Answering the Call: College students and the Great River Flood of 1965

When the Mississippi River overran its banks in April 1965, hundreds of Quad-Cities residents suspended their normal activities to help constrain the rising waters. And they were joined by students from Augustana College, released from classes to help their college town, which had no levee like it does today.

Dr. Carol Schersten LaHurd was a sophomore at Augustana at the time. More than sixty years later, she and her classmate Sharon Anderson Telleen interviewed dozens of fellow student flood-fighters for a story that appeared in a recent issue of the Augustana Historical Society’s Chronicle newsletter.

On April 29 at 7 p.m. at Augustana’s Lindberg Center (room 204), Dr. LaHurd will share images and stories collected while documenting the experiences of students who helped save Rock Island from the Great Flood of ’65.

The presentation is free and open to the public. Presented by the Augustana Historical Society.