Additional Photos

Additional Photos of the Eastland Monument

The Czech Consul lays a wreath.
Some of the crowd at the July 12 dedication
T.G. Masaryk Czech School perform
Children's art of the Eastland
A view of the Eastland Memorial at BNC
A close up of the Eastland Memorial's river stone
Some of the donor bricks
The upright stone front
The upright stone back
The river stone arrives
The Eastland-era ship's wheel
The crew from Bevel Granite Company

1. Borek Lizec, Consul General of the Czech Republic in Chicago, laid a wreath at the Eastland Memorial and addressed the attendees.
2. Some of the crowd at the July 12 dedication ceremony for the Eastland Memorial.
3. Klara Moldova, teacher at the T.G. Masaryk Czech School in Cicero, Illinois, played the Large Theme from Dvorak’s 9th Symphony. Students Emma Mechova and Albert Mech read from “Goin’ Home” by Dvorak’s student William Arms Fisher.
4. Children from the the T.G. Masaryk Czech School displayed their paintings of the Eaasstland.
5. A view of the Eastland Memorial at BNC after the dedication ceremony, showing the donor bricks from individuals and organizations, the Eastland-era steamship wheel, the wreath placed by the Czech Consul, flowers placed on the river stone by attendees, and the upright stone telling the Eastland story with pictures of the ship before and after the disaster.
6. A close up of the Eastland Memorial's river stone showing the ship's wheel and rippled surface.
7. Some of the donor bricks were on display at the dedication ceremony. Donations and designs for more bricks continue to come in.
8. The front of the upright stone. The text reads:

The SS Eastland was one of several large ships chartered by Western Electric Company to transport employees and their families and friends to the company picnic in Michigan City, Indiana. From a downtown wharf on the Chicago River, 2500 passengers boarded the steamer Eastland for the two-hour trip across Lake Michigan.

As the crew readied the ship for departure, the Eastland, still partially moored to the wharf, rolled over on its side, and 844 passengers and crew drowned, many trapped inside the enclosed decks of the ship.

This memorial is dedicated to the victims and survivors of the Eastland disaster, as well as to the many heroes and organizations that assisted in saving lives and bringing relief to those who suffered from this tragedy.

Dedicated in July 2015 Eastland Centennial Commemorative Project

The oval photos are these:
9. The back of the upright stone. The text reads:

Eastland Burials at Bohemian National Cemetery

You are standing in Section 16, where you will see the largest number of gravestones of Eastland victims. It had been opened just months earlier, and lots in this section sold quickly to families grieving lost loved ones.

As you read the inscriptions in Section 16, as well as in other areas of Bohemian National Cemetery, you can identify those of Eastland victims by the death date, July 24, 1915. On Czech-language stones, you might see the date written as "24. července 1915" with the month at times abbreviated as červ'ce or čer'ce. Also, some grave markers are inscribed "obět' Eastlandu" (victim of the Eastland) or "na lodi Eastlandu" (on the ship Eastland).

The porcelain photographs mounted on some of the gravestones are poignant reminders of the human loss. Many of the Eastland passengers were families and groups of friends looking forward to a summer outing with co-workers and neighbors. Sadly, most of those who died in the disaster were young adults and children.
```
Shall we meet when we land, I wonder?
I hope so, my friend, bye and bye;
You were swallowed up in the struggle,
I was grasped when ready to die.

Noble heroes, you men who, undaunted,
Risked life some one of us to save,
White lips will pray for you and bless you
Until they are hushed in the grave.

Dear bereaved, take heart in your sorrow;
Though the load is heavy to-day,
You will meet again some to-morrow –
They have gone just over the way.

May our lives be nobler and better
For this dark, bitter hour of pain;
Take heart, my dear friend, in the dawning
We shall meet our loved ones again!
```
Excerpted from "In Memoriam" Written in 1915 by Ida O. Anderson, Survivor of the Eastland Disaster
10. The river stone arrives at the memorial site.
11. The Eastland-era ship’s wheel is unwrapped and placed on the river stone.
12. The crew from Bevel Granite Company pose with their work after installing the upright information stone, the river stone, and the ship’s wheel.