History
at Concordia Cemetery
Since
its founding in 1872 Concordia Cemetery has seen many changes and been a part
of many important historical events in Chicago history. The goal of this section
of the website is to present the rich history of Concordia and explain how we
have been intimately involved in many important historical Chicagoland events.
Feel
free to review all the information listed below. There are many very interesting
facts!
The Eastland
Disaster - 1915
Concordia
Cemetery is the resting place for many of the victims of the Eastland Disaster
of 1915, known as Chicago’s worst tragedy in terms of loss of life, a worse
toll than the Iroquois Theatre fire of 1903 and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Early in the morning of July 24, 1915, employees of the Western Electric Company,
along with many of their family members and friends, boarded the Eastland moored
at its dock on the south bank of the Chicago River between LaSalle and Clark
Streets. The passengers were to travel by steamer to Michigan City, Indiana to
attend the company’s annual picnic. The vessel was top heavy and with a large
crowd amassed on the port side railing of the top deck to bid farewell, the
Eastland capsized, throwing many of it’s 2,500 passengers into the river while
trapping numerous others underwater below deck. All told, 844 lost their lives,
predominantly women and children encumbered by heavy clothing. Most of the
employees were from the Western Electric’s Hawthorn works in Cicero, IL. The
plant’s workforce was heavily concentrated in Germans, Poles, Bohemians, and
Lithuanians. Research sources do not all agree on the details of the Eastland
disaster.
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One
of the memorials commemorating an individual lost during the Eastland
disaster. As you can see a rendering of the ship is etched into the side
of memorial. |
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A
memorial commemorating an individual lost during the Eastland disaster. As
you can see the marker clearly indicated involvement in the Eastland
tragedy. |
Click
Here for Additional Information on the Eastland Disaster
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