From the June 18, 2015, Chicago Tribune by Dawn Rhodes.
"Early on Saturday morning in 1915, thousands of workers and family members from Western Electric Co. gathered on the Chicago River for a lake excursion and an employee picnic.
"But what was supposed to be a celebration swiftly turned catastrophic as the SS Eastland--the first of five vessels scheduled to shuttle passengers to the Michigan City, Ind., outing -- rocked alarmingly and capsized in the 20-foot-deep waterway between Clark and LaSalle streets, killing 844 people and wiping out nearly two dozen families.
"The horrific scenes July 14 marked the worst disaster in Chicago's history (much worse than the much-better-known Great Chicago Fire), but nobody was held responsible. As the Eastland tragedy marks its centennial, historians and legal experts are staging a trial to keep relevant the memory of the disaster and illuminate the issues that never saw the inside of a Chicago courtroom."
And Most Chicagoans Don't Even Know About It.
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