Texas City disaster records (MS 529)

 

The Texas City disaster records were created and / or maintained by survivor Robert M. Morris, of Texas City, TX. The reports, statements, images and notes describe the events of the April 16, 1947 when a French ship carrying fertilizer on Galveston Bay caught fire and exploded, causing disaster on shore at the nearby Monsanto styrene plant and other petroleum refineries, homes, warehouses, ships and buildings. At least 576 were killed and 4,000 injured, with the town being almost completely destroyed.

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Related material: Mansanto Chemical Company archives located at Washington University Libraries, St. Louis, Missouri. Finding aid for this material is on-line at http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/archives/guides/pdf/monsanto.pdf.

Permission to publish from the Texas City disaster records, 1947-2003, MS 529, must be obtained from the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.

Recent Submissions

  • Letter from Edgar M. Queeny to Monsanto stockholders: The Texas City Disaster 

    Queeny, Edgar M. (1947-04-30)
    Letter from Edgar M. Queeny, Chairman of the Board, to stockholders of Monsanto Chemical Company: The Texas City Disaster. The letter includes descriptions of the damages, casualties, financial losses, and benefits provided by Monsanto for employees. 4 pages.

  • Texas City disaster area, 1947 post-explosion photographs 

    (1947)
    Photographs of the Texas City, Texas waterfront after it was devastated by the April 16, 1947 disaster which occurred when a French ship carrying fertilizer on Galveston Bay caught fire and exploded. The nearby Monsanto styrene plant and other petroleum refineries, homes, warehouses, ships and buildings were largely destroyed. At least 576 were killed ...

  • Texas City disaster area, 1949 post-explosion photographs 

    (1949)
    Photographs of the Texas City, Texas waterfront which was devastated by the April 16, 1947 disaster which occurred when a French ship carrying fertilizer on Galveston Bay caught fire and exploded. The nearby Monsanto styrene plant and other petroleum refineries, homes, warehouses, ships and buildings were largely destroyed. At least 576 were killed ...