The Eastland Disaster

Ted Wachholz, Chicago Historical Society, land Disaster Historical Society

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN:
  9780738534411
• eBook ISBN:
  9781439615478
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

July 24, 1915 was supposed to be Chicago's social event of a lifetime, but turned into a tragedy unlike any other. More than 7,000 people living in the Chicago area and Michigan City, Indiana, eagerly anticipated Saturday morning, July 24, 1915. This particular Saturday was going to be anything but a routine summer day. Plans had been carefully made for it to be the social and entertainment event of the year, and for some, a lifetime. The fifth annual midsummer excursion and picnic had been organized by the employees of the Western Electric Company's Hawthorne Works. Thousands of carefree merrymakers would enjoy a festive day including a lovely cruise across Lake Michigan to an awaiting parade and day-long picnic. The day would conclude with an evening cruise back to Chicago. For thousands of hard-working immigrant laborers and their families and friends, it was going to be a day to remember. Instead, the day's scheduled event turned into a tragedy never before seen. The SS Eastland, while still tied to the wharf, rolled into the Chicago River with more than 2,500 passengers on board. Nearly 850 people lost their lives, including 22 entire families. The ensuing struggle for survival, and the resulting death, heroism, cowardice, greed, and scandal gripped the city of Chicago.

Seven

THE RESCUE, RECOVERY, AND RELIEF

“Tears falling from the sky.”—Frank Blaha

Western Electric responded to the disaster in an admirable fashion, and did all it could to ease the pain, suffering, and hardship of the victims’ families. Countless other organizations responded: the Chicago Fire Department, Chicago Police Department, United States Coast Guard, American Red Cross (local Chicago office as well as the national office), Cook County Coroner’s Office, Chicago Telephone Company, Commonwealth Edison, Marshall Field & Company, Sherman and LaSalle Hotels, Steffey Brothers Wholesale Commission, Boy Scouts of America, Oak Park Charities, Bohemian Aid Society, Chicago Department of Health, the churches, the undertaking establishments, the hospitals, Reid, Murdoch & Company, and the list goes on and on. Of course, thousands of individuals responded in one or more ways, too. It is impossible to identify all who helped during the aftermath of the tragedy. The aftermath that was unlike any other was only briefly about rescue and survival—it was mostly concerned with recovery.

A young woman wrapped in a blanket stands on the deck of one of the nearby ships. This is one of the more poignant images from the tragedy, and represents the group that was impacted the most—young women. She appears to be staring out at the chaos in front of her—probably numb and in shock. The deck chairs are folded and stacked, chairs that earlier were open and filled with hundreds of jubilant merrymakers. Now alone, she may already be aware that she has lost a family member, or perhaps a friend or co-worker. Perhaps she is wondering what her life and future will now hold for her. The scene is hazy and foggy, as if it was all a bad dream. (Courtesy Chicago Historical Society, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0064947.)

The rescue efforts began immediately. Earlier that morning, the tug Kenosha had been tied to the bow of the Eastland in preparation for towing her out onto Lake Michigan. Upon watching the Eastland roll into the Chicago River, Captain John O’Meara (standing directly below the letter ‘H’ in Kenosha) ordered his tug be secured to the wharf to form a bridge between the overturned hull of the Eastland and the safety of the wharf. (Courtesy family of Captain John H. O’Meara.)

Due to the quick and decisive actions taken by O’Meara and his crew (including Carl Mattson, among others), the survival rate of the passengers was significantly increased. (Courtesy Eastland Disaster Historical Society.)

Hundreds of passengers, most who simply climbed over the starboard rail as the ship rolled over, walked over the Eastland and the Kenosha to safety—many without ever getting their feet wet. When the Eastland rolled over, its bow was still tied by its forward breast line to the spile. In this photo and the next, note the bent spile; the forward breast line is still evident. (Courtesy family of Theodore Jahnke.)

The crews of other boats and tugs in the area responded quickly, even though there was risk of a boiler explosion on the Eastland. “My father shouted for every man about the place to get aboard the (Carrie) Ryerson,” said Ray LeBeau. “At that time I could see people beginning to jump off [the Eastland]. Seven of us piled aboard the tug and we tore up current as the Eastland went over. We were the first boat there except for the Kenosha, which was to tow the Eastland out. No, I couldn’t tell you how many people we got out. The river was full of them and we were too busy to count ‘em. I know there were 22 people on board the tug at one time. Henry Oderman, one of our shopmen, dived in and got one woman who was going down. It took us a long time to bring her to.” (Courtesy Chicago Historical Society, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0064936.)

At that hour of the morning, only three people were at the Dunham Towing and Wrecking Company plant along the Chicago River: Superintendent F. D. Fredericks, Charlie Hart, and Johnny Benson. Though these three did not have a license and none was a regular engineer, they commandeered the tug Rita McDonald. “Come on boys, I can run that old engine!” Supt. Fredericks shouted to Hart and Benson. He continued: “On the way up [stream] we got in where the people were the thickest. Then we started picking ‘em up. I don’t know how many. Too busy to count. I’m tickled to death to think we were able to help as many as we did. Fifty? Oh, I don’t know.” (Courtesy Eastland Disaster Historical Society.)

Captain Joseph Lamoreaux and his crew of the tug Indiana arrived at the scene and assisted in the rescue and recovery efforts minutes after the Eastland capsized. As a result of his horrifying experience in the rescue and recovery efforts, Captain Lamoreaux had nightmares about the tragedy for several months after the ordeal, and chose not to discuss it with...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - THE EARLY 1900S
• Two - THE BELL SYSTEM
• Three - THE WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY
• Four - THE HAWTHORNE WORKS
• Five - THE ANNUAL EXCURSION AND PICNIC
• Six - THE EASTLAND DISASTER
• Seven - THE RESCUE, RECOVERY, AND RELIEF
• Eight - THE CAUSE AND THE END
• Nine - FATE OR FAITH
• Ten - OUT OF OBSCURITY