Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

Remember the Eastland… and Sell More Insurance!

• Natalie Zett • Season 3 • Episode 118

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In this episode, I explore an aspect of the Eastland Disaster that’s rarely  investigated: the insurance industry’s response. It’s not as dry as it sounds!

We take a deep look at The Insurance Post, an independent trade journal published out of the Royal Insurance Building in Chicago in 1915. This was likely never meant for public eyes—and it offers a stark, often unsettling glimpse into how the insurance industry processed the Eastland tragedy.

📌 In this episode:

  • The surprising hub Chicago was for the early 20th-century insurance industry
  • What the 1915 Insurance Post really said about the Eastland—down to numbers, payouts, and public image
  • A glimpse into how working-class families tried to protect themselves with fraternal insurance
  • The chilling way insurance agents used the disaster to boost sales
  • A breakdown of “pass-the-hat” insurance and its not-so-charitable implications
  • We tend to trust numbers, but in a disaster like the Eastland, the math--whether insurance payouts or casualty numbers--deserves a second look.

📚 Bonus: Learn what a “baby elevator” was. (No, it’s not a metaphor. Yes, it’s as weird as it sounds.)

Resources:


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 118 of Flower in the River. I'm so glad you're here and I hope you're doing well.

Natalie Zett:

In the early 20th century, chicago wasn't just a rail hub or a meatpacking empire, or the home of Western Electric, for that matter. It was also a nerve center for the insurance industry and there was a publication called the Insurance Post. This was an independent trade journal headquartered in the Royal Insurance Building in Chicago, and it offered a front-row seat to the evolving world of fire codes, of compensation laws and yes, disaster coverage. After the Eastland capsized on July 24, 1915, killing hundreds of people, in a matter of minutes, the insurance post published details and I'll tell you right now very unsettling accounts of how insurance companies, investigators and city officials responded. These weren't sentimental stories. They were detached, procedural reports, claims addressed, liability debated and families often left to sort things out on their own. But hidden in these documents are stories that change one's perspective about the Eastland disaster and unfortunately, as far as I can tell, they've not been explored. So today we're going to talk about the insurance post.

Natalie Zett:

How did I find it? Google Books, where else? And I found it while researching the Eastland disaster. I'm not sure how long it's been there on Google Books, but it is a treasure trove and another facet of the history of the Eastland disaster. The particular compilation I found was from 1915, and there are 589 pages. Needless to say, I didn't read all of those and I'm sure there's even more there that someone who's interested in history overall will have so much fun with. It is astonishing how much it reveals, not just about the Eastland but about the insurance world at the turn of the 20th century. And as I was glancing over this, I thought there was so much we could have learned and so much that's been repeated. A lot of mistakes that have been repeated that maybe could have been stopped had we had an understanding of where we came from. But that is a theme with history when it hasn't been explored, the lessons aren't learned.

Natalie Zett:

People from the early 20th century want to teach us about this industry and about themselves and about how they saw the world. In recent episodes I talked about the policies that I found for various Eastland victims through the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America. As far as I know, these policies have not been unearthed since the time they were filed back in 1915. So it was wonderful to find these on FamilySearchorg, and these policies offered a rare insight into how these families tried to safeguard their futures through fraternal organizations. Since discovering those Polish Roman Catholic Union documents, I've wondered were there records from other insurers? I'm almost certain that there are, whether they still exist now, whether they've been lost or maybe not digitized and locked away in some archive we don't know that either. I kept asking, though, what else is out there, and finding the insurance post didn't quite answer that directly, but it did open up a much broader view of the insurance industry at that time, and it helped me to understand the response to the Eastland disaster. But judging by the tone of the writing, I doubt that the writers ever expected their words to reach the general public. In some cases they reveal a lot more about self-preservation than public service.

Natalie Zett:

Let's step back and provide context. I'll give you a high-level introduction to the Royal Insurance Building. The Royal Insurance Building. Its lifespan was from 1885 until 1920, and the location was 160 West LaSalle Street that information is from the wonderful chicagologycom website and it was designed by architect W W Boyington and completed in 1884, and it was one of Chicago's first steel frame skyscrapers, featuring a stunning interior atrium surrounded by nine stories of offices, and the building had 163 offices, six passenger elevators and even a quote-unquote baby elevator for quieter late night access.

Natalie Zett:

So in 1915, a baby elevator referred to a small dumbwaiter style lift I bet you've seen those in old movies and get this. It was typically used to move infants or small children between floors in large department stores, hospitals or even wealthy homes. Think of it as a tiny enclosed elevator, not meant for adults, used by caregivers or store staff to safely and quickly transfer babies, bassinets or small packages. I kid you not. These were also used, sometimes in orphanages or maternity wards. Safety standards back then? Well, let's just say they were questionable and some of these devices were hand-cranked or operated by pulleys and of course, as you can imagine, over time they fell out of favor due to safety concerns and modernization of buildings, and I don't know if I've ever heard of an accident with one of those, but I wouldn't be surprised. So that is what a baby elevator is.

Natalie Zett:

But back to the discussion of the Royal Insurance Building. It served a mix of tenants, by the way, board of trade operators, insurance professionals and railroad agents and similar businesses. This was a central hub in Chicago's financial district at that time and the building aggregated prominent industry players under a prestigious, architecturally advanced roof. This lends even more weight to the journal's insight and access to the unfolding of the Eastland disaster. So the insurance industry has existed for a long time in the United States and in 1915, there were a few main ways people, especially working class people, could be insured. They could be insured through industrial life insurance. These were small weekly premium policies sold by companies like Metropolitan and Prudential. Yes, they were around back then. They were heavily marketed to laborers and if you died your family might get a small sum of money. And there was also fraternal insurance. We've discussed this in quite a few episodes. These were mutual aid systems run by ethnic or religious organizations mostly. Think of Bohemian Lodges, slovak unions or Catholic benefits societies, for example. Members contributed to a common fund to help one another in times of need, death benefits included, and there were commercial insurance companies, and these were the big players, and they were mostly focused on businesses and higher income individuals. It sounds sufficient enough, right, but the Eastland disaster revealed just how fragile, how underfunded and how poorly regulated most of those systems were. What's interesting about this is that Chicago was not a stranger to massive disasters. I mean, they went through the fire in 1871, the Iroquois Theater fire in 1903. So it wasn't as if this hadn't happened previously, but I guess people don't want to think it will happen again. Lightning sometimes does strike twice.

Natalie Zett:

This is an article from the Insurance Post. The title of this article is Insurance and the Eastland Disaster. It appeared in the August 3rd issue of this publication and the subheading reads losses are very small in comparison with the number of lives lost. In comparison with the number of lives lost, insurance interest in the Eastland disaster in Chicago, by which over a thousand persons lost their lives, is more because of common sympathy for such a tragedy than because of any notable liability in the way of losses. The great majority of those who crowded on board the first boat of the series, due to sail at 7.30 o'clock in the morning were boys and girls and the cheaper employees, very few of which carried much if any insurance. The industrial companies, naturally, were the chief losers and the fraternal lodges in the neighborhood of the Western Electric Works also suffered severely. The industrial companies writing life insurance in Chicago are the principal losers in the Eastland disaster.

Natalie Zett:

It is estimated that the Metropolitan and the Prudential will pay nearly $100,000 each in industrial and ordinary claims and the John Hancock about $50,000. The Globe Mutual of Chicago expects 10 claims amounting in all to about $2,000. The industrial life insurance companies are pushing the claims of the Eastland disaster and are waiving nearly all the usual restrictions and requirements in order to give prompt assistance. The Prudential has about 200 industrial policies involved with an average claim of about $300, and estimates that its ordinary claims will run from $15,000 to $20,000. The Prudential paid its first claim at 1030 o'clock Monday morning. I'm assuming they're talking about July 26, 1915. That would be two days after the Eastland disaster Continuing. The John Hancock expects 100 claims in its industrial policies with an average of about $350, and so far has been notified of two ordinary claims of $1,000 each.

Natalie Zett:

H L Patton, manager of the claim department at the home office was in Chicago to expedite payments, which began Monday night. A large number of claims are expected among the Polish, bohemian and Jewish fraternal lodges which flourish in the neighborhood of the Western Electric Works. These are not able to waive the usual requirements, as is done by industrial companies, and the claims there will be delayed. Most of these concerns provided for a maximum indemnity of $250 up to age 18, $500 to age 21, and $1,000 above that. The Bohemian-Slavonian Union, which has its headquarters in the immediate vicinity of the works, which is the center of a large Bohemian settlement, reports that a number of its members are lost, but no claims have yet been received. This concern had receipts for 1913, the last report issued, of $69,520 and disbursements of $71,839, of which $59,270 was for death claims. Its total assets were $49,924 and its liabilities $5,947, of which $5,538 was for death claims due and unpaid. It had 6,113 policies in force at the end of the year, most of them in Chicago Slavonian Benefits Society, number 1208 West 18th Street and the Slavonic National Benevolence Society, number 2708 South Lawndale Avenue.

Natalie Zett:

Accident and life insurance companies were fortunate in that the first of the four boats chartered for the Western Electric Excursion foundered instead of one of the later vessels. Those who went on the first boat to sail at 7.30 were chiefly young people and the poorer class of employees carrying little or no insurance. If it had been one of the later boats that went down, it might have had on board a number of the high-salaried officials of the company, a number of whom carry accident and life insurance policies of from $50,000 to $100,000. The accident policies would have been doubled, of course, and the insurance claims have mounted up into the millions. The bonding companies are likely to suffer some losses on the treasurers of the numerous foreign and fraternal lodges in the vicinity of the Western Electric Works which have been hit hard by the disaster. These treasurers are usually bonded, and it is found that many of them, having counted upon a normal proportion of death claims, had used some of the surplus funds in their own business or had made investments not easily realizable. Many of them will be unable to replace the funds in time to meet the claims now due, and so the bonding companies will be held liable.

Natalie Zett:

Many questions have been raised as to whether the workman's compensation law of Illinois will apply to the employees of the Western Electric Company who were killed in the Eastland disaster. Chicago compensation, men hold that the law does not apply as the deaths did not result from the regular employment. The Illinois law covers accidental injuries sustained by any employee arising out of and in the course of the employment. It has been claimed that the employees were ordered to go on the excursion and were paid their regular wages and that this should bring the deaths within the scope of the compensation law. The company denies that the employees were ordered to go, although they were given the day off with pay, and holds that the excursion was organized by the Hawthorne Club, an association of employees. It is believed that there is nothing in the reports that the employees were coerced into going on the excursion for fear of losing their jobs, as the company had nothing to gain by such a course. None of the high-priced employees of the company took the early boat and the dead are chiefly among the younger and more poorly paid employees.

Natalie Zett:

The Western Electric Company maintains an insurance fund based upon length of service. On the death of any employee who has served from five to ten years, the family is given six months' salary and if the service is over ten years, a year's salary, with a limit of $2,000. Less than one-third of those killed were employees of the Western Electric Company. The majority of these had been in the company's service less than five years and so were not eligible for the benefit of its insurance fund. But to provide for these cases, the company has set aside a special fund of $100,000. In addition to this, the employees themselves maintained an insurance organization of their own, independent of the company's fund, operated on the assessment basis, as no provision was made for such a wholesale disaster. This fund is undoubtedly insolvent as no surplus was accumulated and any assessment to cover the deaths of all the members would be prohibitive to the survivors.

Natalie Zett:

So what did you think about that article from the Insurance Post? So again, this is a trade journal written by insurance people for insurance people of 1915. The public, I'm pretty certain, was never meant to see this. Well, let me share a few things that I've learned during the last couple of years, as I've done this deep research into the overall people of the Eastland disaster. Many not just one or two, but many employees reported that they were coerced into going on the picnic. Some were threatened with loss of their jobs if they did not attend. Western Electric employees, I've read more than once, had to cover the cost of certain outfit pieces hats, for instance for the company picnic. After all, this was as much a photo op as it was a picnic, and it was a chance for the company to promote its image. If you take even a quick look at Carl Sandburg's poem the Eastland, he corroborates this that employees were coerced into going.

Natalie Zett:

There's one more thing I want to comment on regarding that article in the insurance post. One thing I learned while taking statistics in college is that numbers can be manipulated, and this happens for so many reasons To assert authority, to dodge accountability or sometimes to cover up sloppy research. And once they're out there, those numbers tend to stick. So when we read the insurance post's breakdown of how much various companies paid out after the Eastland disaster, it's worth pausing. Did the writers have a bias, an agenda? Were they trying to protect the industry or did they want to simply appear credible and authoritative? We need to corroborate those numbers where we can, even though it's super challenging more than a century later. And whether it's insurance payouts or casualty numbers, we need to remember that leading with numbers is often a way to assert authority, but not necessarily accuracy. The clever thing about repeating unsubstantiated numbers is if you say them enough and you repeat them often enough. You don't have to do the hard work, people just assume you're the authority. So this provides a fascinating perspective on the Eastland Disaster's financial and legal aftermath.

Natalie Zett:

This article has a lot of information, but one of the highlights was the mention of workers' compensation. Of workers' compensation, since the excursion was company-sponsored but recreational. They're saying that there was uncertainty about whether Illinois workers' compensation would apply. The Western Electric Company had reportedly ordered employees to take the excursion at regular wages, which strengthened potential compensation claims. And yet there's more to this, for example, the mention of Western Electric maintaining an insurance fund and conducting their own assessments rather than relying solely on external insurers on external insurers. This suggests the company anticipated significant liability and was preparing for protracted legal battles. And this article also captures the immediate aftermath. It showed how these types of accidents exposed gaps in social safety nets and highlighted the vulnerable position of the working class.

Natalie Zett:

Those of us whose families arrived by boat in steerage at the end of the 19th or early 20th century that's generally what our people lived with. The people who come after that also find similar types of experiences. Like Mae West once said, the story's so old it should have been set to music long ago. Also, the clinical, business-focused tone contrasts sharply with the human tragedy, reflecting the era's approach to such disasters, and not just that era's approach, but across the board. Who focus on early 20th century Chicago will engage with the full 1915 run of the insurance post yes, all 589 pages of it. Their insights could shed light on the institutional mindset and broader dynamics of that era, dynamics of that era.

Natalie Zett:

And there's another article from the August 3rd 1915 issue of the Insurance Post, and it's actually a blurb called Pass the Hat, pass the Hat insurance has been shown up by the Eastland disaster With a wholesale claim. Few of the surviving members are willing to contribute when the hat comes around. This jab seems to be aimed at fraternal organizations or semi-mutual insurance schemes, probably ones that operated without real underwriting, relying instead on ad hoc contributions, otherwise known as passing the hat. However, there's always exceptions to rules and blanket statements like these because, as we learned in previous episodes, the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America seemed to do right by those who had policies with them. So what we just heard is a bit jarring, at least to me. It is, and I do want to reiterate that pass the hat insurance. It was not a compliment. It implied that there were no reserves, no sustainability, no structure and, after the Eastland, no reliability, no structure and, after the Eastland, no reliability. Was this entirely true? That remains to be seen, but this is what this publication is saying.

Natalie Zett:

This brief paragraph suggests that the insurance industry was actively promoting voluntary contributions from surviving policy members to help cover the massive claims resulting from the tragedy. That phrase pass the hat insurance indicates a cooperative approach where the industry essentially asked its customer base to help shoulder the financial burden. At least that's what it seems to be saying. The text notes that few of the surviving members are willing to contribute when the hat comes around, which suggests this voluntary contribution system wasn't working well. People were reluctant to pay beyond their regular premiums. The response reflects several important aspects of early 20th century insurance practices. Number one limited reserves. Insurance companies very well may not have had sufficient reserves to handle a catastrophic event like the Eastland, where so many people died in a single incident. Mutual aid philosophy the industry was still operating under older mutual insurance principles where policyholders shared risks collectively rather than the company bearing full financial responsibility. Public relations strategy by framing additional payments as voluntary contributions rather than mandatory assessments, companies could maintain goodwill while seeking additional funds. Then there was financial strain. The lukewarm response from policyholders quote few are willing to contribute. End quote. Suggests the disaster created genuine financial stress for the insurance sector. So this approach contrasts sharply with the modern insurance practices where companies are expected to have sufficient reserves and reinsurance to handle major catastrophes without seeking additional contributions from policyholders.

Natalie Zett:

We're going to continue still reading the August 3, 1915 issue of the Insurance Post, quote the industrial life insurance companies set a good example, as usual, by the efficient way in which they handled the problems presented by the sinking of the Eastland. They cut out all the red tape and sought to render a public service by paying the insurance money on demand and reasonable proof. This exemplified the old adage quote they give twice who give quickly. End quote. And industrial insurance will have thousands of new friends as a result of this evidence of its well-organized social service. End quote.

Natalie Zett:

There's another blurb on the same page, quote seldom has there been a great disaster with a smaller insurance than that resulting from the sinking of the Eastland, nor one where the victims were in greater need of insurance. End quote. So this reveals the complex dynamics at play in the insurance industry's response to the Eastland disaster. Don't forget that they too were scrambling, trying to figure out what to do, and the first paragraph and the first article praises industrial life insurance companies for their exemplary handling of the disaster cutting through red tape, paying victims, paying claims quickly on demand and reasonable proof, and turning this into a PR relations victory that would bring them thousands of new friends. Then the final paragraph, on the very same page, completely undercuts this narrative by stating that there has seldom been a greater disaster with a smaller insurance than that resulting from the sinking of the Eastland, nor one where the victims were in greater need of insurance. How can the insurance companies be praised for their efficient, generous response if the victims actually had very little insurance coverage and were in greater need of it? That's a question.

Natalie Zett:

Now, last but not least, we have another page from the August 3rd Insurance Post August 3rd insurance post, and this one it doesn't have a heading, but it's a series of pithy sayings, or bromides, I guess, about their industry. There are a couple of those that refer to the Eastland disaster. The first one says the Eastland should furnish the wide awake accident insurance agent with plenty of arguments in this vacation season. That's the first one, and the next one is remember the Eastland. Interspersed with these two pithy sayings are some additional sayings. Don't be satisfied with merely selling insurance policies. Sell policies that will fit the conditions and meet the need. The war is a year old and most of its threatened ill effects to this country never came to pass. Life insurance reformers are as human and prone to error as reformers in other lines, as human and prone to err as reformers in other lines. Knock wood and keep your fingers crossed as long as this low loss ratio continues. The worst of it is that we are getting accustomed to war Now for the convention season, talk peace and prosperity.

Natalie Zett:

I included those other blurbs not related to the Eastland to give you an idea of what was going on within that industry and within the world during that time. The world during that time. Let's look at the first blurb, where it says the Eastland should furnish the wide-awake accident insurance agent with plenty of arguments in this vacation season. Sounds so chipper, doesn't it? It's essentially saying that the accident insurance salespeople should use the disaster as a sales tool during vacation season, when people might be more concerned about travel risks. And then the final line remember the Eastland. Given the context of all of these brief punchy business observations. It doesn't read like a solemn memorial, but more like a sardonic reminder to the insurance industry, perhaps to remember what can happen or perhaps remember the business opportunities.

Natalie Zett:

I'm going to close here and we will continue next week, because there are a couple of very colorful personalities that I want to focus in on.

Natalie Zett:

But this episode already has so much in it and it's a very different, more bleak view of what happened after the Eastland disaster, in terms of how it was seen as both a liability and an opportunity for certain people, certain industries. So, on that note, we will be back with more from the insurance post, not all 589 pages of it, but selections that focus in on the Eastland disaster and its aftermath. Take care of yourself, take care of each other, and I will talk to you next week. 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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