The Last W.O.C. Entry

So... yeah, my research experiences were interesting. I spent several hours at the Kodiak Library. I did three of my interviews there. I found some really good books that describe Kodiak perfectly. The Librarians were very helpful, especially Ms. Ellie and Ms. Molly. I had the opportunity of looking at the January-November 1964 newspapers on the microfilm machine. I also have a magazine that my first interview subject loaned to me, that really describes the damage of the earthquake. Other than that, my the rest of my research came from class and my interviews. I'm really glad that I got to interview that I did. One subject said that before she would start shaking every time she talked about the earthquake.I thought that was really amazing. Another said that he remembers being hit by a car, just a few months prior. So he was just learning to walk again when the earthquake struck. I don't the relevance of this, but I just thought that it was interesting. I mean, talk about bad luck. My meeting with Alice was great. She gave me a lot of photos, she remembers her sons hollaring out the window to the national guardsmen, asking them if they wanted coffee. I just thought that that was funny. I interviewed Sonny Vinberg, Molly Macintosh, Marie Rice, Mary Morris, Reynald Morris, and Lila Schwantes.

Blog Entry #7

I've had really good interview and research experiences. All of the people I interviewed had really good stories about the earthquake and tsunami. Their stories had a lot of information. Unfortunately, most of the stories were not specific to my topic. Sure, there were a few key statements, but not as many as I really wanted. I hoping that the two interviews I have lined up for tomorrow will provide a little bit more detail of what Kodiak was before the earthquake.

Journal #6

The reading was pretty insightful. It provided a real first hand account of what the people in the villages experienced.  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that so many people were willing to lend a hand. I like how Ford bought those leather varsity-looking jackets. One of the people interviewed talked about how her cousins received those jackets, while she did not. One thing that I found interesting, is that Anchorage did not feel the effects of the tsunami, and only felt the effects of the earthquake. I wonder if it was the inlet being to small, I'm not sure. I'm not saying that they felt "only" the earthquake, but it's just that I wonder why the tsunami did not reach them. The earthquake itself, did so much damage that, I'm sure that a lot of peoples' homes were destroyed. For me, I can't imagine what it would be like to lose my home. By reading the little personal accounts the reading has, along with past readings, I can tell that a lot more was felt than it was said. Sometimes, we have feelings that words can't describe, but are they any less real? I guess that's where other forms of expression come in. Bottom line, these people have suffered greatly, but I don't see helpless people. I see a community rising from the rubble from a great disaster. Sure, there was some differences, but at least we came together at a point of unity. The reading described, in greater detail, what the damage was done, and how the people reacted. All in all, it was a great reading. It was very descriptive. I'm glad that I had the chance to read it.

Interview Index

Interview Indexing

Name of Interviewee: Molly Macintosh

Name of Interviewer: Rj Roy

Date: June 7, 2013

Location: Kodiak Public Library

Length of Interview: 11:26

Background Information: Molly has been living in the state of Alaska for almost 50 years. She was residing in Anchorage with her family at the tie of the earthquake.  At the time of the earthquake, her cousins were actually living in Seward, during the quake. Molly now currently works at the Kodiak Public Library.

Questions asked:

·      What stories do you have about the earthquake? 0:11

·      How long did the earthquake go on for? 4:38

·      You didn’t experience the tsunami at all? 5:05

·      Could you please describe the damage you saw in Anchorage? 5:30

·      When did they start repairing the town after the earthquake? 7:03

·      Did you have any help, besides from the state? 8:06

·      What thoughts were going through your mind, during the earthquake? 9:06

·      Did you leave Anchorage after the earthquake? 10:15

·      Was your house damaged during the earthquake? 10:27

·       Would you like to share anything else? 10:51

·      Is there anyone else we could talk to? 11:02

Overview:

0:30 (Mother’s reaction) We had small earthquakes when we were little, so when my mom started screaming we kind of laughed at her, It just got worst and worst.  Get under the table! Two of my sisters were down stairs, so she had to wiggle her way down the stairs. Every step you took, the ground wasn’t there or it came up to meet you.  The stairs led down to cement floor (floor was rolling like waves) my sister would get knocked against the wall, she would let go, and she rode that wave back down the hall way.

2:00 No communication, finally the radio came back on, we didn’t know that Anchorage couldn’t be hurt by the tidal wave, because the inlet is so small. We heard terrible thing about our cousins in Seward.

2:26 For days we would go down to the Red Cross, to try and contact our cousins. Family in states could not be contacted.

3:06 Scary after shocks

3:32 Woken up by being thrown across room. Went on for days and days.

3:43 (Lack of resources) Told not to light fires, only parts of town had water at a time.

4:20 Immunizations, series of typhoid shots.

5: 34 Description of damage in Anchorage.

6:15 Only way to see family, go in a convoy. I was afraid of tipping over. It felt as if the whole thing was going to topple over.

6:50 (Part description of damage in Seward) A row of houses were just completely gone, the boat dock was gone too.

7:10 It was more cleanup than repair

8:10 I was too young to remember, but there were a lot of private foundations that helped our cousins in Seward.

9:08 We thought is was funny that our mom was freaking out, and then we wondered if it was ever going to stop, because it lasted like five and a half minutes. And that is a long time, and it just got worst and worst and worst.

10:19 We wanted to leave. We were just kids and we wanted to feel safe.

10:29 Our house was not damaged. That area of town was built more on gravel. Over on Turnagain, it was built more on clay. So when that shifted, a lot of it just fell into the ocean.

Entry #5

The reading, along with a few interviews, really help me to understand the tsunami and earthquake through different perspectives. These may be different views or understandings from different people, but one thing has been a similarity throughout most of these perspectives. That is, the rolling of concrete like waves. This may may be a minor detail, but it proves at just how big the magnitude of the damage was. The earthquake took rocks, a hard-sturdy material, and gave it water-like properties. It's like taking adamantium (Wolverine claws) poles and using them as twist-ties. Bottom line, that's really awesome, in a good and bad way.

I really liked this reading though. I think that the four oral histories were very descriptive and did a tremendous job of helping me imagine what was actually happening at the time. One thing that sort of surprised me was how some of the people reacted. I think it was in the Norman Haul sectiont. There was this guy, and he was washing dishes. So when the earthquake stikes, everybody is freaking out, except for him. He instead, starts washing or drying the dishes a little faster. Another thing is the impecable timing that some people had. For some it was great timing, for others not so much. I think it was in the Caroline story where if they had stayed on the lake for 20 minutes more the casualty lis for Kodiak would have been a lot longer. I also admire some of the reactions to the earthquake. In the Hault story, you look at a guy who had just lost everything, his boat, his house, his expensive otter furs, and he just says, "But I have my life and my health and God watching over me. I knew I could start over, and that is what I set about to do." I really admire his outlook on the earthquake. It goes to show that even in the darkest and bleakest times, just look for the light because it's always there. You can't see the sun if your looking into a hole.

Reading Response #4

The bulletin was really amazing. It goes to show you how calmly the people of Kodiak handled the disaster, at the time. It was such a traumatic experience, but still they reacted with such understanding. It seems as if they knew the work ahead of them (to basically build a new Kodiak) was going to be a lot of hard work, so there wasn't any time to panic. The bulletin was a big part of the reaction that residents had. It kept them well informed in such a time of need. It shows that in the face of disaster, Kodiak can pull together as a community and comeback with a stronger, better outlook on disaster preparedness. Also, it proves that we can rise to the occasion, even when faced with such traumatic, catastrophic event. The motto, "Don't let them get you down." means to me, that we're all going to have personal "earthquakes" maybe some greater than others, but we still shouldn't let them get us down.

Okay, so the reading today was awe-inspiring. When I first heard about the "Great Alaska Earthquake", I knew it was bad, but I never really knew how extensive the damage was until I read the article. It does a great job of breaking every thing down and describing most of the things that actually happened. Until today, this event was just another part in Alaskan history. I never really thought about how this was a significant part of Kodiak's development. This may be a traumatic, life changing event, but without it Kodiak's economical development might have been prolonged for more than a decade. Now because of it, we are better at disaster preparedness, Kodiak grew (economically speaking), buildings have been built more structurally sound, and now we have something to help us prepare more for the future. In no way do I think that this event in Alaska's history  was a good thing, all I'm saying is that at least some good came from it. Also, it amazes me how fast we came together as a community and got our selves organized. I think it said in the reading that within a week we had about 80% of our electricity back. And with select citizens and national organizations, chaos and panic was controlled and relatively, not a very significant problem.