Answering the Call: ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø students and the Great River Flood of 1965

When the Mississippi River overran its banks in April 1965, hundreds of Quad-Cities residents suspended their normal activities to help constrain the rising waters. And they were joined by students from ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø, released from classes to help their college town, which had no levee like it does today.

Dr. Carol Schersten LaHurd was a sophomore at ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø at the time. More than sixty years later, she and her classmate Sharon Anderson Telleen interviewed dozens of fellow student flood-fighters for a story that appeared in a recent issue of the ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Historical Society¡¯s Chronicle newsletter.

On April 29 at 7 p.m. at ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø¡¯s Lindberg Center (room 204), Dr. LaHurd will share images and stories collected while documenting the experiences of students who helped save Rock Island from the Great Flood of ¡¯65.

The presentation is free and open to the public. Presented by the ÖйúÌå²ÊÍø Historical Society.