This week the Museum staff is installing our next temporary exhibition, StormWatch 2013 about the powerful F5 tornado that tore a path of destruction through the heart of Waco, Texas on May 11, 1953. One hundred and fourteen people died in the storm. Hundreds more were injured in Waco’s downtown area. The damage to Waco’s economy and downtown infrastructure were catastrophic.

As the 60th anniversary approaches, the Dr Pepper Museum is partnering with the City of Waco, KCEN-HD, the Waco Tribune-Herald Museum, the Waco History Project, The Texas Collection, Waco’s First Presbyterian Church, the Red Men Museum and Library, and Waco ISD to provide the citizens of McLennan County with a commemoration of those events.

StormWatch 2013 will debut on Saturday, April 20, 2013. The Dr Pepper Museum will host this temporary exhibition commemorating the 60th anniversary of the 1953 Waco Tornado. A series of large scale black and white photographs of the storm’s devastation will be featured and several oral histories documenting the storm’s fury and destruction will be included.

Using the resources of the Texas Collection at Baylor University, the Red Men Museum and Library, and Waco’s First Presbyterian Church Archives, and the Dr Pepper Museum Archives, the exhibition will provide a visible reminder of the tragedy and the spirit of the community that rebuilt itself after this disaster. Artifacts from the aftermath of the storm, archival newspapers, and a map of the storm’s path will add additional background to the exhibition story. Storm Watch 2013 will provide an opportunity to see the devastation caused by the Waco Tornado, discover how the community was changed forever by the May 11, 1953 disaster, reflect upon the personal stories associated with this event, and learn how the downtown area has evolved since that fateful day.

Thanks to our generous sponsors: Community Bank and Trust, the Fentress Foundation, Jim Hardwick, Janet McCarty, Jennie and Ben Sheppard, and Katie Wolfe.