IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 375 

Honoring the victims, survivors, and those who responded to the Eastland 

disaster – a shipwreck which resulted in the deaths of 844 passengers 

and crew – on its centennial. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 23, 2015 

Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. HULTGREN, Mr. 

GUTIE ́RREZ, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. 

SHIMKUS, Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, 

Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. BUSTOS, and Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the victims, survivors, and those who responded 

to the Eastland disaster – a shipwreck which resulted 

in the deaths of 844 passengers and crew – on its 

centennial. 

Whereas, July 24th, 2015, marks the 100th anniversary of 

the Eastland sinking in the Chicago River; 

Whereas following the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, the La 

Follette Seaman’s Act created untested new safety standards which resulted in the Eastland carrying several tons 

of lifesaving equipment more than it was originally designed to handle—all concentrated on the upper decks of 

the ship; 


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•HRES 375 IH 

Whereas A. A. Schantz, the general manager of the Detroit 

& Cleveland Navigation Company, warned legislators in 

September of 1914 that many Great Lakes vessels had 

extremely shallow drafts and that additional weight on 

their upper decks could cause them to capsize; 

Whereas, on July 24th, 1915, the Eastland was one of 5 vessels chartered to carry Western Electric workers and 

their families across Lake Michigan to their annual picnic in Washington Park, Michigan City, Indiana; 

Whereas most of the families on board the Eastland were European immigrants from Chicago and its western suburbs 

including Cicero and Berwyn, IL, and this day-long picnic represented the only holiday many of them would be 

allowed; 

Whereas the crew hauled in the gangplank at approximately 

7:18 a.m., and within 15 minutes, while still partially tied 

to its dock, the ship had listed 45 degrees to port and 

tipped over; 

Whereas the vessel rolled over before any of its lifesaving 

equipment could be deployed; 

Whereas the crews and captains of the Kenosha, Indiana, 

Theodore Roosevelt, Petoskey, Carrie Ryerson, Rita 

McDonald, CFD Graeme Stewart, several smaller boats, 

and a U.S. Coast Guard power surfboat arrived at the 

scene within minutes of the incident and saved hundreds 

of lives; 

Whereas the Eastland rescue mission was the first major rescue operation for the modern U.S. Coast Guard which 

had been established 6 months prior by President Wilson; 

Whereas Chicago police officers, firefighters, and local volunteers rescued many still trapped in the Eastland, orgaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:32 Jul 23, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR375.IH HR375

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nized efforts to support survivors, and worked with professional divers in the days following the disaster to recover and transport the bodies of the dead to temporary 

morgues; 

Whereas more non-crew, civilian passengers drowned on the 

Eastland than on either the Titanic or the Lusitania; 

Whereas 590 of the victims were under the age of 25 including 228 teenagers as well as 58 infants and children; 

Whereas the tragedy completely wiped out 22 entire families 

and left 19 families without parents; 

Whereas the Western Electric Company immediately made 

$100,000 available as an emergency relief fund; 

Whereas the American Red Cross established several relief 

stations for survivors and raised nearly $400,000 from 

local businesses and citizens to provide financial support 

to those who had lost family members; 

Whereas all verdicts returned in the criminal proceedings 

were ‘‘not guilty’’, and while the civil proceedings would 

carry on for another 20 years, the victims’ families ultimately received no monetary awards as damages; and 

Whereas the Eastland was later restored and recommissioned 

as the USS Wilmette—serving as a Navy training gunboat from 1918 though 1946: Now therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) honors the working-class families of Illinois 

3 who lost their lives as a result of the Eastland dis4 aster; 


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1 (2) recognizes the brave first responders, both 

2 volunteers and professionals, for their rapid response 

3 in their community’s time of need; 

4 (3) commits to working to keep their memory 

5 in the national consciousness; 

6 (4) acknowledges the policy failure in respond7 ing to concerns of Great Lakes mariners when cre8 ating the LaFollette Seaman’s Act; and 

9 (5) reaffirms the importance of intelligent mari10 time safety policy. 

Æ 


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