The General Slocum Disaster of 1904- A German-American Tragedy

 

1021 people, mostly women and children perished in the General Slocum Disaster of 1904. And yet, the tragedy is mostly forgotten.

Kleindeutschland (Little Deutschland) in New York City thrived through the 1800s into the turn of the century. German-Americans lived, worked, shopped, and worshipped in this thriving neighborhood. Then on June 15, 1904, 1358 people climbed aboard the General Slocum, a steam Paddleboat for a church picnic at Locust Grove on Long Island. Shortly after leaving the dock the ship caught fire, and horrible mistakes worsened the situation. Despite extraordinary heroic measures, only 321 passengers survived. Almost every family in Kleindeutschland was affected, and the tragedy is considered by many to be at the root of the community’s demise.

How could this happen?

The National Archives General Slocum Disaster, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The General Slocum Disaster of 1904

St Marks Evangelical Lutheran Church scheduled its annual picnic for June 15, 1904. This special event was a HUGE deal for the community. Locals looked forward to the excursion all year, and German-Americans who had already moved out of the crowded city returned to the old neighborhood to see friends and family. This year, the church booked a steam Paddlewheeler, the General Slocum to carry everyone to the picnic grounds on Long Island. To cover the $350 needed to pay for the ship and live band, tickets were sold at 50 cents a person. More income came from a souvenir program containing advertisements from German-American companies in the region.

Because it fell on a Wednesday, a workday, the passengers were mostly women and children. Some servants and older relatives came along to help mothers with young children. It was such a popular event that people from outside the German community even bought tickets. Everyone dressed in their finest clothing for the special event. People chatted with friends, and children ate ice cream on board. The departure from the East 3rd Street Pier was delayed from 8:45 to 9:40 so that the stragglers could all get on board.

The Band played “Eine Feste Burg ist Unser Gott” (“A Mighty Fortress is our God”) as they got underway.

At 9:56, Frank Pradzicky noticed smoke and flames coming from a stairway and ran to tell Captain William Van Schaick. The Captain, who had been on the General Slocum since its christening, thought the 12-year-old was playing pranks… and told him “Get the hell out of here and mind your own business“.

Shortly after this, he realized that the ship was burning. Rather than steer the ship into the waterfront in Queens or the Bronx, he went full steam ahead attempting to reach North Brother Island, almost a mile away. The wind caused the flames to spread. By the time the General Slocum ran aground at North Brother Island at 10:25, she had burned to the waterline.

prisoners of eternity, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 

How did so many die?

Just 6 weeks before the fateful journey, the General Slocum passed an inspection by the US Steamboat Inspection Service. But they missed a few things.

The life jackets hanging in the rafters were worse than useless. The canvas coverings tore like paper when they were pulled down. The cork inside disintegrated… or worse… was filled with lead to give it the proper weight. The ship’s lifeboats were wired to the decks, and couldn’t be pried loose.

At that time, not many people could swim, and their heavy clothing and the faulty life jackets weighed them down. Passengers on deck had to make a choice between two horrible options, burning or drowning. Those below decks didn’t have a choice, they were trapped by the fire.

Nearby ships rallied to help, and tried to get close enough, risking catching fire themselves,  for people to jump abord. People on shore swam out to pull victims from the water. A group from a sanitarium formed a human chain to get out to the victims and bring them to safety. Nurse Nellie O’Donnell couldn’t swim, but somehow managed to dog-paddle out and saved 10 people. (source– Disappearing New York)

In the end, only 321 passengers survived.

 (via en.wikipedia.org by Richard Arthur Norton), Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsWithin an hour of the General Slocum reaching North Brother Island, the first newspaper stories with stories of the Tragedy were on the streets. The early reports stating that 100 people died. Family members and neighbors raced to the scene hoping to find their loved ones. Bodies were brought to Manhattan for identification, but there was no organized way of knowing who was on board… who survived… and who perished. Bodies washed ashore for days.

Over the next week, officials went door to door in Kleindeutschland trying to get a handle on the numbers.

The first funerals took place on June 17th. That day over 200 people were buried. Ministers from other churches and other faiths were called in to help. It seemed that every family in the neighborhood was affected.

(The St Mark’s community immediately set up a fund to help survivors with the costs.  Those proud German-Americans wanted to refuse any “charity”. Finally, they were convinced to accept the help after the committee promised to burn the list of all payments after the money was disbursed.)

H.C. White Co., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons 

The Aftermath

After the disbelief and sorrow came the anger.

An investigation charged Captain Van Schaick, his First Mate, the US Steamboat Inspection Service, and the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company with criminal neglect. Unfortunately, after 2 years of trials, only the Captain was found guilty, and sentenced to 10 years in jail (He was pardoned in 2 by President Taft due to his advanced age after being petitioned by Van Schaick’s wife).

On June 26th, the New York Times wrote “Although the exact number of victims is not know, and can not be known for days, it is already certain that the burning of the General Slocum holds the melancholy record of like “disasters” in these waters”. In fact, the General Slocum held the record for loss of life in New York city tragedies until Sept. 11, 2001.

Today, you won’t find many signs on Kleideutschland in New York City. Although the demographics of the area were already shifting, and people were making the move to the suburbs, the disaster seemed to take the life out of the area. In her book “The Great Disappearing Act: Germans in New York City 1880-1930″, Christina A Ziegler McPherson argues that Kleindeutschland was already shrinking, and that because most German-Americans were already 2nd and 3rd generation, the loss of Kleindeutschland was inevitable. Still, I can’t help but feel that the disaster would have sucked the life out of this thriving community.

As for why the General Slocum disaster is almost forgotten? Perhaps people didn’t want to remember… and then with the suppression of German-American culture in WWI, maybe people wanted to forget.

In September of 1904, A Verein was formed; the Organization of the General Slocum Survivors. They erected a monument in the All Faiths Cemetery in Middle Village Queens dedicated to the 61 unidentified victims of the disaster buried there. And there is a monument to all of the General Slocum victims in Tompkins Square Park. The inscription reads-

“In memory of those who lost their lives in the disaster to the Steamer General Slocum June 15 , 1904
They were Earth’s purest, children, young and fair”

Dedicated by the Sympathy Society of German Ladies in the Year of our Lord 1906.

via Wikipedia Public domain

Much of my information comes from The Great Disappearing Act by Christina Ziegler-McPherson. If you have an interest in German-American history in New York, I highly recommend picking this one up for your library. 

References

The Great Disappearing Act: Germans in New York City 1880-1930 by Christina A Ziegler-McPherson 

The Great Slocum Disaster NY Public LIbrary BLog

New York Times, June 26, 1904

Roadside America General Slocum Memorial

New York City Monuments