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Eastland: Legacy of the Titanic
An account of the 1915 capsizing of the steamer Eastland in the Chicago River, an accident that killed more than eight hundred people, details the role of safety measures instituted after the sinking of the Titantic and examines the civil and criminal court proceedings which followed it.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
364 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1995
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November 28, 2017Fabulous information for history buffs. Might be too detailed for an average reader
October 1, 2024
Hilton has written a book that is very detailed, technical, and thorough about the worst disaster ever to occur in Chicago--the sinking of the Eastland, loaded with 2500 passengers headed out for a company picnic on July 24, 1915. Most of the book focuses on the engineering of why the ship tipped over, the physical alterations of the Eastland--due to changes in regulations after the sinking of the Titanic (April 14, 1912), the companies that built the ship and subsequently owned it, the legal testimony of the crew and port officials afterward, and the criminal and civil trials that took place after the disaster, and the second life of the ship--as the Wilmette. There are a few paragraphs of "story," human interest anecdotes about the people involved, but the book is mostly technical.
July 24, 1915 was the day of the annual Western Electric Company employee picnic. They would be loading onto several passenger steamers and headed across Lake Michigan to a park in Michigan City, Indiana for the day. The first steamer scheduled to leave that morning was the Eastland. The same ship had been used for the company picnic the year before, but for the 1915 picnic, it was not exactly the same ship. Due to the Titanic Disaster, modifications had been made to attach more lifeboats to the upper levels of the ship. Furthermore, upgrades to the ship had also occurred--new concrete and linoleum put down in the dining room to keep water from leaking below. This added an additional 30-57 tons to the ship at the upper levels. This was a problem for a ship that already had a history of instability--numerous times in the past listing one way or another in bad weather. Even before the added concrete, several crew members on the Eastland had already quit their jobs because of safety fears.
The owners of the ship pushed for an increased passenger capacity to generate more income. They were subsequently approved for 2570 passengers. All the changes to the ship, including installation of additional life boats were completed on July 2, 1915. The July 24 picnic excursion would be the ship's first since being allowed to increase the number of passengers. Between the 1914 and 1915 picnics, the Eastland had gained weight--all at the top: 30-57 tons of concrete, 20 tons with new lifeboats, and 24 tons of passenger weight--75-100 extra tons: quite top-heavy. So much weight added to the upper levels of the ship reduced the ship's metacentric height to below its center of gravity.
The Eastland was due to leave at 7:30 a.m. on the morning of July 24. It was anchored on the south side of the Chicago River, between LaSalle and Clark streets. By a little after 6 a.m., 5000 people had already arrived for the excursion. Only 2500 would fit on the Eastland, the rest would have to board other ships that would leave later. Boarding on the Eastland began at 6:40 a.m. Passengers were enthusiastic--about the day off, social time with friends and family, and the excitement of an excursion on Lake Michigan. Over 50% of the passengers were employees of Western Electric, the rest friends and family invited along. 56% of the passengers were women, mostly young and unmarried. They worked in the assembly lines of Western Electric manufacturing telephones. Some worked in the offices. Many were immigrants who were willing to work in such low paying jobs. There were 93 children aboard for the excursion. Unlike the Titanic, no one on the Eastland was rich or famous.
By 7:10 a.m. 2400 passengers and 72 crew had boarded and observers noted that the ship began to list to port. By 7:15 the ship was listing badly to port. By 7:23, the ship was listing so much that the captain ordered passengers to all go to the starboard side. By 7:27 the crew realized that the ship was doomed. But the passengers were still in the dark. On the dance floor, the Bradford Orchestra was playing ragtime tunes, the musicians digging in their heels to keep from sliding as the boat tilted. Many passengers joked about the list. At 7:28 a.m. dishes began slipping off the shelves of the ship’s pantry. The piano slid across the floor, almost crushing two women. This caused the orchestra to stop playing, mid bar. The refrigerator toppled over, pinning people underneath it. Passengers on the main deck (you needed to take a staircase down to get to the main deck) tried to escape but jammed the staircase up. Passengers on the upper deck began to jump off the ship. They escaped anyway they could through gangways and half doors. By 7:30, the ship tilted 90 degrees into the 20 foot deep Chicago River. Everyone on the port side or on decks below was trapped. The Eastland came to rest sideways in the muddy bottom of the river, partly submerged and partly protruding above the waterline. Rescue workers from nearby ships and the dock itself rushed to the scene. It is estimated that 844 people died in the disaster.
One of the most poignant part of Hilton’s book is the appendix where he lists the names of those who died--that are known—with the places where they are buried. They include mothers and fathers, children, young men, and many-many single women. Here is a sample: Myrtle Berglund, 12, Arlington Cemetery Elmhurst; David Bergman, 22, single, Western Electric employee, Oak Ridge Cemetery; Harry Bergquist, 15, schoolboy, Rosehill Cemetery; Anna Bigalski, 23, single, wire inspector Western Electric, Mt. Carmel Cemetery; Emma Belsky, 19, single, Bohemian National Cemetery.
Hilton goes on to describe the setting up of first aid stations across the river in the new Reid Murdock Building (a grocery store warehouse) and morgues in various parts of the city. He also describes the criminal trials and the civil trials that ensued. Several shipping company officials and crew members were accused of criminal negligence, but all were found not guilty. In the civil trial, the issue was over compensation for the victims. It took 20 years and went all the way to the Supreme Court, but in the end, no victim families got any compensation. The insurance company was found not liable, even though the state of Illinois called for $10,000 compensation for wrongful death. This was unfortunate, as many of those who died were the sole supporters of their families.
The book dispels a number of false conclusions that prevailed at the time—and during the court proceedings. These false assumptions included that the engineer was at fault, that debris on the bottom of the river was at fault, and that the passengers themselves were at fault. The author’s concludes that the fault was with the ship itself, the problem with its low metacenter, and the lack of testing after all the extra weight was added to the top part of the ship.
July 24, 1915 was the day of the annual Western Electric Company employee picnic. They would be loading onto several passenger steamers and headed across Lake Michigan to a park in Michigan City, Indiana for the day. The first steamer scheduled to leave that morning was the Eastland. The same ship had been used for the company picnic the year before, but for the 1915 picnic, it was not exactly the same ship. Due to the Titanic Disaster, modifications had been made to attach more lifeboats to the upper levels of the ship. Furthermore, upgrades to the ship had also occurred--new concrete and linoleum put down in the dining room to keep water from leaking below. This added an additional 30-57 tons to the ship at the upper levels. This was a problem for a ship that already had a history of instability--numerous times in the past listing one way or another in bad weather. Even before the added concrete, several crew members on the Eastland had already quit their jobs because of safety fears.
The owners of the ship pushed for an increased passenger capacity to generate more income. They were subsequently approved for 2570 passengers. All the changes to the ship, including installation of additional life boats were completed on July 2, 1915. The July 24 picnic excursion would be the ship's first since being allowed to increase the number of passengers. Between the 1914 and 1915 picnics, the Eastland had gained weight--all at the top: 30-57 tons of concrete, 20 tons with new lifeboats, and 24 tons of passenger weight--75-100 extra tons: quite top-heavy. So much weight added to the upper levels of the ship reduced the ship's metacentric height to below its center of gravity.
The Eastland was due to leave at 7:30 a.m. on the morning of July 24. It was anchored on the south side of the Chicago River, between LaSalle and Clark streets. By a little after 6 a.m., 5000 people had already arrived for the excursion. Only 2500 would fit on the Eastland, the rest would have to board other ships that would leave later. Boarding on the Eastland began at 6:40 a.m. Passengers were enthusiastic--about the day off, social time with friends and family, and the excitement of an excursion on Lake Michigan. Over 50% of the passengers were employees of Western Electric, the rest friends and family invited along. 56% of the passengers were women, mostly young and unmarried. They worked in the assembly lines of Western Electric manufacturing telephones. Some worked in the offices. Many were immigrants who were willing to work in such low paying jobs. There were 93 children aboard for the excursion. Unlike the Titanic, no one on the Eastland was rich or famous.
By 7:10 a.m. 2400 passengers and 72 crew had boarded and observers noted that the ship began to list to port. By 7:15 the ship was listing badly to port. By 7:23, the ship was listing so much that the captain ordered passengers to all go to the starboard side. By 7:27 the crew realized that the ship was doomed. But the passengers were still in the dark. On the dance floor, the Bradford Orchestra was playing ragtime tunes, the musicians digging in their heels to keep from sliding as the boat tilted. Many passengers joked about the list. At 7:28 a.m. dishes began slipping off the shelves of the ship’s pantry. The piano slid across the floor, almost crushing two women. This caused the orchestra to stop playing, mid bar. The refrigerator toppled over, pinning people underneath it. Passengers on the main deck (you needed to take a staircase down to get to the main deck) tried to escape but jammed the staircase up. Passengers on the upper deck began to jump off the ship. They escaped anyway they could through gangways and half doors. By 7:30, the ship tilted 90 degrees into the 20 foot deep Chicago River. Everyone on the port side or on decks below was trapped. The Eastland came to rest sideways in the muddy bottom of the river, partly submerged and partly protruding above the waterline. Rescue workers from nearby ships and the dock itself rushed to the scene. It is estimated that 844 people died in the disaster.
One of the most poignant part of Hilton’s book is the appendix where he lists the names of those who died--that are known—with the places where they are buried. They include mothers and fathers, children, young men, and many-many single women. Here is a sample: Myrtle Berglund, 12, Arlington Cemetery Elmhurst; David Bergman, 22, single, Western Electric employee, Oak Ridge Cemetery; Harry Bergquist, 15, schoolboy, Rosehill Cemetery; Anna Bigalski, 23, single, wire inspector Western Electric, Mt. Carmel Cemetery; Emma Belsky, 19, single, Bohemian National Cemetery.
Hilton goes on to describe the setting up of first aid stations across the river in the new Reid Murdock Building (a grocery store warehouse) and morgues in various parts of the city. He also describes the criminal trials and the civil trials that ensued. Several shipping company officials and crew members were accused of criminal negligence, but all were found not guilty. In the civil trial, the issue was over compensation for the victims. It took 20 years and went all the way to the Supreme Court, but in the end, no victim families got any compensation. The insurance company was found not liable, even though the state of Illinois called for $10,000 compensation for wrongful death. This was unfortunate, as many of those who died were the sole supporters of their families.
The book dispels a number of false conclusions that prevailed at the time—and during the court proceedings. These false assumptions included that the engineer was at fault, that debris on the bottom of the river was at fault, and that the passengers themselves were at fault. The author’s concludes that the fault was with the ship itself, the problem with its low metacenter, and the lack of testing after all the extra weight was added to the top part of the ship.
March 23, 2015
A comprehensive account of the mechanical and engineering failures that caused Chicago's Eastland Disaster in 1915. This book is as much a study of maritime architecture as it is a narrative of the capsizing that killed more than 800 people, although both aspects of the event are dealt with in great detail here. It's appalling to learn just how unstable the ship was from its earliest days in 1903-04 and how many close calls it had before the infamous capsizing in Chicago. I was also unaware of the long history that the Eastland had after the disaster as a U.S. Navy training vessel until the late 1940s. Hilton's account is too academic to be dramatic, but well worth reading for anyone who really wants to know why this ship capsized that day and who was really to blame.
September 13, 2025
The book telling everything to do with the ship the Eastland, infamous for having tipped over in the Chicago River while still tied to its moorings in July 1915, the biggest disaster in Chicago history with hundreds of passengers and crew drowning as a result.
Several myths about as to what caused the tipping, such as supposedly the passengers all crowding to one side of the boat, but the author does the research as best he could, as so many records pertaining to the ship and the disaster did not survive. The author provides plenty of technical jargon and explanation, perhaps too much, but the gist was that the Eastland had several design problems, had modifications causing further problems, but worst of all was the lack of safety inspections over the life of the boat, despite several warning incidents. The ship's owners got off lightly and people got small compensations for their sufferings. The Eastland would be bought by the US Naval Reserve and renamed the Wilmette, going through more careful modernizations and still serving in Chicago as a training and ceremonial ship until after World War Two, with no more catastrophes in its history. Amazingly it was largely forgotten until decades later.
Several myths about as to what caused the tipping, such as supposedly the passengers all crowding to one side of the boat, but the author does the research as best he could, as so many records pertaining to the ship and the disaster did not survive. The author provides plenty of technical jargon and explanation, perhaps too much, but the gist was that the Eastland had several design problems, had modifications causing further problems, but worst of all was the lack of safety inspections over the life of the boat, despite several warning incidents. The ship's owners got off lightly and people got small compensations for their sufferings. The Eastland would be bought by the US Naval Reserve and renamed the Wilmette, going through more careful modernizations and still serving in Chicago as a training and ceremonial ship until after World War Two, with no more catastrophes in its history. Amazingly it was largely forgotten until decades later.
December 28, 2012
It's a dense read packed into a relatively small package. But despite the heavy detail and copious amounts of explanation (a half page paragraph explaining a mathematical formula, for example), still oddly hard to put down for too long. Hilton was also careful to bring in the human side too, which helped advance the story of the disaster and soften the scientific side of the book. In the end, I decided this deserved four stars purely because I know this will be the single most comprehensive book I will ever read about the Eastland.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews