Series Descriptions
Inventory
Collection Summary |
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| Creator: | McComb, David G. | |
| Title: | David McComb Big Thompson Flood Collection | |
| Dates: | 1976-1985 | |
| Bulk Dates: | 1976-1978 | |
| Quantity: | 6 linear feet | |
| Identification: | WBTF | |
| Abstract: | On July 31, 1976, the Big Thompson Canyon, just west of Loveland, Colorado, was the scene of a flash flood which claimed 144 lives. The collection consists of oral histories of witnesses of the flood, and photographs, slides, audio tapes, newspaper clippings, and other material Dr. McComb used when researching for his book Big Thompson: Profile of a Natural Disaster. | |
| Contact Information: | Water Resources Archive Archives and Special Collections Morgan Library Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1019 USA Phone: 970-491-1844 Fax: 970-491-1195 Email: specialcollections@library.colostate.edu URL: http://lib.colostate.edu/archives/water/ |
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There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Not all of the material in the collection is in the public domain. Researchers are responsible for addressing copyright issues.
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Index Terms |
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| This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Colorado State University Libraries online catalog. Researchers seeking materials about related subjects, persons, organizations or places should search the catalog using these headings. | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| Floods--Colorado--Big Thompson River. | ||
| Floods--Colorado--Big Thompson Canyon. | ||
| Places: | ||
| Big Thompson Canyon (Colo.) | ||
| Big Thompson River (Colo.) | ||
| Titles: | ||
| Big Thompson: Profile of a Natural Disaster | ||
| Special Document Types: | ||
| Oral history. | ||
| Audio cassettes. | ||
| Audiotapes. | ||
| Slides (photographs). | ||
| Photographs. | ||
| Negatives. | ||
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Dr. David McComb (born 1934) chronicled the aftermath of the Big Thompson flood which claimed 144 lives during the summer of 1976. McComb holds an M.A. from Rice University, an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. The author of over 100 articles and nine books, McComb has been a professor at Colorado State University since 1968 and is currently an Emeritus Professor in the history department.
The Big Thompson flood has been called the worst natural disaster in Colorado history. On July 31, 1976, a violent rainstorm sent a wall of water through the Big Thompson Canyon just southwest of Fort Collins. The flood demolished homes and businesses and claimed the lives of visitors and residents alike. Highway 34, was a scenic drive winding its way up Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park, became a muddy wasteland after the flood.
Shortly after the natural disaster occurred, McComb toured the area and recorded the damage done to the Big Thompson Canyon with photographs and slides. He spent many hours recording formal oral histories of victims' experiences during the flood, and also interviewed government officials about the clean-up operation and plans for reconstruction of the canyon. Later he presented his research in the book Big Thompson: Profile of a Natural Disaster and two radio broadcasts for KIIX radio.
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The David McComb Big Thompson Flood Collection consists of documents dated 1976-1985, with the bulk being from 1976-1978. The collection contains audio recordings, slides, photographs, newspaper clippings, and printed research material about the damage done during the flood, the rescue and clean-up operations, and reconstruction of the canyon and towns damaged by the flood. Abstracts of the oral histories can be provided upon request. The collection also contains a narrated slide presentation on the Colorado-Big Thompson project.
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The collection consists of six series in eight boxes:
| Series I: Oral histories, 1976 | ||
| Series II: Presentation: "Diversion: Colorado-Big Thompson Water Project," 1984-1985 | ||
| Series III: KIIX broadcast, 1976-1977 | ||
| Series IV: Other audio and visual materials, 1976-1978 | ||
Subseries A: Audio reels, 1976-1977 |
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| Series V: Newspaper clippings, 1976-1978 | ||
| Series VI: Miscellaneous documents, 1976 | ||
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David McComb Big Thompson Flood Collection, Water Resources Archive, Colorado State University.
The Big Thompson Flood Collection was given to the Colorado Agricultural Archives by Dr. McComb. The collection was transferred to the Water Resources Archive in February 2004.
The processing of this collection was completed in March 2006 and included removal of all metal binders, paperclips, and staples. All slides and photographs have been placed in protective sleeves and negatives have been placed in protective acid-free paper envelopes. Cassette tapes have been placed in protective cases while the reel-to-reel tapes remain in their original boxes. Records in the series have been physically organized according to material type: audio, visual, news clippings and paper documents. When Social Security Numbers or other sensitive information was found on the back of rough drafts of the oral history transcripts, the front of the page was photocopied and the original pages were destroyed. The documents were stored in acid-free folder and boxes. Newspaper clippings were photocopied while whole newspapers or sections were preserved in their original state. Books on the flood were taken out of the collection and added to library holdings.
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Related collections in the Water Resources Archive include the papers of Daryl B. Simons. This collection contains information and reports on flood protection and photographs and reports on the Big Thompson Flood in particular. The Colorado Historical Society also has a copy of the reels and manuscripts from McComb's Big Thompson interviews. The Historical Society catalogs the oral histories as "Oral History Collection of the Big Thompson Canyon Disaster."
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Note: Estimated pagination is preceded by an "e."
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Series V: Newspaper clippings |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Local newspaper articles about the flood and clean-up operations. 1976 August-1978 June. e100pp. | ||||||||||||
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