April 12, 2025

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

37 minutes

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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)