Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

History Doesn’t Speak One Language—Neither Did the Eastland Story

• Natalie Zett • Season 3 • Episode 109

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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 Chicago. What started with the discovery of Polish-language coverage has now expanded to include a stunning find: a Norwegian-Danish newspaper called Skandinaven, published right in Chicago for the Scandinavian immigrant community.

Just four days after the disaster, Skandinaven published a nearly 7,000-word article—beating many of the major English-language papers with its depth and detail. Thanks to a mix of old-school research and new AI translation tools, I was able to dig through both language barriers and ornate Fraktur script to uncover scenes that had been buried for over a century.

Some of the most moving accounts come from the hospitals and the river’s edge: a trembling seven-year-old girl whispering, “My mother has drowned. She said goodbye to me.” Or Elmer Nelson, a steelworker (and grandfather of Eastland historian Dave Nelson), who defied orders, cut through the hull, and saved lives trapped below deck.

These aren’t just side notes—they’re core parts of the Eastland story that were lost in translation or never translated at all.

History, as I’ve come to learn, isn’t fixed. It’s living, vibrant, and often louder than we realize—especially when we’re willing to listen across languages and borders. I’ll be continuing this exploration in future episodes, diving into coverage from Hungary, Germany, and Swedish-American newspapers. Because if we’re going to tell the truth about history, we need to hear from everyone—especially the ones who’ve been left out.

Resource

Skandinaven – July 28, 1915 (National Library of Norway)


Natalie Zett:

Hello, I'm Natalie Zett and welcome to Flower in the River. This 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. Hey, this is Natalie and welcome to Episode 109 of Flower in the River. I hope you had a good week. Hope you're doing well. So last week I shared something that I consider very special. So last week I shared something that I consider very special Newspapers from Poland in 1915 that covered the Eastland disaster. Genealogists and historians in the audience. You can probably guess how exciting that was.

Natalie Zett:

To date, I had only found non-English speaking newspapers printed in the United States. That's a great find. But outside of the United States, the only newspapers I had been able to locate until this point were from England and Ireland, canada, australia and New Zealand, and I never expected to find newspaper coverage in non-English speaking newspapers during that time. But I did and that was just thrilling. These papers told the story with very vivid detail and deep emotion how the ship capsized, how safety was ignored and how immigrant communities, especially the Polish families in Chicago, were devastated. So, as usual, I published the podcast, but I also was compelled, because of the various images that I saw on these Polish digital libraries. I wanted to share some videos too, to give people an idea of the depth and the beauty and the range of artwork and creations that were done in the area now known as Poland during that time period. So I put a few of those out with some music and, of course, referred people back to the podcast. And then something unexpected happened Quite a few people, actually a lot of people, who are now living in Poland. They subscribed to my newsletter or started following me on social media.

Natalie Zett:

I can't know for sure without talking to these individuals, but maybe listening to the podcast made the story of the Eastland disaster feel close to home. Maybe the Eastland disaster felt personal for those people who are now living in Poland. That's what I'm going for with history, by the way. I want people to see themselves, their lives reflected in the lives of these people from long ago and far away. But really it's not that long ago and sometimes it's only a heartbeat away. It was something that happened to their people, their countrymen and women who crossed the ocean at the end of the 19th century, early 20th century, seeking a better life, and they never came back. Not only did they never return to their home countries, they never even went back to their homes in Chicago. And that is the power of story it bridges oceans and it collapses time sometimes, and it draws us back in.

Natalie Zett:

My intent with this podcast is to build bridges and not erect walls, so I want to open the story of the Eastland to everyone and anyone, but I did not anticipate finding this wonderful bridge of these newspapers that were published in Poland, so after discovering those newspapers, I thought what other non-English-speaking countries also published news during that time about the Eastland disaster, and I want to introduce one of these to you. So I visited the Digital Archive, which is the Norwegian National Archives publishing platform, just to see if they had anything at all about the Eastland disaster. Again, so many countries do a beautiful job with preserving their history, and Norway is one of those, and I found a newspaper that appeared to be published in Norway, and I thought this is great. How lucky am I. The first barrier, though, was not the language, but the issue with this particular newspaper that featured the Eastland disaster was the script that was used, for this newspaper appeared to be the old Frachter script, and the word Frachter is F, like Frank R-A-K-T-U-R. So we're going to need to go down a rabbit hole just for a minute or two.

Natalie Zett:

So Frachter's script is a distinctive form of black letter typeface and I think it had its origins in Renaissance Italy, but again, there's a lot of conflict and disagreement about how this came about. But it came into prominence in 16th century Germany and it's known for its dramatic, angular appearance sharp vertical lines, ornate curves and elaborate capitals that make it look more like calligraphy than print. In fact, a lot of calligraphers use it. It came into its own during a time where people would hand copy manuscripts. Yes, indeed, and I describe it as font meets artwork. Some of it is just beautiful and to our eyes Frachter can seem a bit intimidating or difficult to read, but for centuries it was standard, especially in German-speaking regions, for everything from newspapers to Bibles. In fact I have copies of prayer books from my grandparents that were published at Concordia Publishing House at the turn of the 20th century and they're all in that Frachter script.

Natalie Zett:

By the 19th and early 20th century, frachter was deeply embedded in the visual identity of German-speaking publications, and this was true both in Europe and abroad, and that included immigrant newspapers published in the United States Not all of them, but quite a few. By the way, this also encompassed the Scandinavian communities who wanted to preserve their languages and cultural traditions. My question was why is Frachter being used for a Norwegian newspaper? And what I learned is that Norwegian language newspapers published in America, like the one I'm about to share with you, language newspapers published in America like the one I'm about to share with you, often borrowed stylistic elements from their German counterparts, even though the Norwegian language didn't traditionally use Frachter in Norway. As far as I could tell, some immigrant publishers in places like Chicago adopted Frachter for, who knows, maybe aesthetic or cultural reasons. It gave the newspaper an old-world gravitas. That's the only reason that I could think of why they might use it if they didn't commonly use it, and it made it recognizable to readers who saw it as a symbol of heritage and continuity.

Natalie Zett:

And Frachter and similar scripts are quite different than the alphabet we're used to, which, by the way, is often called the Latin script, but more commonly known as the Roman alphabet. That's how far back our language representation goes. So that's a brief and unsourced cited history behind Fracture Script. But my challenge was could any of the AI tools actually read Fracture Script? Let me tell you what happened. The first challenge with this particular newspaper was the Fracture Script, but I had another challenge as well. This particular article that I found in this newspaper was over 7,000 words. To put it in perspective, when I was writing for local community newspapers, the word count for each paper and it was physical paper first and then digital anywhere from 500 to 1,000 words per article. That is when I've written for trade magazines or consumer magazines. Sometimes they would go to perhaps 3,000 words, but seldom beyond that. So 7,000 words, that's a lot of words to describe what happened in 1915 in Chicago. So we had two challenges the Fractor script that was used and the amount of coverage.

Natalie Zett:

And, to make a long story short, I did find a way to get that translated. First of all, one of my AI tools was able to read it, and then I was able to take that Roman alphabet Latin script. That's what we're used to seeing. I took that and put that into several translation tools that I have used for a while and pretty much they aligned with one another. So this newspaper was called Skandinavien. It means Scandinavian, but they called it Skandinavien. And here's the thing I thought it was published in Norway. It was not. Here's the thing I thought it was published in Norway, it was not. That's another reminder to make sure to investigate and not assume something just because you found it in a location.

Natalie Zett:

Skandinavien was a prominent Danish and Norwegian newspaper published in Chicago, yep Chicago From 1866 to 1941. It was founded by John Anderson, a Norwegian immigrant, who saw the need for a publication that served the large Scandinavian community in the Midwest, particularly in Chicago, which had a significant number of Danish, norwegian and Swedish immigrants. Also, they seemed to publish versions of it or issues of it in Minneapolis, st Paul, where I live Not a surprise because there are so many Norwegian, danish and Swedish immigrants who live here as well. First I was disappointed. I thought, dang, I wanted something from Norway from that time period. However, when I got into this newspaper, I was not disappointed, and this is the very first time I have been faced with 7,000 plus words about the Eastland disaster in a single article, that is. So I'm going to probably have to spread this out over several podcast episodes because there is so much going on. So since we have so many words, let's jump in. This is from the newspaper Skandinavien, and the date of this issue was July 28, 1915.

Natalie Zett:

The Eastland disaster happened on July 24th, so four days later. This paper beat out several of the English-speaking papers, by the way, in terms of detailed coverage. So once again we've got a whole other community within a community that saw the disaster differently, and let's just see what they have to say. Hundreds of men, women and children perished in Chicago, and before I start reading, you're going to hear a lot of wild numbers being bandied about, and you've heard this too in other earlier accounts of the Eastland disaster. All kinds of numbers were thrown about. I don't think we'll ever be able to come up with a real number, but let's just say there were over 800 people who died that day and many who died after the event too. I doubt that they are accounted for, by the way, so let's continue.

Natalie Zett:

Next subheading is A Terrible Shipwreck. 1,500 people lose their lives as the steamboat Eastland capsizes on its side in the Chicago River with 2,500 passengers on board, many Scandinavians on the list of the dead. Detailed report on the disaster. A terrible accident occurred at 7.40 on Saturday morning when the large excursion steamer Eastland of the St Joe-Chicago line, carrying 2,500 passengers bound for an excursion to Michigan City, capsized at the dock in the Chicago River between LaSalle and Clark Streets just as it was about to cast off and depart. Hundreds of passengers who had gone below deck to the cabins and lounges were trapped as the water rushed in and drowned, while other hundreds who were on the deck were thrown into the river. The whole event took just a few seconds. It is claimed that the ship was overloaded and that so many passengers had gathered on one side that it caused the boat to tip over. It is also stated that the ship was licensed to carry 2,500 passengers, but there were reportedly 3,000 on board. A government inspector had been on board shortly before the accident and ordered several hundred people to disembark. A large number of the passengers were employees from Western Electric Company, along with many families who were just going on the big annual outing to Michigan City. Over 6,600 tickets had been sold for the excursion, which was to be conducted with the steamers Roosevelt, Petoskey and Racine. Eastland was the first boat scheduled to depart and the other boats were in the process of taking on passengers, so, right out of the gate they are setting the tone for what is about to occur in this article. And as for the numbers, we know that early reports in these various publications were way off with the numbers, but we keep them in there just to see how different they were and how to corroborate this type of thing. The numbers of people who were killed is nearly impossible, but you can get a little closer to the reality as time passes and as the bodies are recovered and claimed Rescue efforts.

Natalie Zett:

As soon as the first signal of the accident was given, boats from all sides rushed to rescue the drowning. A Chicago fireboat stationed at LaSalle Street was the first to arrive, shortly, followed by other fireboats and units from the fire and police departments. Ambulances were dispatched from almost every station in the city to help transport the injured and the dead. Within half an hour, the efforts to save the survivors were almost over. Save the survivors were almost over. During the rescue of those who had fallen into the river, desperate cries could be heard from those trapped on the lower decks and in the cabins. Firefighters began cutting holes in the side of the ship. It took an hour before they succeeded and by then there was little hope of rescuing anyone from that side which was under the water. Heart-wrenching scenes. Heart-wrenching scenes.

Natalie Zett:

News of the accident brought tens of thousands of people to the scene. Crowds poured out of streetcars and filled the docks and nearby bridges. At the Clark Street Bridge, such a large mass of people gathered that there was a danger of the bridge collapsing. Mass of people gathered that there was a danger of the bridge collapsing. It was noticed that the bridge began to sag and in some places it gave way under the weight of the crowd, prompting a detachment of police to clear it. The bridges along the river at Fifth Avenue, dearborn State and Rush Streets were also packed with people. I also want to add that this is one of the few articles that give a panoramic look at not just the disaster itself, but they're showing us what happened around the disaster, the people that it drew into that area, and we're going to continue.

Natalie Zett:

Heart-rendering scenes at the hospital. Heartbreaking scenes unfolded at Iroquois Hospital, where ambulances continuously brought the injured, dying and dead. Many doctors arrived from all directions to offer their assistance to the hospital, without stopping at his office in City Hall, and personally took charge of the effort to save hundreds of half-drowned and injured people who were brought in. Distressed men and women rushed in and out of the various rooms desperately seeking relatives. One hysterical woman fled and tried to escape from the doctors who were attempting to help her. Quote my sister, my poor little sister, she cried is dead. Oh, she is dead. She is dead, my dear little sister. Nearby stood a grieving woman with folded hands. Quote my husband. She said I pulled him from the water.

Natalie Zett:

Grief-stricken families. A woman cried my little girl. I thought she was here, but she is not here. May God help them. The seven-year-old Edna Hill, 3506 Rita Avenue, stood alone in the corner, trembling and crying. 6 Rita Avenue. Stood alone in the corner, trembling and crying. My mother has drowned. She said goodbye to me was all she could say.

Natalie Zett:

A small child was brought in by the police. Its arms hung limply Out of the crowd. A woman rushed forward. It is Martha. It is my little baby. She cried. Oh, save her, dear God.

Natalie Zett:

The room was filled with heartbreaking scenes. I want to pause again because this is the first time I have heard this type of detailed account from inside the hospital. Most of the names mentioned are unfamiliar to me and they need further investigation. But it gives another intimate feeling of how this affected these people. We'll continue reading the article.

Natalie Zett:

A Moment's Work. This terrible accident only took a few minutes. According to many eyewitnesses it lasted just four or five minutes. One moment the deck was filled with laughing and happy people eagerly looking forward to a day of outing in the open air. In the next moment, 2,000 people were fighting for their lives, many trapped in the ship like a cage. As the gangway was lowered, passengers rushed to the side facing the river. The first slight tilt caused no harm and the atmosphere of cheerfulness continued. But as the tilt grew more severe, panic spread from bow to stern. A terrible panic erupted as the terrified people tumbled around in a frantic struggle, but it lasted only a few minutes. Before the large ship lay overturned on its side.

Natalie Zett:

A silent, grave Rescue and Recovery Efforts. Around a hundred people were clustered on the ship's side, which reached several meters above the water, while others were lifted out by people fighting for their lives Using ropes and whatever was at hand. The desperate rescue efforts began and eventually it was possible to save several hundred. At the same time, the recovery of bodies started In the nearby streets. The dead were laid out in long rows and the nearest garages were converted into morgues. Once more, order was established. The bodies were taken to hospital morgues and undertakers' premises. All types of vehicles were used for this—ambulances, trucks, hearses. The streets were so crowded that the police had difficulty clearing a path for the vehicles. Meanwhile, intensive efforts at resuscitation continued Hour after hour. The doctors who arrived in large numbers worked with resuscitators, but mostly with negative results. Mayor Thompson was telegraphed about the disaster by the acting mayor and immediately arranged for a special train to take him back to Chicago. Governor Dunn was also informed and sent telegraphic orders.

Natalie Zett:

Until a thorough investigation is conducted, the real cause of the accident is unlikely to be clarified. Chicago has not experienced a catastrophe comparable to this one since the Iro Fire in New York in 1904, which claimed a thousand lives. The Eastland was pointed out toward Lake Michigan and capsized north from dock on the south side of the river. Some say it was in the middle of the river, while others claim that only the gangway was lowered and the fastenings broke. One theory is that the sudden rush of passengers to one side unbalanced the ship and the ballast tanks were not filled quickly enough. Another claimed that the ship had more passengers than it was allowed, although this was denied by government inspectors. There is a slight break here because actually the newspaper itself was cut off, but I will continue. When Eastland moved out of the river, a signal had been given to start before mooring lines had been released, causing the boat to be struck on the side.

Natalie Zett:

An in-depth investigation into the causes of the catastrophe has been initiated by both federal authorities and municipal authorities. A grand jury summons was issued shortly after the accident, announced by WA Greenbaum, general manager of the Indiana Transportation Company, who had leased the steamer for the day from the St Joseph Steamship Company. Shortly before the United States District Court adjourned at midday, district Attorney Charles F Klein appeared before Judge Landis and requested the issuance of an order to convene a special grand jury to investigate the catastrophe. Judge Landis issued the order and the jury commissioners were instructed to select 60 names from which the jury would be drawn. Us Marshal Bradley was ordered to mobilize his entire force to summon the jurors. Outsiders will be notified by special delivery order. Government Orders Investigation.

Natalie Zett:

As soon as news of the disaster reached Washington, the acting Secretary of Commerce Silbert gave orders to the Steamboat Inspection Service to conduct an investigation to determine whether there are any flaws in the ship's construction or any negligence on the part of the federal inspectors. He announced that inspectors from other cities would be sent to Chicago to assist in the investigation if deemed necessary. Quote Approximately 2,500 people, most of them women, young girls and small children, were on board, said Robert S McCreary, deputy collector of customs, who had the oversight, and confirmed that no more people were allowed on board than permitted. Quote I personally stopped others from coming on board, he said, as the counting devices showed 2,500. I have a personal opinion about the cause of the accident but I will not express it until I am called as a witness during the investigation.

Natalie Zett:

Wanted to lynch the captain, harry Peterson, captain of the Eastland, was in danger of being lynched by the enraged crowd when he ordered that no hole should be cut into the ship's side as firefighters attempted to create an opening to reach the trapped passengers. He was rescued and placed under arrest by Assistant Police Chief Schuttler. When the boat capsized on its side, faint cries could be heard from the inside. Firefighters got up and tried to break an opening with their axes, while others attempted to break the iron plates loose using crowbars and sledges. When the captain tried to prevent this. The onlookers became furious, with many shouting Drown him, drown him. Schuttler saved him by arresting him. He also arrested first mate Fisher and mechanic Nistler. They were taken aboard the fireboat Graham-Steward and from there to Schuttler's office at City Hall. The doors were locked and four police officers guarded the area to ensure that no one could speak to them. They will be questioned by the police. Coroner Hoffman and Assistant State's Attorney.

Natalie Zett:

Case Heroic Efforts of a Steelworker. E Nelson, 8807 Princeton Avenue. A steelworker at the New Boston store building left his work to help with the rescue. He said he started working with an acetylene torch to burn a hole in the iron plates. At the request of the police and firemen. He explained that the captain ordered him to stop and go away. I said to him I am working under police orders, nelson said, but he claimed that he was in command and that I had to stop. I did, but then he was arrested and I continued my work. We made a hole in the side of the ship and through it I saw three women being pulled out. Women being pulled out.

Natalie Zett:

I will pause right here because we haven't even made a dent into those 7,000 words in the article. So the person that we just heard about the steel worker was most likely Elmer Nelson, who was the grandfather of Dave Nelson, and Dave was one of the first people to start gathering Eastland artifacts and he had an Eastland museum and actually a traveling museum. I visited him once in the late 90s when he was downtown Chicago. So he was one of the first people to really keep the story of the Eastland alive and he befriended Libby, ruby and other survivors and made sure that their stories were told as well. So, as always, hats off to Dave. I think he's enjoying his retirement at this point, but it's his granddad that was the steelworker was the steelworker. And, to remind you, you were listening to an article about the Eastland disaster from the Skandinavian paper, which was published in Chicago in Norwegian and Danish. This article that you were listening to was published on July 28, 1915.

Natalie Zett:

And here's the caveat this is a translation and again, I had to go through several layers to get this translation. First of all, the ornate, beautiful but sometimes not too functional Fracture's script. But here's the good news Artificial intelligence can really help us. Many of us in genealogy are using this to crack the codes of some of these older texts and of course, this would need to be checked against other resources, but I hope that this brings home the point of why all of the voices need to be heard in a situation like this. What I was able to translate was very sophisticated, very detailed, and it certainly gave me more of a panoramic view in terms of what was going on after the ship capsized, after people were being pulled out.

Natalie Zett:

This, again, is another reason why we need to have all of the accounts accounted for and stored someplace where people have access to them. That helps us create a responsible history when we're dealing with something as complicated as the Eastland disaster. With the recovery of these texts from all over the world, we can get a much more complex picture of what happened. It's always important with history, with eyewitness accounts, that we get different perspectives, and this is history, it is a living thing. The Eastland history is something we will never be able to contain or gatekeep or anything like that, but it is alive, it is vibrant and it's dynamic, and we haven't gotten into the details of some of the Scandinavian lives that were affected by this, at least in this article, but we will do that later.

Natalie Zett:

But I wanted to set the stage for you and to again say how incredible a find it was by locating those Polish newspapers a few weeks ago and then wondering what else has been ignored or needs to be rediscovered. And voila, norwegian-danish papers as well. Also, in future episodes, I will talk about papers in Hungary. In future episodes, I will talk about papers in Hungary, germany, swedish-american papers and different language papers that did cover the Eastland disaster, and to date I've not seen any of this in any of the digital spaces that have been devoted to the Eastland disaster.

Natalie Zett:

What I will do with this article is I will copy it, because it is public domain, and I will give proper attribution, of course, put it on my website so you can take a look at it in its original, and I will also include my translation with all the caveats that I can put on it, because it should be taken with a grain of salt, but it is a beginning of a research project with a grain of salt, but it is a beginning of a research project. That's how I would like you to look at this and similar articles and original source material, and I will also take the newspaper and put it up on the Internet Archive so people can locate it in the future if they are doing research. So I hope you enjoyed this article and I will have more for you next week, I promise. Take care and have a good week, all right. Goodbye for now.

Natalie Zett:

Hey, that's it for this episode and thanks for coming along for the ride. Please subscribe or follow so you can keep up with all the episodes, and for more information, please go to my website, that's wwwflowerintherivercom. I hope you'll consider buying my book, available as audiobook, ebook, paperback and hardcover, because I still owe people money and that's my running joke. But the one thing I'm serious about is that this podcast and my book are dedicated to the memory of all who experienced the Eastland disaster of 1915. Goodbye for now.

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