenneth H. Bowen how my father John H. Bowen or Blondie in the oil fields (which is a joke cause he was bald when I came along) was involved in the events that followed the school disaster.

I am the baby sister being born in 1957 and losing my Dad 6 years later to cancer. I have missed some of my caring father's life and didn't know about this which has touched me deeply even after all these years.

Thank you,
Tammy

hello, mr. hilliard.

my name is geneva stovall and i live in memphis, tennessee. my mother survived the school explosion, and lost a sister and a brother in it. i am writing a book about it from my family's historical point of view. as a reporter i wrote many articles about it in the past, in two large series for the texarkana gazette and got archive negatives of the scene from upi, and i covered the reunion one year also. my mom went to the reunions while we lived in texarkana. i now work for the newspaper here, the commercial appeal, as a copy editor.

i was surprised to find so many web sites devoted to the explosion.

      
My name is Mike Platton (email mplatton@aol.com) and my mother Mary (Marion) Rebecca (Turner) Platton was in the New London school explosion. I felt compelled to pass on her story.

Mary was in the 7th grade at the time of the explosion. Her sister, Minnie Ward (Turner) Williams was across the hall in the 6th grade. Both were on the second floor. Her brother, Tommy Turner, 10th grade, was in shop class on the first floor. Her brother Randal Turner was in the Elementary School.

All that mom remembers from that day is sitting at her desk on minute, feeling an explosion and waking up just in time to see a classmate Agnes ? going out the classroom door. Mom got to her feet and jumped out the second floor window and cut her knee. She ran to the Gym, and then down between the Gym and fence to the front of the school. She saw other kids getting on the bus, so she got on, got her sister Minnie and they both went to find their little brother Randal. After finding him they got back on the bus and went home. Her brother Tommy almost had his ear completely severed. He walked from the grounds refusing assistance from rescuers, feeling others needed help worse than he. He walked to Overton and somehow ended up in a Dentists office. The Dentist, name unknown, sewed the ear up and Tommy was taken to Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler where he stayed for about 3 weeks.

Mom started having bad headaches for days after the explosion. She remembers a Red Cross Nurse coming to the house. The nurse took her to Dr. Adams. Dr. Adams had her hospitalized at Kilgore Memorial. While in the hospital, Dr. Simmonds (not sure of spelling pronounced sim-unds) discovered that she had been hit in the head and he and Dr. Adams? operated on her. She remembers her roommate, Marie Slater. Mom states that she just never seemed to be able to think very clearly after the school explosion and had trouble concentrating.

My mother is currently in a nursing home here in Ohio. She still has all her faculties, but has trouble remembering everything that clearly. She does feel very lucky about the fact that there were three of them in that school and none of them died and that only two of them were injured.

      
William N Grigg was in the fifth grade and was in study hall when it occurred and had just stepped out a back door to empty a waste basket for his teacher,when it happened!

I am doing a website about it also. its is located at sites.netscape.net/williamgrigg/homepage and there are alot of pictures of the faculty and students who lost their lives that day!

I also wanted to say I liked your site on it very much!

      
MY NAME IS JOHN BOCKMON AND MY FATHER SAMUEL EARL BOCKMON WAS A STUDENT AND SURVIVED THE SCHOOL EXPLOSION.

HE WAS WAITING IN LINE TO CHECK OUT A ZANE GRAY NOVEL (THE NAME OF WHICH HAS ESCAPED ME) WHEN THE SCHOOL BLEW UP . I RECALL HIM TELLING OF WAKING UP AFTER THE EXPLOSION AND HE AND ANOTHER BOY CRAWLED THROUGH THE DEBRIS AND SMOKE TO LIGHT WHERE THE WALL HAD BLOWN OUT. THE OTHER BOY JUMPED OFF AND MY DAD HEARD HIM SCREAM AND SAID HE BROKE HIS LEG.

MY DAD LET HIMSELF DOWN AND HUNG BY HIS HANDS BEFORE JUMPING AND THUS PUT HIM SELF CLOSER TO THE GROUND AND WHEN HE JUMPED HE WAS NOT INJURED. I STILL HAVE A ROLLING PIN THAT MY FATHER MADE IN THE SHOP THAT WAS WHERE THE EXPLOSION OCCURED AND ALSO HIS CLASS BOOK AND CLASS RING.

MY EMAIL ADDRESS IS JBOCKMON@AOL.COM.

      
Thanks for all the information about the explosion.. I've printed out several articles this afternoon. I think I have he original newspaper article probably in my cedar chest. My dad's youngest sister was killed that day, her name was Mary Ellen Forman/Foreman. Her mother had died and she was living with a married sister.

My husband & I went by the current school & monument and I was so thankful for it. Do you have a list of the ones killed that day on your web site? I've never gone to any reunion or etc. there, didn't even know of them until an uncle from Longview attended once - he's dec. now.

Thanks for your help
Donna(Forman) Blossman

      
My grandfather helped out at the aftermath of the explosion. His name was Joe Nelson, and he worked in the oil fields near by; apparently he and (I guess) alot of oil workers were some of the first to arrive at the scene. After the explosion, my grandfather and another relative (I think my great uncle) helped out a man who had lost his family in the explosion.

From what I have been told, the man was very distraught for awhile, so my grandfather and great uncle did his job in the oil field until he recovered. Anyways, your site is really neat and I hope to visit the museum someday soon, I enjoyed looking at your site. If you know any of the survivors, maybe they would know my grandfather, he worked for Humble around that area (Talkco & Gladewater) for along time.

Sincerely,
Laura Boles

      
My name is Julia Ward. Not related to Molly Ward, but she and my mother knew each other for many years before we moved from Overton in 1966. My mother, Irene (Ashworth) Ward lost her half-sister in the explosion. Her name was Anna Rae Purcell. My Grandfather, Tom Purcell, was also working in the oil fields and helped with the aftermath. My mother, thank God, was in school in Overton at the time of the explosion. She is 80 years of age and is haunted to this day of digging through the rubble for my aunt. We will be moving back to Overton in a couple of months. I look forward to visiting the museum and meeting Molly Ward. I have heard about her all my life, but I was 6 when we moved to Southeast Texas and if I met her when I was a child I don't remember. What a wonderful thing you have done in commemorating those who are gone, but will live in our family histories forever. My hat is off to you, sir! Sincerely, Julia W. Ward, native Overtonite and very proud to call it home!

      
Robert, Thanks for the email. My mother is in here with me as I write this. I found my aunt's picture on the website. Her name is listed as Annie Purcell. Her real name was Anna Ray Purcell.(I checked with Mother for correct spelling.) Her birth date was January 24, 1922. My mother's stepfather, Anna Ray's father worked for Humble Oil and was a day driller in the East Texas oilfield. His name was Thomas Edwin Purcell and he was on the first well Humble drilled up there. My uncle is still alive and living in South Dakota. He is T.E. Purcell, Jr. I will get word to him of your website. I'm sure he has memory or has researched the events. He might be able to give some helpful input as far as your website. My mother cannot bring herself to look at the pictures of the aftermath. Although it was many years ago I'm sure you understand that is a memory that is with you always. Keep up the great work! Sincerely, Julia W. Ward

      
Hello. My name is Sally Williams Kuni and I live in Houston, Texas. My father, Billye Roan Williams was in the 5th grade at the New London school at the time of the explosion. Although he passed away in 1996, he only began talking about the explosion in his later years. He was never able to remember exactly what happened before or after the explosion. Apparently, everyone in his classroom died in that explosion. Although he couldn't remember where he was, he always maintained that he must not have been in class. He used to speculate that he must have been in the boys restroom which was at the very end of the hallway. The only thing that he remembered was when he came to, he was walking down a 2 lane highway. Someone stopped (a stranger) and asked him his name. He couldn't remember his own name, but was able to remember the name of his father, James L. Williams. So he told them that his name was James L. Williams. They drove him to the nearest hospital and enrolled him under his father's name. In the meantime, my grandparents were frantically searching for him. After they did not find his body on the school grounds, they began checking local hospitals. They actually checked with the hospital that he was in, but since he had not given his correct name, they did not find him for 3 days! Can you imagine how distraught they were?

I would be very interested in additional information about the explosion. Does anyone have the school registration/enrollment records from that time? Is there a map/floor plan of the school, so that we could see where each of the classrooms and common rooms were located? The Houston Chronicle just did a story on the explosion. They are doing a series every Sunday which chronicles the top 100 stories from the last 100 years. It was a really interesting story.

I recently sat on a Harris County Criminal Jury, and met a young woman whose grandfather was also in the explosion. She said that he was in the 6th grade at that time. She has been to several reunions, etc. with him, and it was really fascinating to meet someone else whose life has been touched by this tragedy. I would love to get some information regarding any future reunions, or meetings. Although my father is deceased, the story of the explosion touches my heart very deeply. I am moved by the immense immediate help of the community and the dedication of the citizens of New London.

Sincerely,
Sally Williams Kuni
skuni@insiterealty.com

      
Dear Bob,

I chanced upon your website this morning and, since I still have vivid memories of the New London school disaster, I thought I would touch base with you. I was in high school here in Houston when this tragedy occurred.

In 1961, I took my mother on a three-month trip around the world. I recall sitting in the lobby of the Athene Palace Hotel in Athens, Greece. We had been gone for about two months and had been out of touch with the news for just about this long. There were several newspapers on the couch where I was sitting but they were in Greek and I was unable to read them.

However, there was an English paper among them and I picked it up and began to read it. On the front page, was long story about an American who had confessed to setting off the explosion at the school in New London. He had been a student at the school at the time and he had had a falling out with a teacher. He claimed he had gone down to the basement of the school and turned a valve on the furnace that filled the basement with gas. My mother and I were both shocked at this and we could hardly wait to get home so we could learn more about this story.

However, upon returning home in September, we were amazed that no one we talked to had heard about this story. We had imagined that the entire United States would be talking about it but we never heard anything more about it.

I can't recall the name of the English paper but I feel sure it was from London. Have you heard anything about this?

Best regards,
George R. Hockmeyer
GHockmeyer@houston.rr.com

      
If you have a story to tell
about the New London School Disaster
or if you were involved in
some way and would like to discuss it,
please feel free to send me e-mail at:
robert@hilliard.ws
( Unless otherwise requested, all email received will be
posted on the "Email Received" Page of this website.)