Bessie Tomlin and Fireman Walter Chick, detail from Robert Dafford's mural depicting the Flood of 1937, Portsmouth, Ohio.
This file appears in: Bessie Tomlin and the Ohio River Flood of 1937
Photo courtesy Lisa M. Pasquinelli.
This file appears in: Bessie Tomlin and the Ohio River Flood of 1937
Bessie Tomlin and the Ohio River Flood of 1937
When the Flood of 1937 hit Portsmouth, Bessie Tomlin, like others in the city's African-American neighborhood, first found safety on the second floor of the Booker T. Washington School. But soon she…