The Eastland Disaster

Images of America: Illinois

by Ted Wachholz, The Eastland Disaster Historical Society

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 unlike any other. 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.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, American History

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2005

Reviews

[A Allen]

Wachholz talks in the acknowledgements about having not been interested in history until a pastor shared a bible verse with him that "spawned within [him] the desire to grow [his] Christian faith and to also do something that was meaningful to others and would outlive [him]"; he ends the acknowledgements with "to God be the glory". In the introduction Wachholz says this book would make a "nice companion piece" to both George Hilton's book, "Eastland: Legacy of the Titanic" (1995), and Jay Bonansinga's book, "The Sinking of the Eastland: America's Forgotten Tragedy" (2004); I have not yet read either of these. Also, in the introduction, Wachholz calls his book a photo essay and mentions that it is "not intended to cover every aspect of the Eastland Disaster"; as such, the book is a very quick read and, although I appreciate all the photos, I found myself wanting to know more. In chapter ten, Wachholz writes "... the tragedy will always be remembered as Chicago's greatest (not worst) tragedy" and I'm not certain what that means; I wish Wachholz had explained. Overall, a quick photo essay that I'm glad to have on my bookshelf as a Chicago history enthusiast.

[Ronald]

I'd heard of the Eastland capsizing for some years but had never read anything about it. This book is really comprised primarily of photos of the accident with lengthy captions. It is touted as a companion to the actual books written about the capsizing of the vessel. However, it DOES serve as a good summary of the horrid event if you'd like a quick summary of what happened along with quite a few extant photos of the event.

[Julie Peffley]

This photo-journal is amazing! The Eastland Disaster is a fascinating story and the primary source material within the book truly makes the story come to life. While I would love to know more about the people who survived and how it changed their lives, I am really tickled with the amount of background information that is given. I'll be reading more on this topic!

[Christine Swain]

Like a museum tour

This book provides a nice connection between the big picture story and the individual devastation of the events that took place on the eastland. I love the tie in of the pictures through the story versus a jumble at the end.

[Jocelyn Green]

As a photographic companion to other history books on this event, this book achieves what it sets out to.

[Jo]

Bought mainly to have as photographic reference for another nonfiction on the subject. Very fine, detailed narrative accompanying each image.

[M]

This book contains a photographic history of the Eastland disaster. It captures what occurred before, during and after the disaster. Many of the photos are graphic, but they give one the sense of the magnitude of the loss and the feeling of hopelessness of those onboard, as well, as those along the dock. 844 people lost their lives and the majority were young women and children. One photo, in particular, will haunt me. It is the one on the cover of the fireman carrying a lifeless child's body. It reminded me of another iconic photo of a fireman carrying a child's lifeless body. It was a photo from the Oklahoma City bombing, where many children from a daycare were killed. Chilling.

[Jason]

So many moving and disturbing photographs! Truly an under-memorialized disaster, maybe because it's not as sensational as the Titanic or war-related like the Lusitania but still with tragic and far-reaching effects! What's significant is that a lot of the people who died came from the same communities, so churches had funerals for multiples of parishioners, the Western Electric Company lost about 500 employees and whole families perished at once.The end of this month marks the hundred-year anniversary of the event. I wonder if national news will pick up on it at all.

[R]

Unlike other Images of America books where they choose a bunch of photos at random, the Eastland Disaster provides history and context to this awful event, which occurred exactly a hundred years ago. The book starts with an overview of the Western Electric Company and Hawthorne Works as well as previous worker picnics before focusing on the tragedy itself.

[Jim]

Appropriate not only at this anniversary of the capsizing of the Eastland in Chicago, but a well written description of events and loaded with photos of before, during, and after the event. This a historical book and well worth the short read.

[Ashley Rae]

Perfect

Perfect

The pictures and imagery brought me to the scene and gave a greater understanding of the disaster. Short but, excellent read

[Scott]

A brief look at a ship tragedy in Chicago that occurred at the same time as the sinkings of the Lusitania and Titanic

[Ginny]

Interesting account of the tragic Eastland Disaster. Since I live in Chicago, I have heard many stories about this horrible event, but this is the first book I've read.