CHICAGO — The SS Eastland — one of five ships chartered for the Western Electric Co.’s outing on Lake Michigan — was preparing to leave a dock in the Chicago River on July 24, 1915, with more than 2,500 passengers and crew aboard when tragedy struck.
Top-heavy with several lifeboats and rafts and with its ballast tanks empty, the ship became more unbalanced as passengers gathered to watch other boats. It rolled over, trapping passengers in the lower decks, where 844 drowned or were suffocated, including more than 20 families. (An estimated 300 people died in Chicago’s Great Fire.)
On Friday, Chicago residents, historians and ancestors of the victims marked the 100th anniversary of the disaster.
The Eastland Disaster Historical Society held a public ceremony Friday on the Chicago Riverwalk. Saturday activities include a cruise and sunset ceremony lighting 844 candles on the river.
