Flint Water Crisis Public Archive

Explore public records, community contributions, and research documenting the Flint Water Crisis.

Archive scope
70K+ emails
Timeline covered
2011 – 2016
Flint residents, scholars, and journalists are using this archive to trace decision-making and understand how the crisis continues to shape the city.

The Flint Water Crisis was a major urban disaster: and the city's crisis is still ongoing.

Our primary collection

A searchable archive of government email released in 2016

We organize tens of thousands of emails from state and city agencies so researchers, journalists, and residents can trace decision-making across the crisis.

Read about the email archive
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Email collection

Email database tools

Explore the calendar and search interfaces built for this archive to surface key events, correspondents, and timelines.

Email calendar and timeline

Browse daily email activity from 2011–2016 alongside major developments in the water crisis to understand how decision-making accelerated.

Access email calendar
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Email search tool

Filter threads by date, subject, or sender to surface communications between agencies, emergency managers, and residents.

Search the emails
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Additional collections

Oral Histories and Public Documents

The archive is collecting oral histories from Flint residents. These interviews, along with a collection of public documents related to Flint's governance, are hosted by the Genesee Historical Collection Center at the University of Michigan-Flint.

Learn more about how Flint's water was poisoned.

Background on the Flint Water Crisis

For Flint residents: contribute to the archive and share your story.

Contribute