The Sinking Of The Eastland: America's Forgotten Tragedy

Plot

On July 24, 1915, the city of Chicago suffered a tragedy that was witnessed by nearly 10,000 bystanders and claimed more lives than the infamous Chicago fire. . That Saturday over 2,000 Western Electric employees and their families, dressed in their finest, arrived early at the waterfront to board the steamship Eastland, which was scheduled to ferry its passenders to the annual company picnic in Michigan City. Suddenly, as it sat in port, the Eastland began to list. While thousands of people watched in horror, the ship rolled to its side and silently capsized, killing a staggering 844 people.