General Slocum

1,021 New Yorkers died on June 15, 1904 when an East River (New York City) excursion steamboat, filled with church group family picnickers, caught fire. This fire caused people in the United States to think deeply about safety in public transportation.

What can you find out about the fire on the General Slocum? Can you find stories? Pictures? Newspapers? Can you find a map showing where the ship burned? - Is the East River a river? What kind of body of water is it? What bridges span this river now? What tunnels go under it? Which of those bridges and tunnels existed in 1904? Who was General Slocum? What else was named after him?

Why did so many people die when the in the fire? What did people want to do to stop this from happening again?

What was the neighborhood where most of the passengers came from like in 1904? Can you find the neighborhood on a map?

What did people think when the General Slocum fire happened? Is the General Slocum remembered today?

On this Day The New York Times Primary Source

Manhattan Melodrama (1934 film including fire on this ship)

General Slocum Memorial, Tompkins Square Park, New York, NY

Above: The General Slocum in New York City's East River

Above: The General Slocum after the fire

Below: the New York World