Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

• Santa Fe Railway's Eastland Victims

  Send us a textA cemetery caretaker's steady act of tending graves becomes a powerful lesson in historical preservation and honoring forgotten lives. I'll share how this unassuming influence shaped my approach to uncovering and preserving stories of the people of the Eastland Disaster. This episode includes:The story of Mr. Schmidt, a German immigrant who tended church graves because, "I lost everyone over there."Continuing connections with Eastland disaster descendants seeking stories beyond names and datesUnexpected discovery of two Santa Fe Railway employees who perished on the EastlandDetails about Charles Stehlik, a 24-year-old machinist who died two weeks before his weddingInformation about Joe Hutchinson, a 20-year-old railway clerk whose brother, William, survived the disasterThe importance of fraternal organizations like the Modern Woodmen of America and Knights of Columbus in providing supportHow individuals rather than institutions often preserve the most meaningful historical detailsThe parallel between tending physical graves and preserving historical memoryResources:The Santa Fe Magazine (Google Books)Chicago Tribune, April 16, 1909The Inter Ocean, April 22, 1909 Chicago Tribune, July 31, 1915 Book website: https://www.flowerintheriver.com/ LinkTree: @zettnatalie | Linktree LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-z-87092b15/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zettnatalie/ YouTube: Flower in the River - A Family Tale Finally Told - YouTube Medium: Natalie Zett – Medium The opening/closing song is Twilight by 8opus Other music. Artlist

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• Good-Bye, Everybody: A City, A Ship, A Song

  Send us a text🛳️🎶 “Goodbye, Everybody…” That was the jaunty tune Benton Harbor residents remembered the Eastland playing from its calliope — long before the disaster.🎙️ In Episode 112 of Flower in the River, we travel to Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, Michigan — twin port cities on Lake Michigan — to uncover their overlooked connection to the Eastland. A year before the tragedy, the ship raced across the lake in a friendly steamer rivalry, cheered on by local crowds. It was a different time, full of hope and hometown pride. Then came July 24, 1915. And everything changed. 💬 This episode includes:Rare interviews with survivors and local witnessesForgotten details from small-town newspaper archivesThe eerie legacy of “Goodbye, Everybody” — remembered years later as the song that once echoed from the Eastland’s decks A city that cheered… and then mournedResources:The News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, Michigan), June 15, 1914The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor, Michigan), July 24, 1965“Good-Bye, Everybody,” Henry Burr, 1912. Library of Congress National Jukebox• Hilton, George W. Eastland: Legacy of the Titanic. Stanford University Press, 1995. See Chapter 3 for coverage of the St. Joseph–Chicago Steamship Company Book website: https://www.flowerintheriver.com/ LinkTree: @zettnatalie | Linktree LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-z-87092b15/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zettnatalie/ YouTube: Flower in the River - A Family Tale Finally Told - YouTube Medium: Natalie Zett – Medium The opening/closing song is Twilight by 8opus Other music. Artlist

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• From Valhalla Halls to River Graves — The Danish Heartbreak of 1915

  Send us a textGrief knows no borders. When Chicago's SS Eastland capsized in 1915, the tragedy didn't just devastate local families—it sent shockwaves all the way to Denmark, where anxious relatives waited for news that would forever change their lives.This episode unveils the forgotten Danish dimension of the Eastland disaster through contemporary Danish newspaper accounts that captured both the personal heartbreak and systemic failures behind the tragedy. We meet Anna Clausen and her eight-year-old daughter Ella, Danish immigrants who perished when the ship rolled over, leaving behind a husband/father and young son. Through Danish journalists' eyes, we witness how their community mourned—with Valkyrie Society members as pallbearers and little girls in white standing beside Ella's casket.The Danish perspective brings surprising depth to our understanding of the disaster. While Chicago officials worked to contain the narrative, Danish reporters asked pointed questions about safety, oversight, and accountability. "The American is certainly strong in a crisis," wrote one Danish journalist, "but he does not know how to prevent great disasters." This prescient observation feels as relevant today as it did over a century ago.Beyond the tragedy itself, we explore how Danish immigrants built vibrant communities in Chicago, creating cultural organizations, churches, and networks that connected them both to their new home and to the country they left behind. Their story reminds us that immigrant histories are transnational histories, flowing back and forth across oceans rather than existing in isolation.How about you? Have you discovered unexpected international connections in your family history research? Resources:Newspaper articles accessed via Mediestream, Royal Danish Library.Danish newspaper articles were translated using a combination of AI tools (ChatGPT, Google Translate) and historical handwriting recognition software (Transkribus), with final review and edits by the author.Encyclopedia of Chicago, “Danes” entry, Chicago History Museum. Book website: https://www.flowerintheriver.com/ LinkTree: @zettnatalie | Linktree LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-z-87092b15/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zettnatalie/ YouTube: Flower in the River - A Family Tale Finally Told - YouTube Medium: Natalie Zett – Medium The opening/closing song is Twilight by 8opus Other music. Artlist

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• The Red Socks Historian: Peter Alter and the Chicago History Museum

  Send us a textPeter 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 massive Zoom outage hit just before we were set to record. But like all good historians and podcasters, we adapted. Zoom came back to life minutes before our scheduled time, and we hit record.What followed was a rich, wide-ranging conversation about Chicago’s history, its immigrant communities, and the people who work behind the scenes to keep those stories alive. Here are some highlights from our talk:🧦 The Red Socks ConnectionPeter wears red socks to work every day in honor of Studs Terkel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and broadcaster. He shared a great story about helping Studs with a FedEx package back in 1999—and getting a signed note in return.🏛️ Museum HistoryFounded in 1856, the Chicago History Museum (still officially the Chicago Historical Society) is one of the city’s oldest cultural institutions—so old, Abraham Lincoln was one of its honorary members.🖥️ Explore From AnywherePeter highlighted several ways to explore Chicago’s past without leaving home:🌐 Chicago History Museum📚 Encyclopedia of Chicago 🌍 Immigrant Communities & Shared HeritagePeter’s knowledge of Serbian immigrant history in Chicago added real depth to the conversation. It reminded me of how rich and varied the city’s immigrant stories are—like those I’ve uncovered while researching the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America and other Polish fraternal organizations.We also discovered a shared connection to Carpatho-Rusyn heritage. I’m part Carpatho-Rusyn, and I didn’t expect Peter to know so much about that background. I mean, there are only about 1.5 million of us in the world! We ended up swapping family stories—including one about my aunt’s husband’s father, who worked as Al Capone’s upholsterer. And yes… there were blindfolds and mysterious car rides. Book website: https://www.flowerintheriver.com/ LinkTree: @zettnatalie | Linktree LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-z-87092b15/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zettnatalie/ YouTube: Flower in the River - A Family Tale Finally Told - YouTube Medium: Natalie Zett – Medium The opening/closing song is Twilight by 8opus Other music. Artlist

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  46:35
• History Doesn’t Speak One Language—Neither Did the Eastland Story

  Send us a textWhen 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.ResourceSkandinaven – July 28, 1915 (National Library of Norway) Book website: https://www.flowerintheriver.com/ LinkTree: @zettnatalie | Linktree LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-z-87092b15/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zettnatalie/ YouTube: Flower in the River - A Family Tale Finally Told - YouTube Medium: Natalie Zett – Medium The opening/closing song is Twilight by 8opus Other music. Artlist

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