@zee1915
Author, podcaster, and occasional time traveler! My passion? The Eastland Disaster of 1915 in Chicago, which I turned into a book and a podcast. Plunge into the past with me for the stories that just won’t stay buried! https://linktr.ee/zettnatalie
New podcast ep: "From the Iroquois to the Eastland: One Firefighter, Two Catastrophes." We look at the Iroquois Theater Fire (1903), the Eastland Disaster (1915), and the man who saved lives in both. Podcast link: www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
I finish reading “Catastrophe on the Chicago River” (1916), a Czech-language account of the Eastland Disaster and its impact on Chicago’s Bohemian community. The article ends with an unexpected name: Anton J. Cermak. podcast: www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
“When Research Starts Talking Back” — I gave my 2025 Eastland retrospective to two AI hosts in NotebookLM and watched history reexamine itself. They followed the discoveries, the stalls, and the questions that keep the story alive. Listen here: www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
This episode shares new discoveries — including a death recorded in 1915 but never counted, and a great-grandmother whose face has now been seen for the first time in over 100 years. Listen to "The Search Goes On — Coincidence. Clarity. Resolve." here: www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
New episode: Pages, Faces, and Names Restored — A Czech Eastland Breakthrough
A 1916 Czech publication preserved 100+ photos of Eastland Disaster victims — many unseen for a century. I share the work of restoring these faces to public memory. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
🎙️ One Family, Two Losses, and a Voice That Went On.
A 1915 trade journal led us to the Kolar family—Julia and Anna, who died in the Eastland disaster, and Ella, who survived and became a soprano trained in Milan. Ep. link:
www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
The Eastland disaster didn’t end in 1915. Chrissie McNeal Lauritzen survived—but died seven years later from its effects. Her story was always there. It just waited to be recovered. Podcast link: www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
Fred Rabe escaped the 1915 Eastland Disaster with his family—then went back into the capsizing ship to save a trapped friend. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
Listen to "A Hero at the Porthole: The Rabe Family's Story" on Flower in the River Podcast.
New episode: “Fissures in the Archive.”
I’m walking through the insights that surfaced after two years of Eastland Disaster research and where the story is leading next. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
"Capsized. Kicked. Survived." Anna Meinert couldn’t swim. The Eastland rolled. A stranger kicked her away. She survived anyway — and her story was sitting in several newspapers the whole time. Link to Episode - www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
New episode: “The Rosetta Stone of the Eastland Disaster.”
How the early Eastland story first went online — and how it serves as a template for historical research. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
Wayback Machine comes through again.
🚨 Sirens. Floodwater. Shattering glass.
And a calm voice: “Just a moment, please.”
Listen to 🎧 *She Stayed on the Line: From the Eastland Disaster to the Front Lines of France*
👉 www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
"The Afterlife of a Story"
What happens when the storyteller is gone—but the story keeps rewriting itself?
A biography once held a family’s loss and a neighborhood’s response. Over time, it slipped into paraphrase and missing attribution.
Link : www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
From Sea to City: A Mariner’s Journey into Chicago’s Past 🌊
He once charted oceans—now he maps Chicago.
Designer-mariner Ryan Wilson shows how curiosity and creativity can turn archives into art—and history into a living map. Podcast: www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
🚢 In 1915, 17-year-old Peter Hardy, a Rusyn immigrant, dove into the Chicago River during the Eastland Disaster. He saved 10 lives—then walked home barefoot after looters stole his shoes. Listen to Shoeless in Chicago: A Rusyn Teen Hero of the Eastland www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
🌸 Honeymoon Interrupted 🌸
July 24, 1915 — Attorney Luke Burns was honeymooning in Chicago when his brother, a physician, called: the Eastland had capsized.
His eyewitness account was published once… then lost for a century. Until now. Podcast -https://www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/episodes/17747913
🎙️"Who Speaks for Dwight Boyer? The Storyteller Who Remembered Them All” (Part 2)
He’s a name you’ve likely never heard—yet he told the Eastland story back in 1971. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
🕵️♀️ Behind every researcher… there’s a cat supervising your every move.
Meet my research assistant, Marco Polo. He takes his job very seriously—especially when it involves blocking the monitor and sitting directly on the most important line of the document. #flowerintheriver #genealogyhelper
🎥 New episode drop:
Dwight Boyer: Forgotten Chronicler of the Eastland Disaster
Long before it was widely written about, Boyer captured the Eastland story with accuracy and depth. Complete Episode:https://www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/episodes/17592886
On July 24, 1915, the Eastland capsized in the Chicago River. Over 800 dead. But some stories didn’t end there.
🎧 Listen to “Inside the Eastland Morgue – Where Death Wasn’t Silent” for one man’s unforgettable account. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
🎭 He ran from acting… then ran into history.
In "Late for Death: Stranger Things--Eastland Edition," I share the stories of Tom Milton and Dr. Willard Haynes, who crossed paths with him again nearly 40 years later… www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
New episode, "Wired for Rescue: The Unsung Telephone Heroes of 1915," tells the untold stories of Bell Telephone Company heroes whose documented acts of courage are finally seeing the light after 110 years! www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
🎙 New Episode: She Took the Call. He Dove for the Lost. She Wrote Their Story.
All but one of the people in this powerful 1952 article by Olive Carruthers are missing from most Eastland Disaster histories—until now. Take a listen. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
Life Well Played
He was an unassuming man, a gifted musician who never made it to the “big time,” but his quiet courage shaped our family.
If I could tell him one thing now:
You were never less than. You were regal. Noble. And you always will be.
tinyurl.com/3ycuur3u
🎙️ "Three Stories. One Disaster. A Century of Silence."
This week, we revisit three overlooked voices from the Eastland Disaster: including —a survivor who saved lives and wrote about it,
and a poet who captured the grief in verse...and more... www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
🛳️ New Flower in the River episode: "Good-Bye, Everybody - A City, A Ship, A Song." Michigan’s forgotten link to the Eastland disaster.Benton Harbor. St. Joseph. Voices that were never heard. 🎼 And a song that still lingers. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
"I hung on down in there for 35 minutes before I was taken out." Real survivor testimonies from the Eastland disaster reveal the chaos, courage, and critical failures that led to Chicago's tragic day. Hear their voices in this week's Flower in the River podcast. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
The past isn’t as distant as it seems. The Eastland’s victims left behind receipts: forgotten letters, court testimonies, newspaper accounts—evidence of their lives.
"Receipts from the River— What the Departed Left Behind" uncovers these long-buried stories. www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
New Podcast: “Disaster Dodger – One Woman’s Escape Artistry”
Bertha Behrend Healy escaped three of America’s worst disasters:
⚠️ Johnstown Flood (1889)
🔥 Iroquois Theatre Fire (1903)
🚢 Eastland Disaster (1915)
Fate or luck? You decide. 🎧 Listen now: www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
The 1915 Eastland Disaster took 800+ lives, but what happened after has been overlooked.
💡 Fraternal insurance records reveal how families navigated loss, bureaucracy, and survival. New podcast: www.buzzsprout.com/2004303/epis...
