Program Description
Event Details
It’s 7p.m. on May 6, 1937 and you are waiting outside in the evening air for the much discussed arrival of The Hindenburg, the largest airship in history! Noted for its speed, comfort, and elegance, The Hindenburg is a strong, competitive alternative to traveling by ocean liner. Speed is its’ advantage, cutting ocean travel in half by making the entire crossing in only three days! You are excited as you wait to see this technological marvel now arriving at the Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Manchester Township, New Jersey. Along with you, many news crews are on the ground awaiting the arrival, as well as friends and family of the 97 people on board. Then at 7:25p.m., disaster occurs.
Suddenly, you watch in horror as flames ignite, engulfing the German passenger airship, turning the famous zeppelin into a gigantic fireball as it is trying to land. Everyone on the ground scatters, running for their lives. You hear the tragic screams of the passengers and crew members and their friends and family. You see several news photographers making history by quickly capturing the event in real-time on film and snapping photos. Herbert Morrison’s voice and his infamous radio recording will resound in your mind forever, “Oh the humanity! And all the passengers screaming around here…. I can't even talk to people, their friends are on there! I can hardly breathe….This is the worst thing I've ever witnessed.”
Historian Jim Gibbons will discuss the famous Hindenburg Disaster, a horrific day in our nation’s history that killed 13 passengers, 22 crewmen, and 1 ground crewman. Gibbons will explain the various theories on how the tragedy struck and how the disaster marked the end of airship travel as we knew it!
Jim will be presenting in the library, please join us in the library or on Zoom.