Uwe Lübken - Historical Perspectives on Natural Disasters, Displacement, and Migration

Historical Perspectives on Natural Disasters,

Displacement, and Migration

Uwe Lübken

Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, LMU Munich

What can History Contribute?

• vulnerability

• place

• disaster mobilities

• complexity

1937 Ohio River Flood in Cincinnati, OH

(Cincinnati Public Library)

What can History Contribute?

• vulnerability

• place

• disaster mobilities

• complexity

1907 Ohio River Flood in Marietta, OH

(Marietta College, Dawes Library)

What can History Contribute?

• vulnerability

• place

• disaster mobilities

• complexity

Portsmouth, Ohio, 1884 (Cincinnati Public

Library)

What can History Contribute?

• vulnerability

• place

• disaster mobilities

• complexity

Complexities of “Disaster Displacements”:

The 1937 Ohio River flood

• flight and ecavuation

• intra-urban displacement

• relocation

• reconstruction

“Flood Refugee ...” Cincinnati Enquirer, 26 January 1937

The Complexities of “Disaster Displacements”

• flight and ecavuation

• intra-urban displacement

• relocation

• reconstruction

Planned Transformation of “The Point Area” in Louisville, KY, after

the 1937 flood (Filson Historical Society, Louisville, KY)

The Complexities of “Disaster Displacements”

• flight and ecavuation

• intra-urban displacement

• relocation

• reconstruction

Urban Renewal in Frankfort, KY (D.A. Boyd,

Crawfish Bottom, 2011)

The Complexities of “Disaster Displacements”

• flight and ecavuation

• intra-urban displacement

• relocation

• reconstruction

Relocation of Shawneetown, IL, after the 1937 flood of the Ohio River

(C. Small, “River, Stay Away from my Door. The New Deal is Moving Illinois’

Oldest Town Bodily”, Saturday Evening Post, 7 December 1940)

The Complexities of “Disaster Displacements”

• flight and ecavuation

• intra-urban displacement

• relocation

• reconstruction

Red Cross Rehabilitation Work in Louisville,

KY, after the 1937 flood (National Archives,

College Park, MD, RG 200)

Historical Perspectives on Natural Disasters,

Displacement, and Migration

Uwe Lübken

Rachel Carson Center for

Environment and Society, LMU Munich