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100 year anniversary of the SS Eastland shipwreck in Chicago

13.07.2015 / 22:34 | Aktualizováno: 01.06.2016 / 22:07

Chicagoland Czech - American communities are remembering the 100 year anniversary of one of the biggest shipwrecks in the history that deeply influenced especially the Czech community in the Chicagoland area. On July 24, 1915  SS Eastland sank on the Chicago River in the city center. SS Eastland was a passenger steamship used for tours. A total of 884 passengers died, which was more than in the case of RMS Titanic ( where a lot of crew members died  which made the total number of casualties larger) The ship carried Western Electric Company's employees and their families to a major event in Indiana. Western Electric located in Cicero, one of Chicago's suburbs, was employing a large number of Czech immigrants. More than 220 Czechs died during this disaster.

Most of the victims of the SS Eastland shipwreck are buried at the Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago. This past Sunday there was a ceremony of unveiling a new monument funded from a public collection and which was attended by hundreds of members of the Czech - American community and the victims' descendants. This monument was created by Lubomir Dostal from the Czech Republic. Mr Chuck Michalek was the Chairman of the Eastland Contennial Commemorative Project Committee.

The theme of the SS Eastland shipwreck was also a part of the Prague Days 2015 festival, the biggest presentation of the Czech Republic in the USA this year. The festival was dedicated to the famous Czech history in Chicago and to its leaders. The Consul General in Chicago, Mr. Borek Lizec, stated that it would have been impossible not to remember the anniversary of this tragic event.  He stated: " According to the members of the Czech - American community it was nearly impossible to find a street in all the traditional Czech neighborhoods as Berwyn, Cicero, Pilsen  without victims of this disasters. Is some cases the whole families disappeared." Viktor Valasek, a very talented Prague artist, created a mural dedicated to this disaster in the Pilsen neighborhood. It is very different than the rest of the art pieces in the area. He portrayed a ship with the ghosts of the deceased wearing clothes from that era. The project of the mural was financially supported by a local alderman Mr. Danny Solis. According to him nowadays Pilsen is mainly Latino area but the Czech past is still highly noticeable.

 

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100 years Eastland
100 years Eastland 100 years Eastland
100 Years Eastland 100 Years Eastland
100 years Eastland 100 years Eastland
100 Eastland 100 years of  Eastland
100 years of Eastland 100 years of Eastland