There were few experienced swimmers among over 1,300 Lower East Side residents who boarded the General Slocum on June 15, 1904. It shouldn’t have mattered, since the steamship was chartered only for alanguid excursion from Manhattan to Long Island Sound. But a fire erupted minutes into the trip, forcing hundreds of terrified passengers into the water. By the time the captain found a safe shore for landing, 1,021 had perished. Ship Ablaze draws on firsthand accounts to examine why the death toll was so high and how the city responded. Masterfully capturing both the horror of the event and the heroism of men, women, and children who faced crumbling life jackets and inaccessible lifeboats as the inferno quickly spread, historian Edward T. O’Donnell brings to life a bygone community while honoring the victims of that forgotten day.
From Publishers Weekly
O'Donnell (1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History) trains his historian's eyes on one of New York's greatest but little-known disasters-a 1904 steamboat fire that killed more than 1,000 people. He leaves no aspect of the General Slocum tragedy unturned as he lays out the life of the New Yorkers around the turn of the century who became major players in the ship disaster as well as the significant role newspapers played in shaping public opinion. He then details the lives of residents of the mostly German Lower East Side, who were on their way to a church picnic when the boat fire started. Using newspaper as well as second- and firsthand accounts, he then details the fire itself. The event was not inevitable, he emphasizes; it was mainly caused by a lack of safety measures-poor organization of life jackets and outdated, unchecked fire hoses, for example-and by the poor swimming skills of most of the ship's passengers. He also recreates the panoply of emotions on that June day: the panic felt by the ship's passengers as it burned, the heroism demonstrated by rescuers and the despair in the community afterward. With an eye toward today's tragedies, he shows how victims felt little solace from investigations, which became largely an attempt at scapegoating the ship's captain. In O'Donnell's deft hands, the disaster becomes more than just a historical event-it's a fascinating window into an era, a community and the lives of ordinary people. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-It is hard to deny that a tragedy makes for a great story. This is certainly the case with this account of the disastrous fire that wrecked the steamboat General Slocum in 1904 and took over 1000 lives. O'Donnell recounts the doomed ship's final minutes, then draws readers alongside the authorities as they chase down the facts and the guilty parties in the days following the disaster. This is a classic tale of horror and heroism, yet the author uses the event as an opening through which he can take readers into New York City at the start of the 20th century. He discusses topics from government to the press to immigration into and migration within the city and even the mores and ideas prevalent at the time. These myriad views, served up almost as vignettes, are as gripping as the tale of the fire and of the investigation and prosecution. A map of the ship's journey and a diagram of the ship with useful captions is included for easy reference. Ted Westervelt, Library of Congress, Washington, DC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
There were few experienced swimmers among over 1,300 Lower East Side residents who boarded the General Slocum on June 15, 1904. It shouldn’t have mattered, since the steamship was chartered only for a languid excursion from Manhattan to Long Island Sound. But a fire erupted minutes into the trip, forcing hundreds of terrified passengers into the water. By the time the captain found a safe shore for landing, 1,021 had perished. Ship Ablaze draws on firsthand accounts to examine why the death toll was so high and how the city responded. Masterfully capturing both the horror of the event and the heroism of men, women, and children who faced crumbling life jackets and inaccessible lifeboats as the inferno quickly spread, historian Edward T. O’Donnell brings to life a bygone community while honoring the victims of that forgotten day.
From Publishers Weekly
O'Donnell (1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History) trains his historian's eyes on one of New York's greatest but little-known disasters-a 1904 steamboat fire that killed more than 1,000 people. He leaves no aspect of the General Slocum tragedy unturned as he lays out the life of the New Yorkers around the turn of the century who became major players in the ship disaster as well as the significant role newspapers played in shaping public opinion. He then details the lives of residents of the mostly German Lower East Side, who were on their way to a church picnic when the boat fire started. Using newspaper as well as second- and firsthand accounts, he then details the fire itself. The event was not inevitable, he emphasizes; it was mainly caused by a lack of safety measures-poor organization of life jackets and outdated, unchecked fire hoses, for example-and by the poor swimming skills of most of the ship's passengers. He also recreates the panoply of emotions on that June day: the panic felt by the ship's passengers as it burned, the heroism demonstrated by rescuers and the despair in the community afterward. With an eye toward today's tragedies, he shows how victims felt little solace from investigations, which became largely an attempt at scapegoating the ship's captain. In O'Donnell's deft hands, the disaster becomes more than just a historical event-it's a fascinating window into an era, a community and the lives of ordinary people.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-It is hard to deny that a tragedy makes for a great story. This is certainly the case with this account of the disastrous fire that wrecked the steamboat General Slocum in 1904 and took over 1000 lives. O'Donnell recounts the doomed ship's final minutes, then draws readers alongside the authorities as they chase down the facts and the guilty parties in the days following the disaster. This is a classic tale of horror and heroism, yet the author uses the event as an opening through which he can take readers into New York City at the start of the 20th century. He discusses topics from government to the press to immigration into and migration within the city and even the mores and ideas prevalent at the time. These myriad views, served up almost as vignettes, are as gripping as the tale of the fire and of the investigation and prosecution. A map of the ship's journey and a diagram of the ship with useful captions is included for easy reference.
Ted Westervelt, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.