Bath School Disaster

Alexandria Spaulding
Summary of Attack
● The Bath School Disaster was a series of attacks at Bath Township in Michigan on
May 18, 1927
● The attacks killed 38 elementary schoolchildren and six adults, and also injured at
least 58 other people
● Before the Attacks the perpetrator killed his wife and after the attacks he had
killed himself
● Andrew Kehoe over a course of time hid 500 pounds of dynamite in the school
Who Committed The Bath School Disaster
● 55 year old male, Andrew Kehoe Commited The Bath School Disaster in 1927
● Kehoe murdered his wife Nellie sometime between May 16 and the morning of
May 18, 1927
○ she had just been discharged from the hospital with an undefined illness.
● Then before the attacks he had set off explosives on his house and farm
● Kehoe had used a timed detonator to detonate hundreds of pounds of
dynamite and incendiary pyrotol, which he had secretly planted inside the
school over the course of many months.
What Motivated the attack
● When the school had opened in 1922, property taxes were raised to pay for the
school
● Andrew Kehoe was elected school treasurer in 1924, he fought to decrease the
cost of the school
● Kehoe was told to finish the term as treasurer, but had lost the position the
following year.
● It was reported that Kehoe had ceased farming and had stopped making mortgage
or insurance payments about a year before the massacre, and investigators found
a sign wired to a fence on his farm with lettering that read, “Criminals are made,
not born.”
Result of the attack
● The north wing of the school had collapsed
● Parts of the walls had crumbled, and the edge of
the roof had fallen to the ground
● There was a pile of children of about five or six
under the roof and some of them had arms sticking
out, some had legs, and some just their heads
sticking out. They were unrecognizable because
they were covered with dust, plaster, and blood.
There were not enough of us to move the roof
● The attacks killed 38 elementary schoolchildren
and six adults, and also injured at least 58 other
people
Response of The Attack
● The American Red Cross, setting up operations at the Crum drugstore, took the
lead in providing aid and comfort to the victims. The Lansing Red Cross
headquarters were kept open until 11:30 that night to answer telephone calls,
update the list of dead and injured and provide information and planning services
for the following day.
● School resumed on September 5, 1927, and, for the 1927–28 school year, was held
in the community hall, township hall, and two retail buildings. Most of the
students returned.
● The coroner arrived at the scene on the day of disaster and swore in six
community leaders to serve as an investigative jury. A coroner's inquest into the
matter was held the following week.
MLA
Bauer, Patricia. “Bath School Disaster.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,
www.britannica.com/event/Bath-school-disaster-1927.

Boissoneault, Lorraine. “The 1927 Bombing That Remains America's Deadliest School Massacre.” Smithsonian.com,
Smithsonian Institution, 18 May 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1927-bombing-remains-americas-deadliest-school-
massacre-180963355

Putnam, Judy. “90 Years Later: Remembering Deadly Bath School Disaster.” Detroit Free Press, Detroit Free Press, 6 May 2017,
www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/05/06/bath-township-school-disaster-children/101364436/.