Community Corner
Saturday: Eastland Disaster victim grave site tour at Forest Park cemeteries
Historical Society of Forest Park leads tour of ship disaster victims' resting places
The Historical Society of Forest Park will present a cemetery walking tour Saturday, July 18 to commemorate grave sites associated with Chicago’s 1915 SS Eastland ship disaster.
More than 120 victims of the Eastland Disaster are buried in the village’s cemeteries. Grave sites of all Eastland disaster victims have been researched and marked by the historical society.
In 1915, blue-collar factory workers and immigrants -- on their way to a Western Electric Company picnic -- were the passengers on the SS Eastland the morning of July 24. Workers at the Cicero factory came from hometowns of Forest Park, Oak Park, Berwyn and Cicero.
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At least 2,500 passengers were on the overloaded steamer when she suddenly capsized 20 feet from the dock in the Chicago River. Many were throw into the filthy waters of the Chicago River, some drowned inside the ship, which filled with water. A total of 844 lives were lost.
Forest Park historian John Rice and Alberta Adamson from the Wheaton Center for History will lead the tour starting at 10 a.m. at Concordia Cemetery, 7900 Madison St., Forest Park. A trolley will transport visitors to second tour of Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, final resting place of many of the police, fire and rescue personnel who helped with the disaster.
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Forest Park’s vintage cemeteries first opened in the 1870s. They are the final resting places of many Chicago immigrants, especially from Germany, Bohemia and Chicago’s Jewish neighborhoods. Spectacular statuary and landscaping have made Forest Park’s cemeteries a destination for historical tours for more than 30 years.
See the Historical Society of Forest Park Facebook page for more information.
IF YOU GO
Historical Society of Forest Park Eastland Disaster victim gravesite cemetery tour
WHEN: Saturday, July 18 10 a.m.
WHERE: Meet at Concordia Cemetery, 7900 Madison St., Forest Park
COST: $20 / $20 extra for Hillside Cemetery Tour addition
RESERVATIONS: Available by phone: 708-232-3747
