25-Aug-19 – The organization that for the past 21 years has been preserving the names, faces, and stories of the 1915 Eastland Disaster will split its trove with three iconic Chicago-area institutions.

Eastland Disaster Historical Society says it is transitioning from a family-run, not-for-profit organization to becoming key assets within bigger organizations.

Newberry Library, an independent research library on the Near North Side, will get archives that include historical accounts and photographs from thousands of families, as well as records from Cook County Coroner’s Office, Red Cross, and Western Electric Company.

Chicago Maritime Museum, which has an exhibition on the Eastland Disaster, will get artifacts and reference books. Six other museums in the Great Lakes region will also get artifacts.

Eastland Disaster Historical Society will become part of the Chicago Genealogical Society, with EDHS executive director Ted Wachholz serving on the genealogical society’s board of directors.

“The iconic institutions with whom we are working are committed to protecting and honoring the work that EDHS started 21 years ago, ensuring that the stories of Chicago’s greatest tragedy will always be preserved and shared for generations in the future,” said Wachholz (left), whose wife and sister-in-law are granddaughters of a survivor of the Eastland Disaster.

On July 24, 1915, while docked at the Clark Street Bridge on the main branch of the Chicago River, the S.S. Eastland, an excursion boat loaded with Western Electric employees, their families and friends, rolled over, killing 844 people, including 22 entire families.

(Right) Seen from the opposite direction, the S.S. Eastland is raised after capsizing. (Click on image to view larger version.)

Materials will be delivered to the Newberry Library on West Walton Street over the next four months. The library says they will be available to users in 2020.

“The records in the Eastland Disaster collection are vital to family and local history, and to the national record as well,” said Matthew Rutherford, Curator of Genealogy and Local History at Newberry Library. “We are well-situated to provide access, assist researchers as they use the collection, and make it visible to audiences across Chicago and the rest of the country.”

Julie Benson, president of Chicago Genealogical Society, says integration of the two organizations is a “very natural and logical step for both entities” as both are focused on preserving and sharing the records of ancestors from Chicago.

Eastland Disaster Historical Society was founded in 1998 by Susan Decker and Barbara Decker Wachholz, granddaughters of Borghild Amelia Aanstad, a survivor of the Eastland Disaster.