50th Anniversary Of A Natural Disaster Is Being Recalled With Special Exhibition At Mattatuck Museum

WATERBURY — On August 19, 1955, a devastating flood struck Waterbury and neighboring towns along the Naugatuck River.

To honor the 50th anniversary of that natural disaster, The Mattatuck Museum will host “Flood!” – an exhibition that provides a thorough study of an event that changed the face of Waterbury forever.

The exhibit will open with a special reception from 5:30 to 7:30 pm on Friday, June 10. It will then remain on view until September 18.

The exhibit, curated by Mattatuck Associate Curator Raechel Guest, features nearly 200 photographs and film footage that will be projected onto a large wall, a giant map of the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers, and quotes from the museum’s oral history projects.

The images include many photographs taken by Waterbury residents during the flood, and later donated to the museum. Some of the images were borrowed from private collections and copied during the process of recording neighborhood history projects. Other photographs were taken by professional photographers hired by Waterbury’s industrial companies to document the damage to their factories.

The exhibit will look not only at the disaster that occurred on August 19, 1955, but will place the flood in context with previous floods (the hurricane and flood of 1938 was once considered to be “New England’s greatest disaster”), and will examine the flood control dams built by the US Army Corps of Engineers to prevent future disasters.

Another significant historical event on that day was the visit by actress Rosalind Russell, whose film The Girl Rush was to have its world premier at The State Theater on East Main Street.

Rosalind Russell was born in Waterbury in 1908, and after her film debut in 1934, she was a steady fixture portraying sassy and independent women, culminating in her role opposite Cary Grant in His Girl Friday, and her leading role on Broadway in Auntie Mame. She barely escaped the ravaging flood, using her knowledge of back streets to instruct her driver to safety.

“Flood!” will include a number of special programs over the summer months, including a talk by Maria DiBattista, author of Fast Talking Dames, on Thursday, August 4, at 1 pm; a screening of The Flood of ‘55 by Rich Hanley, producer of the CPTV documentary, on Wednesday, August 17, at 7 pm; a panel discussion on Thursday, August 18, from 7 to 8:30 pm; a showing of The Girl Rush on Friday, August 19, at 7 pm; and “Flood of ‘55: Commemoration on the Green,” Saturday, August 20, from noon to 3 pm.

For information call 203-753-0381, extension 10. The museum is at 144 West Main Street, with convenient parking on Park Place. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, and noon to 5 pm on Sunday.