Research Update<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking at the 1886 Charleston Earthquake. Right now, I\u2019ve found quite a few newspaper reports on the disaster. They contain interesting points that seem to relate to larger themes about the earthquake. For instance, the newspaper article I analyzed for suggested that Charleston was ready to rebuild immediately after the disaster. The city also wanted to assure outsiders that the economy\u2014primarily port-based shipping\u2014was not damaged by the earthquake.<\/p>\n

Underneath all this optimism though, there are some hints at racial tension. The paper linked an incident of a landlord evicting a tenant for not paying immediately after the earthquake to race; the tenant happened to be African-American. This ties into what I have seen in secondary sources about the earthquake exacerbating racial tension. I also found this to be a theme that runs across many of the disasters we have studied. Like Biel suggests, disasters don\u2019t necessarily cause societal change, but they do reveal fissures in society.<\/p>\n

There are primary sources like diaries that I have found about the earthquake. Unfortunately, some of the diaries are not digitized. I\u2019d have to travel to actually access them. I\u2019ll continue searching though for primary sources I can actually read.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Addendum to March 10 \u201cFire and Water: Comparing the Great Chicago Fire with the Johnstown Flood Blog Post:<\/strong><\/p>\n

As for comparing the lack of crime in Johnstown with the crime in Chicago, I think there may have been several reasons for the differences. First, Johnstown was basically inaccessible after the flood, whereas criminals could get into Chicago. Second, the flood may have permanently destroyed things of worth in Johnstown. For instance, safes could have been buried under flooded houses by the water. The fire, on the other hand\u2014while it obviously burned many things\u2014left more valuables like safes out in the open; in fact, it made it easier to open them. Finally, Chicago has more wealth than Johnstown did. Johnstown was primarily a lower class town, so there would have been less to steal in Johnstown than in Chicago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research Update I\u2019m looking at the 1886 Charleston Earthquake. Right now, I\u2019ve found quite a few newspaper reports on the disaster. They contain interesting points that seem to relate to larger themes about the earthquake. For instance, the newspaper article I analyzed for suggested that Charleston was ready to rebuild immediately after the disaster. The … <\/p>\n

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