From the Summer 2015 Northern Illinois Alumni Magazine "Film Find Brings Historic Tragedy to Life" by Colleen Leonard.
NIU alumnus Alex Revzan, '14, made headlines around the United States this year with his discovery of a rare film of the SS Eastland disaster which claimed 844 lives in 1915 when it capsized in the Chicago River.
Revzan found the film just days after two other clips surfaced, the first-known archived footage of the tragedy. But Revzan's film provides even more graphic views as it shows victims being rescued from the ship's hull and the Chicago River.
At the beginning of his discovered film, a young woman in a white dress is pulled from the hull and put on a pier.
Mr. Revzan started searching after he had heard about the first two clips on WTTW, PBS' "Chicago Tonight." When it was mentioned that there might be other films of the disaster, he put his research skills to use. he searched online at the British Pathe film archive. After going through hundreds of clips, he found what appeared to be that of the Eastland. ted Wachholz, executive director and chief historian of the Eastland Disaster Historical Society, confirmed it.
Alex Revzan says he hopes his find will help him in his job hunt a she graduated in December with a master's degree in history.
A Nice Foot In the Door. --Cooter
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