TYLER, Texas — On Tuesday, the Smith County Commissioners Court took time to remember those impacted by the London School explosion that killed almost 300 people on March 18, 1937 in New London.
It has become a piece of East Texas history with impacts across the nation. Officials in the county want to make the memory everlasting.
Smith County Pct. 2 Commissioner John Moore read the proclamation to the court that made March 18, 2024, become New London School Remembrance Day in Smith County.
"It's important that we remember this disaster," Moore said. "Almost all of the people who were involved in it, who survived it are gone now. But their relatives are still here and one of the big fears that they have is that their families won't be remembered, the losses that they suffered won't be remembered."
Jean Davidson, a New London alumni, said there are several events that happened in 1937 like the Hindenburg explosion and Amelia Earhart's disappearance, but the London School explosion isn't mentioned often.
She hopes the proclamation will help make the story more known.
"I think the story is for everybody. And everybody needs to be included and encouraged to come and relive that story with us and make it more like a community story and a story for history -- a Texas story," Davidson said.
Moore noted that because of what happened in New London, an odor was placed into natural gas.
"So what happened has helped all of the rest of us be safer around the world. I don't know who said it. But one of the quotes that's applicable here is a man has never truly gone until his name is no longer spoken," Moore said. "And that's why I think it's important that we recognize them, not just today but every year on the anniversary of this tragedy."