As community members in Bath Township work to raise money for a new museum commemorating the 1927 school bombing there, a new locally-made documentary is also telling the story of the deadliest school massacre in American history.
The three-part series called Forgotten follows the runup and aftermath of the act of mass violence perpetrated by a former school board treasurer which killed 45, mostly young students, and injured more than 50.
Matt Martyn is the executive producer of the documentary from Lansing-based Ahptic Studios.
Interview Highlights
On speaking to survivors for the documentary
The town was still mourning 78 years later. They were still struggling. To speak with somebody casually was difficult. Some couldn't do it. Others could, but it was really running against the norm and almost taboo, I think, to do that. And then to beyond that, go on the record, go on camera and grant an interview that way was particularly challenging. So, I was able to speak with some survivors, but they would not agree to go on camera ultimately.
On why the Bath School Disaster remains relatively unknown beyond mid-Michigan
The biggest story of the era, Lindbergh flying across the ocean, happened a few days later. So, they were already sharing headlines with Lindbergh's preparation for his flight over the Atlantic, and then when he succeeded in that just a few days later, that was where everyone's attention was going, and that's where people wanted to focus their attention in the 1920s ... So, this didn't make sense too. It was a total anomaly. It didn't fit into any narrative. So really, I think it was considered a fluke for years, you know, for 80, 90, years, where this documentary wasn't really as relevant to anything, until, unfortunately, school shootings became be something more than a fluke.
On the response to the documentary
This is something that we just want the survivors and the community's voices to be heard and for the victims and heroes of that day to be remembered. And it is not doing justice for this to not be part of the conversation. The response has been great, and we've really done everything we can to be sensitive and communicating with the people of Bath, with the families of the survivors, the families of those affected
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: As community members in Bath Township work to raise money for a new museum commemorating the 1927 school bombing there, a new locally-made documentary is also telling the story of the deadliest school massacre in American history.
The three-part series called Forgotten follows the runup and aftermath of the act of mass violence perpetrated by a former school board treasurer which killed 45, mostly young children, and injured more than 50.
Matt Martyn is the executive producer of the documentary from Lansing-based Ahptic Studios, and he joins me now. Thank you for being here.
Matt Martyn: Thanks for having me, Sophia.
Saliby: How did you get involved in producing this documentary? From what I understand, you've been working on this project for more than 10 years.
Martyn: We, a long time ago, this is in 2005, bought our first HD camera and decided to produce some content and make something for television, a one-off television special, and we decided to do a documentary.
And then when we were brainstorming what subjects would be interesting, my business partner remembered the Bath school bombing that occurred in 1927 which I had heard of once from someone else as well.
And we, the three of us, all three business partners decided that would be a great topic and immediately were trying to interview survivors. That proved to be a journey that never would have anticipated would be as involved as it was.
Saliby: So, two decades of working on this. What was your experience talking to survivors of the tragedy who have now since passed?
The town was still mourning, you know, 78 years later. They were still struggling. To speak with somebody casually was difficult. Some couldn't do it. Others could, but it was really running against the norm and almost taboo, I think, to do that.
Martyn: Being able to speak with the first one or any of them, was a journey in and of itself. That was deliberately not an easy task because the town was still mourning 78 years later. They were still struggling. To speak with somebody casually was difficult. Some couldn't do it. Others could, but it was really running against the norm and almost taboo, I think, to do that.
And then to beyond that, go on the record, go on camera and grant an interview that way was particularly challenging. So, I was able to speak with some survivors, but they would not agree to go on camera ultimately. There's a lot of reasons behind it, among which negative experiences they had had before.
In fact, just a year ago, maybe two in going through some old news footage, I randomly came across an interview with one of the survivors who was maimed horribly, lost an eye, among many other things, I mean, just his whole body was damaged, really, really painful. When the local news put his name up on the screen with the graphics, they accidentally, instead of his last name, put in the name of the killer. So, that was someone who was still alive at the time in which we started our interviews. I certainly could understand him not wanting to speak with anyone again. And I could only imagine the feelings that he had when he saw his name being portrayed as that of the killer.
Saliby: This series is called Forgotten. You even talk about not really knowing about this tragedy, you know, hearing about it once before you started this project. I didn't grow up around here, but I certainly had never heard about it. Why do you think people forgot about Bath?
Martyn: It did get international news right after it happened. Yeah, everyone around the world, it was a very huge story. And the press just, was just a zoo, and with some ways that are similar to today, and others that are not. Just their town was trampled by gawkers and press, some of whom respected what the families were going through more than others.
So, the town needed to mourn privately to some degree. So, I think that the fact that it fell out of the news was welcome.
This documentary wasn't really as relevant to anything, until, unfortunately, school shootings became be something more than a fluke.
The biggest story of the era, Lindbergh flying across the ocean, happened a few days later. So, they were already sharing headlines with Lindbergh's preparation for his flight over the Atlantic, and then when he succeeded in that just a few days later, that was where everyone's attention was going, and that's where people wanted to focus their attention in the 1920s. There was, unfortunately, this sort of morbid fascination with victims like this, but at the same time, this was the Age of Heroes, Babe Ruth, you know, Lindbergh, the Roaring 20s, everybody, everything was a success, you know, in the lead up to the stock market crash.
So, this didn't make sense too. It was a total anomaly. It didn't fit into any narrative. So really, I think it was considered a fluke for years, you know, for 80, 90, years, where this documentary wasn't really as relevant to anything, until, unfortunately, school shootings became be something more than a fluke.
Saliby: You've screened parts of this documentary before, you know, back in, you know, a decade ago, and now you're kind of airing this as a series. What has been the response in the community?
This is something that we just want the survivors and the community's voices to be heard and for the victims and heroes of that day to be remembered.
Martyn: We've aired this and have continued to air this as different presentations of this and showing different angles of it before the final. This is something that we just want the survivors and the community's voices to be heard and for the victims and heroes of that day to be remembered. And it is not doing justice for this to not be part of the conversation.
The response has been great, and we've really done everything we can to be sensitive and communicating with the people of Bath, with the families of the survivors, the families of those affected, and, yeah, the response has been great, and they've been incredibly supportive.
What these people went through serves as an example for all of us on how to overcome tragedy and hardship.
Saliby: And to end this conversation, since you have been working on this project for so long, can you talk about the legacy of this tragedy in the Bath community?
Martyn: It is part of the community as much as anything is. The resilience and strength that has been shown, and it's not a surprise that Bath is thriving now.
What these people went through serves as an example for all of us on how to overcome tragedy and hardship.
Saliby: Matt Martyn produced Forgotten: America's Deadliest School Massacre about the Bath School Disaster. Thank you for joining me.
Martyn: Thank you, Sophia.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
