REMEMBERING IN STRENGTH

By Trishna Buch
Robert Roten was only 13-years-old when he was in an
open baseball field, 25 blocks north of the affected area,
when the Texas City Disaster of 1947 took place. “At first
there was an explosion, the one of the S.S. Grandcamp,
and this caused the destruction of the Monsanto Plant.”
The blast was so intense, that it caused a further few
explosions and fires, the effects of the disaster were felt
as far as Louisiana, it destroyed numerous homes and
business and it resulted in countless loss of lives.
At the time of the explosion, Roten was out of school
because of spacing issues. “The high-school students
would go in the morning and the junior high students
would go in the afternoon.” As a result, Roten was playing
on the baseball fields and was witness to the explosion
as it happened. “Fortunately, all of my family were
safe.”
Roten didn’t only want to talk to me about the disaster;
he also wanted to talk about how Texas City bounced
back after the disaster. Roten’s father, who owned a
lumber business, was part of what is now known as the
Civil Defense For Texas City. “The Red Cross wanted to
provide temporary housing to those who needed a place
to stay, and my father was quite instrumental in making
that happen. In a period of six weeks, they were able
to build 100 to 200 structures.” He also told me that all
of the housing was finished
by the end of July,
a mere 3 months after
the disaster took place.
He also told me about
how Texas City, which
was the fifth largest port
in the world, was able to
expand after the disaster.
“Not only did the city
rebuild, it expanded into
bigger plants and refineries.”
Roten, who currently
resides in Houston, lived
in Texas City until 1965. He graduated from Texas City
High School before going on to the University Of Texas
at Austin where he earned a degree in business management
in 1956. Roten was the main subject of Andy
Hollan’s film “The Fall and Rise of Texas City”; made
about the disaster.
Filmmaker Hollan, who is
best known for his handball
documentary on Paul Haber,
met Roten while he was walking
his dog. “It was a meeting
completely by chance,”
Hollan told me. “I didn’t have
any plans to make this movie.
But then I started speaking to
Robert and he told me about
his experiences and I just
knew this was a story that
had to be told.” Hollan wanted
to tell this story, because
he wanted people to know
that they have a person of living
history right in the area.
Hollan’s film on Haber has
been seen all over the world,
and his film on the disaster is
direct proof of his filmmaking talents.
In terms of the “The Fall and Rise Of Texas City,” Hollan
wanted to pay his appreciation to Evan and Nowrin
Amin who helped him out in the directing and editing of
the film. “They really helped in putting the whole thing
together, so I wanted to thank them for all of their help.”
Both Hollan and Roten are willing to come to your
school, city chamber or any other community organization
to talk about the film and about Roten’s experiences
being there during the disaster. You can contact Hollan
at hollan.films@gmail.com or 713-781-1313 to invite
them to speak. All they ask is that you provide ample
notice of time.
Hollan is also looking for a high-school or college student,
who is interested in communications or public relations,
to help him out with social media, writing press
releases and other journalism related jobs. If you, or
anyone you know, are interested you can contact Hollan
at the same contact information mentioned above. And
to view Hollan’s film, go online to www.youtube.com/
watch?v=UWyyjPvCjBU.