Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told
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 didn’t know what happened--but because the stories of so many of the people involved were lost, overlooked, or never told.
In this episode, I share how I stumbled on a forgotten 156-page coroner’s inquest from 1915—led by Cook County Coroner Peter Hoffman—that’s been missing from most Eastland history sites and books. It’s packed with survivor testimonies, real-time emotion, and names you’ve probably never heard… because they’ve been left out.
I first came across a two-page summary tucked inside a set of insurance claim files for Eastland victims—people who had been insured through the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America, or PRCUA. I found them on FamilySearch, and that tiny breadcrumb led me to something big: the full 156-page coroner’s inquest, hiding in the University of Minnesota’s digital archives… practically in my own backyard. And now? I’m bringing it to light.
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