A Little Historical Visit to Boston

[Christine L]

THE GREAT MOLASSES FLOOD by Deborah Kops.

 * I received this as a free eBook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. *

January 15^th, 1919 was an unseasonably warm day in Boston’s North End.  Everyone was going about his or her day-to-day lives when the unthinkable happened.  Amidst screeching steel and popping rivets a large tower “exploded” and a flood of molasses covered the area.  In total 21 people lost their lives and many more were injured as the metal pieces were soared through the air and whole building were moved off their foundations.  One person was sent flying through the air and into the frigid waters surrounding Boston.  A 6-year long court case ensued between the citizens of Boston and U.S. Industrial Alcohol Company for restitution and the settlement of damages for the victims.  Blame flew back and forth, fingers pointing at the USIA for negligence, the local Anarchist Society (suspected of placing a bomb in the tank) and even so far as accusing a 6-year-old girl killed while she was playing in the area of being the one to plant to the bomb for them.  Settlement was finally reached out of court.

Ms. Kops does a respectable job of telling of the tragedy in an abridged yet very understandable manner.  This by necessity as the book is written as a “children’s book suitable for ages 9 through 12”.  I picked this book up because I had never heard of the “Molasses Disaster” until I took a walking tour of Boston several years ago.  I always meant to look into it a little further but until this little book caught my attention I never got around to it.  So why read a children’s book?

1 – It was available. 

2 – While reading it, I found it contained all the information I needed to know without making a huge time investment. 

3 – It had some truly incredible pictures.  (Yes – I like picture books sometimes – stop guffawing)

This book satisfied all my needs when it came to what I wanted to learn about the “Molasses Disaster”.

With a title like “The Great Molasses Flood” it sounds like it may be an amusing bit of bedtime reading for a little tyke.  It’s hardly that.  Ms. Kops is very factual about what happened including descriptions of people being trapped under debris, injuries people suffered and the deaths that were caused.  She also goes into fairly extensive detail about the court case.  The top end of the recommended 9 – 12 years old would probably be more suitable as the writing is very fact based, with few embellishments, so unless the youngster had a real desire to know about the incident, they may not find it overly captivating for a casual read.  Information packed … absolutely!  I would even go so far as to say it would be an excellent resource for a 4th grade history paper.  

I do think this book should have a place on the shelf in every school library’s history section, especially because of the pictures and newspaper article reproductions included.

A small plaque was placed at entrance to Puopolo Park by the Boston Historical Society to mark site of the disaster.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR  (from her website)

I grew up in a suburb of New York City, where I lived with my parents and older sister.  When I was in fourth grade, my wonderful teacher, Mrs. Silvers, always made time for creative writing. I wrote long, dramatic stories, which often had tragic endings. Mrs. Silvers egged me on.

Like many writers, I’m curious about a lot of things. One of my first writing jobs was reporting for a small newspaper in Vermont—perfect for a curious person. I wrote about everything from animal auctions to dog sledding, which I got to try. That was exciting! (And I covered a lot of meetings, which were not so exciting.)  

Years later I edited books for children at a small publishing house in Connecticut. I enjoyed helping authors polish words and tweak paragraphs until they sang. And, being curious, I may have annoyed one or two of them with all my questions. Then it was time to write my own books.