Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing

This book is an incredible account of the first school bombing in our nation's history. Skillfully laying the groundwork of the events in the months and years leading up to this disaster, the author leads us through this all but forgotten tragedy, bringing it back to life with an almost minute by minute account of the the day of the disaster.

The reader is introduced to the children and families of victims and survivors both, and is given an almost chilling look into the mind of Andrew Kehoe and what possibly triggered this event.

This book had me riveted from beginning to end and I couldn't recommend it more. This fascinating account is a story that needed to be retold so that it's not forgotten. Loaded with first hand accounts, the show more reader has a front row seat to the shocking, numbing horror of that day, and can almost smell the dust and smoke and hear the screams of children and parents alike. While the author brings the reader into the horror if the day, he manages to keep it from becoming sensationalistic tabloid style writing. Kudo's to Bernstein for telling the complete story while maintaining respect for both the living and the dead of this event. show less

Although this was published by the University of Michigan it comes across in a laborious omniscient narrator mode that doesn't make for engaged reading. What it has going for it is the relative obscurity and uniqueness of the story. Once the explosion occurs and the dust settles I found no compelling reason to continue reading through the second half of this short book. The author seemed to lack the requisite passion recounting this story.

On May 18th, 1927 at 8:45 a.m. in Bath, Michigan, a massive explosion shook the north wing of the Bath Consolidated School. The initial explosion killed thirty-six children and two teachers, a second explosion killed two adult bystanders, a child, and the school superintendent. A total of fifty-eight children and adults were injured. West of the school the Kohoe farm was reduced to embers, among the remains was Nellie Kohoe. Andrew P. Kohoe, later to become known as the bomber, died in the second explosion.

Bath became an official township in 1843 with a single one-room schoolhouse. The town continued to grow and on November 12, 1921 a vote was held to consolidate the multiple one-room schools into a single educational system. Emory E. show more Huyck was hired to be the superintendent and a board was elected. Bath Consolidated School had become a reality. Huyck managed to get the school accredited in three years.

Andrew P. Kohoe moved to Bath in 1919 with his wife Nellie. Kohoe was a hard working farmer who was obsessively neat, clean and orderly and who was knowledgeable and passionate about electricity. Kohoe was elected trustee on the school board and was soon elected treasurer because of his penny-pinching and meticulous ways of dealing with accounts. Kohoe, however, did not like superintendent Huyck and the tension between the two was quite noticeable.

May 18, 1927 began as a beautiful ordinary spring morning. Children were sent off to their last day of school with excitement. The massive explosion at 8:45 a.m. that was heard throughout the area changed the lives of the residents of Bath and the surrounding areas forever. This book is filled with the history of the main players in the tragedy and the events that led up to the terrible mass murder and suicide that happened that day. The accounts of destruction and survival that are recorded in this book are chilling. The history of this heartbreaking event has been forgotten by many and overshadowed by more current school tragedies; however, the survivors will never forget. Reviewed by Michelle, Three Rivers Public Library. show less

An excellent disaster book.