A history professor and librarian at West Virginia Wesleyan College are seeking first-hand accounts and photos from the flood of 1985 to create an exhibit commemorating the anniversary of the event this November.
Dr. Katharine Antolini, history professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College, said she thought about compiling photos and stories about the flood before, but the college doesn’t have very many examples.
“I always thought it would be a cool idea to try and reach out to those students who were here in November 1985, and what they could remember, and preserve it as a part of Wesleyan history, because we actually don’t have that much about it,” Antolini said. “I thought we would have insurance records because of the damage to campus, but we don’t – none of that exists anymore, apparently, on campus.”
Lacking information on campus, Antolini started reaching out to alumni for photos and their own stories.
“We got a grant from the Student Humanities Council, so we sent out postcards to every known address for classes that were from 1986 to ‘89,” Antolini said. “We sent the card with a survey, asking questions, like ‘Where were you?’ ‘What do you remember?’ And we haven’t received the greatest response.”
If the college receives enough stories and photos, they plan to create an exhibit for the public to see.
“Our homecoming is September 20, so we’ll have it on display in the library through our homecoming, and I believe the plan for the actual anniversary of the flood, which is Nov. 4 through Nov. 6, is we’re going to have it displayed at Argo Books,” Antolini said. “It was a huge event for West Virginia statewide and granted, Upshur County didn’t get it as bad as some other ones, thankfully, it still needs to be remembered.”
During the flood, 29 counties were declared a federal disaster area, resulting in 44 confirmed deaths, three missing people, and an estimated $500 million to $700 million in damages. Two deaths occurred in Upshur County.
“There used to be a whole new dorm, Camden, it had suites and apartments, and the first floor of Camden was completely flooded,” Antolini said. “I did get alumni who talked about getting a knock on their door and being told to get out of Camden, and she remembered wading through waist-high water; it was pitch black because all the electricity went out.”
The Buckhannon River overflowed its banks Monday, Nov 4, at 10 a.m., and an hour later, students in the Camden Apartments and Suits were being evacuated. The first floor had three feet of water by 2 a.m. Tuesday morning.
“Another student remembers the soccer fields by the Riverwalk; the water was so high, they were in a canoe and could touch the top of the goal,” Antolini said. “Some students remember the power being out, and you have to feed a whole campus of kids, so they went to the cafeteria, and they were eating cold cereal out of plastic.”
The campus was without electricity and phone service until Tuesday afternoon. Heat and water, however, were not restored until Thursday.
“Some alumni seem to remember more details than others, so we thought maybe we could reach out to residents who have pictures, who lived in or around the campus, or who remember students who helped them, because there were several,” Antolini said. “Even a year later, I was reading in our student papers, there were still students volunteering in some communities who hadn’t fully recovered.”
People with stories or pictures are asked to email them to wesleyanunderwater@wvwc.edu, where Antolini and librarian Beth Rogers will be able to receive them.
“We want to archive all of this, preserve it, it was a major event, there were several deaths, two in Upshur County, including my aunt,” Antolini said. “My aunt was right in Upshur County, and then at the same time, my older sister was on campus here as a student.”
