Eastland Disaster Victims Map

The Cicero home of Western Electric employees and siblings Henry and Mary Hill (4/9/24)

A map of the homes of those who died in the Chicago River tragedy.

On the morning of July 24th, 1915 more than 2,500 Western Electric workers with families and friends boarded the Eastland lake cruiser docked on the main branch of the Chicago River. It was to be the first boat taking ticket holders to the yearly company picnic in Indiana. The Eastland was built for speed and had a checkered past. As it was loading passengers and people were enjoying the live music below decks, it rolled over. 844 people died in the water, within thirty feet of the shore. The victims included engaged couples, neighbors, and several entire families, the Sindelar family of seven being just one. Both WTTW and Chicago Tribune have detailed illustrated explanations of the event itself.

The map below shows where they lived. Using obituaries from the Chicago Daily Tribune and Chicago Examiner and Cook County death records I’ve been able locate the homes of 824 of the victims. Since many were family members there are actually just 667 markers at time of posting. There are a few more that I’m looking for so, as with all CBA maps, that number will be updated. The indicates homes that have been demolished over time. * next to names highlights locations that have a question about them which I will be working to sort out.

Marker information includes:

• A picture (312 at posting)
• Age and WE connection if known
• The July 31, 1915 Chicago Daily Tribune (CDT) obit, if listed
• Eastland Disaster Historical Society (look here for victim ethnicities, pictures and stories)
• Find a Grave link (from a list compiled by user DM47)

Some interesting things that emerge from mapping out this number of homes from one time period:

• 335 markers are within two miles of the former factory in Cicero (just over 50%)
• The clear Cicero/Chicago border formed by freight railroad and the industry that ran/runs along it (the dodgy bike routes traversing this barrier will be a future CBA blog post)
• The transformation of Chicago’s West Side, including the late 1950’s construction of Interstate 290 and early 60’s UIC.
• The barrier to N-S non-vehicular travel that was and is the Sanitation and Ship Canal (running along the southwest). While there weren’t many homes in the era west of Kedzie, there were some.
• The era came with an expectation for immigrants to Anglicize their names or flat out adopt English names. I’ve mostly used the names and spelling from how they were listed in the Chicago Tribune obituary. The EDHS and Find a Grave links will often show other name permutations.
• There were no Black Western Electric workers listed as victims/survivors. The Chicago Defender reported that there were three “Afro-American” boat workers who survived (pdf).
• I made some easy personal connections along the way. There was one Steve (Koubas). John Lockey was a member of the Riverview Roller, Cycling and Athletic Club. And, Robert Prugert was a fellow Oklahoma transplant.

The goal of making this map is not only to memorialize the past. By taking pictures of these homes today, I want to illustrate that these are still vital communities very much in the present. Many residents of these neighborhoods today share a similar socio-economic status and immigration history with those who lived in 1915. While I try to not include people in my shots, they are there and I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with many.

Finally, I’ve endeavored to make sure everything is as correct as possible on the map but I know this is a topic that deeply interests some. If anyone spots a mistake or has a question please feel free to comment below the map marker listing or contact me directly at steve@chicagobikeadventures.com .

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Sources: Chicago Daily Tribune (CDT), Chicago Examiner (CE), Cook County death records (CCDR) [accessed through Family Search], Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps (SM), E icon from Icons8