WERTHEIMER: John Barry is the author of "Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America." Downtown West Monroe wasn't as fortunate as backwater from the Ouachita River flooded that area. On May 20, just before the levee break at McCrea, Louisiana, 35,000 people fled from the fragile levee . 337. Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. NPR will continue to cover this story throughout the day. Scott Simon will be back next week. Ewing, Inc. (Baton Rouge, La.) Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center: Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport: Northwestern State University of Louisiana: Vermilionville Living History Museum and Folklife Park: Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Vermilionville Living History Museum & Folklife Park. Louisiana 1927 - Wikipedia The Flood Year 1927: A Cultural History. Clouds rolled in from the north and it started to rain. And in fact, he managed to deliver aid without airplanes faster than aid has gotten to New Orleans in the Gulf Coast today. Engineers chose a westward loop in the river at Caernarvon and began blowing the levee apart on April 29. The event, called simply the Great Flood of 1927, would change Louisiana forever. That flood dumped as much as 30 feet of water on land from Illinois and Missouri down to the Gulf of Mexico. The levees there were under pressure from both sides, and concerned citizens began to buy boats and stockpile food. William Beanland, a civil engineer, was chosen to handle the repair work. In addition, a stingy fiscal policy that offered little aid to the flood victims, implemented under Republican President Calvin Coolidge, drove many African Americans from the party of Lincoln into the Democratic party, where they continue to be a considerable part of the constituency today. In Mississippi there were two levee areas of special concern. Coordinates: 3044N 9225W / 30.73N 92.41W / 30.73; -92.41, United States presidential election results for Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 14:35, Learn how and when to remove this template message, National Register of Historic Places listings in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, https://web.archive.org/web/20091026030323/http://geocities.com/old_time_time/many.htm, "Census - Geography Profile: Evangeline Parish, Louisiana", "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990", "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. He joins us now from his office in Washington. Levee guards were placed in camps at strained sites along the top of the levee and ordered to maintain them from danger of crevasse, a break in the levee which would allow water to enter the area it protected. Louisiana 1927 - The Boston Globe In some places, great mounds of sand covered fields and streets. Now, I dont have to take that Latin Exam. And I threw my book into the air hitting the porch ceiling . He was in charge of disaster relief for the Coolidge administration. It rained real hard and it rained for a real long time. Henry Waring Ball Diary, Mississippi Department of Archives and History Mildred Shepherd [Rushing] Diary, Shepherd-Baird family history book written by Mildred Shepherd Rushing. The Oct. 26, 1999, Advertiser included thiseyewitness account ofTurner Catledge, a reporter for the Memphis Commercial Appeal:"The water leaped through the crevasse with such fury that it spread into three distinct currents. "We thought it was a cattle stampede. Frank M. Yarborough, who lived with them, "gathered up the few chickens left in the yard and put them in a coop on one end of the porch. Louisiana 1927 Lyrics . Accuracy and availability may vary. The National Safety Council estimated deaths in the Yazoo- Mississippi Delta alone at 1,000. Each was caused more or less by a man-made breach of a levee. Marcia Ball - Louisiana 1927 Lyrics | Genius Lyrics The Atchafalaya River forks away from the Mississippi River at Simmesport in Avoyelles Parish. About 27.20% of families and 32.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 39.10% of those under age 18 and 31.00% of those age 65 or over. Her grandfather, the Rev. In 1927, New Orleans was the most vital economic city in the South by far, and it was run entirely by bankers who didn't not even bother to consult elected officials; they simply decided they were going to dynamite the levee to reassure their correspondent banks in New York, London and Boston that they would never allow the Mississippi River to threaten the city. Advanced Search About Data Blog. The racial makeup of the parish was 70.42% White, 28.57% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, and 0.46% from two or more races. Louisiana, Louisiana. A few Acadians such as Franois Pitre and his wife settled the area between Evangeline and St. Landry parishes, preferring the rich pre-American and pre-Civil War era Cajun planter's lifestyle over that of the humble and isolated existence of their Acadiana cousins. Popa Ed Lenzs hedges was clipped to form an arch over the walk way to his front door. He's also a resident of New Orleans and Washington, DC. Some prominent English surnames include Chapman, Kershaw, Young, Reed, Langley, Tate and Buller. B.H. It swept everything before it. "The fire whistle and the Standard Oil plant shrieked a warning as levee guards sped through the streets, firing pistols and rifles and shouting 'crevasse, crevasse.'". Some people got lost in the flood. 91.1 Welcome 91.9 Fayetteville 90.5 Buxton Evangeline, Louisiana - Wikipedia The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles (70,000 km 2) inundated in depths of up to 30 feet (9 m) over the course of several months in early 1927. WERTHEIMER: Now when the flood hit Greenville, Mississippi, you write in the book that people, blacks and whites together, took refuge on the highest ground they could find, which was the levee. That downpour also added more water to the Mississippi River as it rushed past New Orleans. The teenager Mildred Shepherd, whose father was an auditor for Mississippi Power & Light Company in Greenville, remained with her family at home throughout the flood with water at the top of their doorsteps. I mean, not necessarily down South but this was a huge flood across many states. And it was the other place that I knew, and I was interested in the history, and heard about this flood, and I wrote the song."[1]. of submerging the alleged grave of Longfellow's Evangeline in thirty feet of flood water, oversaw the birth of triplets in an Opelousas, Louisiana, refugee center.'0 The image was that of an omnipresent Hoover . "Louisiana 1927" is a 1974 song written and recorded by Randy Newman on the album Good Old Boys. Was he a good manager of this 1927 flood relief effort? The Mississippi Flood of 1927 | WUNC John Barry is the author of "Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood and How It Changed America." "Louisiana 1927" is on the brilliant 1974 album Good Old Boys that tells a narrative of people in the south who feel like the rest of the country is laughing at them. The devastating Mississippi River flood of 1927 has deservedly entered the realm of legend and lore, being one of the most costly natural disasters in American history. Louisiana 1927 by Randy Newman Album: Good Old Boys ( 1974) License This Song songfacts artistfacts What has happened down here is the winds have changed Clouds roll in from the north and it start to rain Rained real hard and rained for a real long time Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline Aaron Neville Lyrics "Louisiana 1927" (originally by Randy Newman) What has happened down here Is the winds have changed Clouds roll in from the north And it started to rain It rained real hard, and It rained for a real long time Six feet of water In the streets of Evangeline The river rose all day The river rose all night The Mississippi River Flood of 1927 was the nations greatest natural disaster. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. Smith's song "was the spark for it . WERTHEIMER: That's Aaron Neville singing Randy Newman's song, "Louisiana 1927.". But in the late 1800s, the Mississippi River Commission adopted a levees-only policy, which entailed the construction of levees that ran almost the full length of the river. Local officials called in the National Guard to keep order. Copyright laws. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000", Louisiana's Technical and Community Colleges, "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Evangeline_Parish,_Louisiana&oldid=1140935995, Bayou Chicot Elementary School (Grades PK-8) (Ville Platte), Chataignier Elementary School (Grades PK-8) (Chataignier), James Stephens Montessori School (Grades PK-6) (Ville Platte), Mamou Elementary School (Grades PK-4) (Mamou), Vidrine Elementary School (Grades PK-8) (Ville Platte), Ville Platte Elementary School (Grades PK-4) (Ville Platte), W. W. Stewart Elementary (Grades PK-4) (Basile), Basile High School (Grades 512) (Basile), Pine Prairie High School (Grades 912) (Pine Prairie), Ville Platte High School (Grades 512) (Ville Platte), Evangeline Central School (Grades 412) (Ville Platte), Sacred Heart School (Grades K-12) (Ville Platte), Christian Heritage Academy (Grade K) (Ville Platte). hide caption, The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America. I have, you know, only speculative answers. It runs on the Islandora open-source digital repository software. Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline. The federal government did not pay a single penny for the clothing, food or shelter of any one of those 700,000 people. THE LYRICS, by singer/songwriter Randy Newman, tell the story of the Louisiana flood of 1927, which killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands across six states. They're tryin' to wash us away. Both calamities caused widespread dislocation of Black people, the first adding to a migration to the major urban cities of the north, the second to cities such as Houston and Atlanta. In 1927, New Orleans was the most vital economic city in the South by far, and it was run entirely by bankers who didn't not even bother to consult elected officials; they simply decided they were going to dynamite the levee to reassure their correspondent banks in New York, London and Boston that they would never allow the Mississippi River to threaten the city. A day too dark and stormy to go to church or even out of doors. Here's the latest on Hurricane Katrina. Evangeline Parish is also served by the Diocese of Lafayette with one school: Additionally, Evangeline Parish is served by one unaffiliated private school: Evangeline Parish is served by one institutions of higher education: The 1086th Transportation Company of the 165th CSS (Combat Service Support) Battalion resides in Ville Platte, Louisiana. As the people of Greenville watched the river rise they waited for the fire alarm. For more on Katrina's aftermath, go to our Web site, npr.org. Elsewhere, Leonce Leblanc, in a 1975 oral project recorded by Otis Hebert and on file with the UL Lafayette Center for Louisiana Studies,recalled seeing the Atchafalaya River levee break around McCreain Pointe Coupee Parish.

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