Browse Items (105 total)
- Collection: RCPL Oral History Interviews
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Millie Dieter
Millie, her husband, their three children and two young German music students they were hosting were stuck in the Flood while evacuating the Dieter home. They were swept in different directions leaving Millie and her eight year old daughter,…
Michael Dennis
Michael was 18 the evening of the Flood when the 1962 Chevy panel truck he had just refurbished stalled in the fast moving water on Omaha Street. He and a group of others eventually made it to a roof where Michael describes the fires, buildings and…
Gail Dedic
Gail was eight years old and living with her family on Thunderhead Falls Road the evening of the Flood. When the water came rushing in their basement the family was forced to take refuge on a hillside. They were able to return to their badly damaged…
Bill and Mary Cress
Mary & Bill Cress describe their experiences the night of the flood.
Bert Corwin
Bert's father, stepmother, stepsister and stepgrandmother were forced to the attic of their home the evening of June 9 because of rising floor waters. Bert's father was the only survivor.
Laura Collins
Laura was 13 when she and her family came to visit Mt. Rushmore while on vacation from Arcola, VA. It had been two weeks since the Flood and was a rainy cold week. A Park Ranger told them because of road closures it was 116 miles from Mt. Rushmore to…
Herb Cleveland
Chief of Chaplains at Ft. Meade, Herb Cleveland used it as a staging area for flood victims and tells of flood and the community response to it.
Scott Christensen
Scott was in Baken Park the evening of the Flood. He lost two high school classmates and the Texaco station where he worked washed away. Scott was recruited to search for survivors.
Charles Childs
As a County Probation Officer, Charles Childs was involved in the rescue efforts and put in charge of the Missing Person/ Body Identification process.
Joyce Cheadle
Joyce lived with her husband, Jim, and their two children ages four and seven on Riverdale Drive. They spent the evening of June 9 in their vehicle after evacuating their home. The next day they walked to where their home was located only to find it…
Preston Brown
Preston Brown, Methodist Minister, was involved in the relief efforts of the 1972 Rapid City Flood.
Nancy Brady
Nancy Brady organized an emergency evacuation center in the basement of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.
Theresa Dowling Braddock
Theresa was seven years old the evening of the Flood. She evacuated with her Mother to higher ground that evening. She remembers her Father being gone a lot that summer as he was working to repair telephone lines.
Bill Boylan
Bill volunteered to help the National Guard recover bodies of those who died in the flood.
Darlyne Bower Kushman
Darlyne lost her home in the Flood but her family survived. Despite their loss, they kept their sense of humor and even hung a For Rent sign outside her condemned home the days after the Flood. Darlyne married Cal Kushman who also lost his home and…
Marilyn Borgensen
Marilyn evacuated her home in Dark Canyon the evening of the flood for a cabin they owned on higher ground. She discusses the clean up involved afterward and difficulties they experienced in trying to maintain their residence in Dark Canyon.
Betty Bonawitz
Betty worked at Erickson's Flower Box and recalls every morning day after day driving through flood debris to get to work. She arranged six to seven flower casket pieces a day as they were the only flower shop open for some time.
Stan Blum
Stan Blum supervised clean-up crews in the West Boulevard area and helped get 43 Black Hills area bridges rebuilt.
Gregory Bishop
Gregory lost both his parents the evening of the Flood when they were hit by a wall of water on their way to work at Meadowood Bowling Lanes. He and his two younger brothers survived.
Pam Baumberger
Pam's husband Dave was one of only two survivors that gathered together in the attic of a home in Jackson Park the evening of June 9. The nine included Dave, Dave's father Roland "Babe" Baumberger, Burton Millett, Sheila Heaton and the Sampsill…