News release
The Rancho Camulos Museum is scheduled 1 p.m. Saturday to host a presentation by historian Ann Stansell as she explores the lasting impact of the 1928 St. Francis Dam collapse and the 1963 Baldwin Hills Dam failure, according to a news release from the nonprofit museum.
Through historic sites, personal accounts and evolving forms of commemoration, she will examine how communities grapple with loss and preserve the memory of these tragedies, the release said.
Thursday is the anniversary of the St. Francis Dam disaster, which killed more than 400 people when it burst in 1928, sending floodwaters through the Santa Clarita Valley, through the Piru-Fillmore-Santa Paula corridor and on to the Pacific Ocean.
Following the talk, guests are invited to visit the Piru Cemetery, where several victims of the St. Francis Dam disaster were buried for an opportunity to reflect on this pivotal chapter in local history.
Stansell will relate the stories of these victims and lead the group in a commemorative remembrance.
The museum is located at 5164 E. Telegraph Road (2 miles east of Piru on Highway 126, about a 15-minute drive west of Interstate 5). See the museum website, Ranchocamulos.org, for more information.
