Pastimes

Marianne Glass was seven years old and a second grader at Emerson School at the time of the 1937 flood. She lived with her grandparents and parents and one sister at 1127 Sylvia Street in the Germantown area of Louisville. Her home was not in the flood area but water came wihin two blocks of her home. She gives her recollections of the flood as a seven-year-old and recalls the fear that she felt as a child going through the flood. She also discusses what she did to pass the time during the flood. Index available.

Richard N. (Buddy) Kern was ten years old at the time of the 1937 flood. He lived with his parents and three brothers upstairs over the tavern his father owned at Thirty-fourth Street and Michigan Avenue (now called Muhammad Ali Boulevard) in Louisville's West End. When the floodwaters arived at their front doorsteps Buddy, his mother and his brothers moved in with his grandfather at Preston and Eastern Parkway. Buddy recalls watching the water rise from several directions to converge at his home and then having to walk across a railroad overpass spanning floodwaters to reach his grandfather's car in order to be evacuated from the flood. Buddy also recalls the living conditions at his temporary home and what he and his brothers did to pass the time during the flood. After the floodwaters receded, Buddy and his family moved back home even though utilities had not yet been restored. Buddy talks about helping his father serve food from the upstairs portion of their home to the workers cleaning up after the flood. Index available.

James Q. Troutman was a sixteen-year-old high school student who lived with his parents and younger brother at the corner of Dixie Highway and Myers Lane at the time of the 1937 flood. Although neighboring residences were flooded and water came within three feet of the house, the Troutman home remained dry. Two persons whose homes were flooded lived with the Troutman family for the duation of the flood. Mr. Troutman recalls what it was like during the flood. He discusses the method they used to keep up with what was happening during the flood and what they did to pass the time while waiting for the flood waters to recede. Mr. Troutman also talks about the weather leading up to the flood and how they became aware that there was going to be a flood. When the water receded, Mr. Troutman rode into the other parts of the city and observed the damage the flood had caused. Index available.