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) sub-
mitted 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 stand-
ards which resulted in the Eastland carrying several tons 
of lifesaving equipment more than it was originally de-
signed to handle—all concentrated on the upper decks of 
the ship; 
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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 ves-
sels chartered to carry Western Electric workers and 
their families across Lake Michigan to their annual pic-
nic in Washington Park, Michigan City, Indiana; 
Whereas most of the families on board the Eastland were Eu-
ropean immigrants from Chicago and its western suburbs 
including Cicero and Berwyn, IL, and this day-long pic-
nic 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 res-
cue 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 volun-
teers rescued many still trapped in the Eastland, orga-
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•HRES 375 IH 
nized efforts to support survivors, and worked with pro-
fessional divers in the days following the disaster to re-
cover 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 includ-
ing 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 ulti-
mately received no monetary awards as damages; and 
Whereas the Eastland was later restored and recommissioned 
as the USS Wilmette—serving as a Navy training gun-
boat from 1918 though 1946: Now therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) honors the working-class families of Illinois 
who lost their lives as a result of the Eastland dis-
aster; 
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