The account of the refugee work centered at Atherton during the 1937 flood is history in itself. Under the guidance of Principal Woerner and Samuel V. Noe, then principal of Eastern Junior High School--together with the staffs of both schools--the entire organization swung into action after a radio call for school assistance on a Sunday afternoon, January 24. Within two hours, Atherton was ready for service, the building heated, food prepared, an emergency office force organized, and a vaccination clinic prepared to function. So much work on such short notice could never have been accomplished had it not been for the effective guidance of Woerner and Noe and the wholehearted efforts of the teachers and the custodial staffs of the two schools.
Noe and Dr. R. Glen Spurling collaborated in writing a vivid, sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic, account of what occurred in the busy days and nights from January 24 to February 14. Their narrative begins as follows:
"At 4 p.m., Mr. and Mrs. Smith and their dog arrived. They were vaccinated, (not the dog), provided with hot food, dry clothing, and given access to what comforts the building afforded. After this, a steady stream of refugees arrived from the water's edge. Some 200 had been cared for by 6 p.m. Sunday. A radio message asking for clothing, bedding and other supplies had been broadcast as soon as the building was opened and the response from the Highland area was magnificent. About 4 p.m., another radio message asking physicians and nurses in the Highland area to report to the Atherton School brought a great abundance of medical and nursing help. The facilities of the radio made it possible to establish an emergency organization quickly and to have the equipment necessary for carrying on the work."
"As soon as it was determined that the Atherton School would be open as a relief center, Dr. Spurling was dispatched by the Director of Health from the City Hall to help with the organization and Mr Dann Byck and Mr. Joe Dumesnil were asked by the Mayor's Committee to report there for duty. Those of us, however, who were dispatch from eh City Hall had no part in the first two hours of the work. That was done most effectively by Mr. Noe, Principal of the Eastern High school, Miss Woerner, Principal of the Atherton High School, and their corps of fellow workers. When we arrived about 4 p.m., the organization was already well under way."
Those in charge soon had the whole corps of workers organized into departments: (1) Office and Clerical Force, (2) Clothing and Supplies, (3) Dietetics, (4) Transportation, (5) Social Service, (6) Medical and Nursing Unit. Evelyn Rietze, in charge of dietetics, saw to it that, through all the long siege, no one went hungry. Ethel Lovell of Ahrens Trade High School, in charge of Social Service, made a perfect record in reuniting members of refugee families separated by transportation difficulties. Before the day was over, the Medical and Nursing Unit, under Dr. Spurling, had established a hospital for the ill and 26 cots were occupied by those in serious enough condition to need constant medical care.
But this was only the beginning. As the hours went by, one problem and crisis after another arose. Sunday at 11:40 p.m., the electrical current went off. The darkness, somewhat alleviated by candlelight, was only slightly inconvenient, but there was a real emergency in the basement. A running spring was threatening to put out the furnace and damage the boilers, because the pump that usually disposed of the water had stopped when the electrical current failed. A bucket brigade of 25 men proved inadequate in beating the rising flood. The fire went out, and the cold crept in. Noe appealed for help from Shelbyville and Springfield, and they responded with gasoline pumps, which saved the day. A pressing transportation problem was solved by the generosity of people in the Highlands who volunteered their cars and their services to carry refugees to the homes of still other people who had volunteered to house them.
Yet, just as the school was rapidly becoming a cleaning house, an inoculation center, and a hospital, another crisis developed. More than 1,000 African Americans from the central and western parts of the city were finding it difficult to locate homes in which to stay. They had to be housed, clothed, and fed. The Flood Headquarters at the Louisville City Hall was confronted with the gigantic task of providing for them. Noe and Dann Byck, after conferring with the other members of the staff, went to Flood Headquarters and presented an offer from Atherton to take over the responsibility for this group. By 8 p.m., 1,000 African Americans had been fed and inoculated. Then, as homes were gradually found for most of the unfortunate, Atherton became a hospital for those too ill to move and served in this capacity until February 14, when the few remaining patients were transferred to the City Hospital.
Noe later went on to become superintendent of the Louisville Public Schools during the early 1960s.
