In 1927, the Mississippi River burst from its bed in 145 places, resulting in the most destructive flood in US history. Because of new technologies, it was the first environmental disaster experienced on a national scale and in real time, and cultural reaction was both intense and lasting. "Empress of the Blues" Bessie Smith immortalized the flood in song even before high waters had receded, and, some 10 years later, William Faulkner and Richard Wright were still writing about the disaster. Strikingly, the flood had the power to revive social conflicts not yet resolved from the Civil War. Because the waters gathered in the North but afflicted the Deep South, southerners saw it as a second "War of Northern Aggression," and African American pundits like W. E. B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells warned of the return of slavery to Dixie. Just as far-reaching were the theological implications. Was it God who had caused this flood; or was it a human-made crisis brought on by attempts to regulate the river? And was there a modern Noah in their midst? University of Michigan professor Susan Scott Parrish is writing a much-anticipated book on the 1927 flood and its aftermaths. Join her as she discusses her research and draws connections all the way to Hurricane Katrina.

This program is presented in partnership with the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Michigan, The Newberry Library, and the Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture at the University of Chicago.

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