Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told
"Flower in the River" podcast, inspired by my book of the same name, explores the 1915 Eastland Disaster in Chicago and its enduring impact, particularly on my family's history. We'll explore the intertwining narratives of others impacted by this tragedy as well, and we'll dive into writing and genealogy and uncover the surprising supernatural elements that surface in family history research. Come along with me on this journey of discovery.
Podcasting since 2023 • 110 episodes
Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told
Latest Episodes
The Red Socks Historian: Peter Alter and the Chicago History Museum
Peter Alter—Chief Historian and Director of the Studs Terkel Center for Oral History at the Chicago History Museum—joins me for this episode, and what a conversation it turned out to be.We nearly had to cancel. A mas...
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Season 3
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Episode 110
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46:35
History Doesn’t Speak One Language—Neither Did the Eastland Story
When history speaks, it rarely does so in just one language.In this episode of Flower in the River, I take you on a journey I never expected—deep into international newspaper archives that covered the 1915 Eastland disaster in C...
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Season 3
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Episode 109
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37:14
Blood Across the Ocean: When Chicago's Disaster Shook Poland
A breakthrough discovery reveals how news of the 1915 Eastland disaster reached across the Atlantic to Poland, unearthing voices unheard for over a century. While exploring the Silesian Digital Library—an extraordinary archive of Polish publica...
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Season 3
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Episode 108
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32:04
The "I Don't Know" Man: From Eastland Disaster to Salvage Czar
The untold stories of Chicago's deadliest disaster continue to emerge from dusty archives and forgotten legal documents. In episode 107, "The 'I Don't Know' Man: From Eastland Disaster to Salvage Czar," we dive deeper into the coroner's inquest...
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Season 3
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Episode 107
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35:25
The Coroner, The Catastrophe, and the Inquest
A long-overlooked document adds a vital missing piece to the Eastland Disaster story.For over a century, the full account of what happened when the SS Eastland capsized in downtown Chicago has remained incomplete—not because we di...
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Season 3
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Episode 106
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34:11
