Links to footage.http://europeana1914-1918.eu/en/europeana/record/08614/cat36913?edmvideo=true&iframe=true&width=657&height=510 http://europeana1914-1918.eu/en/europeana/record/08614/cat36915?edmvideo=true&iframe=true&width=657&height=510
According to NEWSER —
Ted Wacholz couldn’t believe his eyes: He opened Facebook on Saturday morning and saw film footage of the SS Eastland disaster, which claimed 844 lives on the Chicago River in 1915, the Chicago Tribune reports. “I’m reasonably confident that this is the first opportunity that the public has had” to see footage of the disaster, says Wacholz, who heads the Eastland Disaster Historical Society. One clip (here, starting at the 1:10 minute mark) shows firefighters, volunteers, and officers walking on the capsized ship, which was about to go to Indiana for a Western Electric employee picnic when it tipped over, CBS Chicago reports. “It was a free-for-all early on,” says Wachholz. “Anyone who was able to help out and contribute was jumping to the scene.”
Wow, that was really interesting! I was curious as to what all the rest of the events being pictured were. I assume this was a newsreel that would have been shown before a movie?
Trivia: his father coming into their Chicago apartment to tell of the Eastland was one of Ronald Reagan’s earliest memories.
The title of the thread meant nothing to m e. A bit of background would’ve helped:
The SS Eastland was a passenger ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On July 24, 1915 the ship rolled over while tied to a dock in the Chicago River.[1] A total of 844 passengers and crew were killed in what was to become the largest loss of life disaster from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.[1][2]
Following the disaster, the Eastland was salvaged and sold to the United States Navy. After restorations and modifications the Eastland was designated as a gunboat and renamed the USS Wilmette. She was used primarily as a training vessel on the Great Lakes and was scrapped following World War II.
SS Eastland was a passenger ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On 24 July 1915, the ship rolled over onto its side while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. In total, 844 passengers and crew were killed in what was the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.
After the disaster, Eastland was salvaged and sold to the United States Navy. After restorations and modifications, Eastland was designated a gunboat and renamed USS Wilmette. She was used primarily as a tr...
Jeez, no wonder it sank. They built it sideways.