Angels Too Soon: The School Fire of '58 - A Chicago Stories Documentary

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Our Lady of the Angels was an extremely tight knit, largely Italian parish in a vibrant community that flourished on Chicago’s West Side. But in 1958, tragedy struck when a fire broke out in the basement at Our Lady of the Angels and tore through parts of the building, trapping students and teachers in a terrifying inferno. The blaze killed 92 children and three nuns, shook a city’s faith, and stunned Chicago - and the nation - with sorrow. Now, 65 years later, survivors tell their story.
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Опубликовано:

27 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 1,3 тыс.

@danielshannon6027 10 месяцев назад

In 1985 we lost a high school classmate who worked weekends as a security guard at an office building in an arson fire; he got several people out of the building but re-entered to find one more and was overcome by smoke. His name was Steve Wartemann. RIP

@lesleymaner2851 9 месяцев назад

Thank you Steve Watann for your courage

@danielshannon6027 9 месяцев назад

@@lesleymaner2851 Please get his name right.😠

@magesalmanac6424 8 месяцев назад

Relax it was probably autocorrect

@JojoplusBo 8 месяцев назад

“Thank you” for rescuing and laying down your life for others... rest in peace Steve Wartemann

@JennAmazed 7 месяцев назад

@@danielshannon6027 they were trying to be respectful. It could have been an elderly person, auto correct or any number of things. I'm sure they didn't do it intentionally because they didn't have to say anything at all.

@MikeSwinehart 10 месяцев назад

When they showed the photo of a fireman carrying the body of a boy I bursted in tears. You see I was that fireman. Only I was photographed doing the same thing twenty six years later. I was a fireman for thirty three years. And I guarantee every fireman there suffered the rest of their lives because of that fateful day. God bless you all my brothers. I understand.

@latasha195 10 месяцев назад

😢😢😢😢😢😢😢🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

@leanneadams2549 10 месяцев назад

Oh my profound sympathy at what you e had to endure Sir. Your job was absolutely needed that day and I thank you for the enormous strength that had to take to carry out your duties. There’s a special place in heaven for you and I know those kids are waiting for you !! Until then …… ❤️🙏💯

@amyproudfoot6611 10 месяцев назад

God bless you 🙏 praying you know your dedication and service made a difference in this world 🙌

@othername1000 10 месяцев назад

God bless

@collinsje5 10 месяцев назад

The firefighter in that famous OLA photo was Richard Scheidt. He died in 2009 at the age of 81. RIP.

@darcyfoster2976 10 месяцев назад

When you lose a child the pain of loss never goes away . You learn to live with the grief . My heart goes out to the children that survived through it .

@jonathanstrong4812 10 месяцев назад

Horrible and tragic

@annettejones1300 10 месяцев назад

🙏🏽🕊🕊🕊🕊

@lorettawalker5378 10 месяцев назад

So true. I lost my oldest 19 yrs ago to a drunk. Driver...the pain never goes away. And I think it might be because that pain is all you have left of the person.

@crystaldockery7308 10 месяцев назад

Can attest to this statement. As I am to a mother of an angel 👼 forever 19yrs young..😢

@1208bug 10 месяцев назад

No such thing as closure, just living with it.

@trinataco4493 10 месяцев назад

I lost my cousin in this fire in room 208. My Aunt and Uncle were absolutely devastated. My entire family was devastated by the fire. Many friends of my father were lost in the fire. I was born in St Ann’s Hospital and baptized at Our Lady of Angels. So many in the neighborhood had their own theories about how the fire started. The neighborhood knew who started the fire, authorities denied it over and over. My aunts and uncles talked about what they knew vs what was reported. This event wrecked the entire neighborhood, so many mourned for the rest of their lives.

@Camille-wk9zs 10 месяцев назад

In your opinion or from others, who do you/they say started this fire? I’m just curious. It’s sad to watch this. I’m heartbroken for the children that died because of someone’s evil thoughts to cause harm

@1927su 10 месяцев назад

❤️

@trinataco4493 10 месяцев назад

@@Camille-wk9zs there was a neighborhood kid with last name Greene that they all thought started the fire. Interesting that there is no mention of it anywhere.

@aruglaempire2518 10 месяцев назад

@@trinataco4493 Probably because it was THOUGHT or rumor not a fact to be investigated.

@bsoz9759 10 месяцев назад

Just reading of this tragedy and I'm so sorry for the loss of your cousin. Such a horrible loss for your family. My cousins and I grew up in school and attending Sunday mass. My family is Catholic, and I have lost 2 cousins, not from fire. It is devastating to the entire family for years. And Years.

@avonee1976 11 месяцев назад

I'm glad they did another version of this story! My father was a student in the neighboring parish of Saint Agatha's, a fifth grader at the time of this fire. He remembers distinctly all the fire trucks rushing down the street towards the fire as he walked home. My mom was a fourth grader at Saint Columbanus on the south side. What's so scary to me is that this could have easily have been one of their schools, as they were built very similarly to Our Lady of the Angels. I'm glad that the story of this horrible tragedy will not soon be forgotten, by those that lived it, knew of it, or people like me, the children that came a generation after and were fortunate enough to attend schools that were finally structurally safe. God bless all the children and the adults involved in this tragedy. He shall wipe away all your tears.

@Imissyoulou 10 месяцев назад

My family went to St. Agatha School, at Douglas and Kedzie in 1958.

@trinataco4493 10 месяцев назад

I lost a cousin in this fire. Used to live in the city. So very sad! My Uncle never recovered and the neighborhood had their own theories. I was baptized at Our Lady Of Angels. Such a sad bit of history.

@theworldwariioldtimeradioc8676 10 месяцев назад

My Dad also attended a neighboring Catholic grade school. He was 10. I don’t remember what school it was. Our Lady of the Angels was actually closer to his home, but for some reason his parents chose the other school.

@DelorisGreen-k2s 10 месяцев назад

@@Imissyoulou I went to St. Agatha during that time in 58...it was horrific...we lived on Douglas and Christina at that time I went on in later years to become a teacher for over 30 years...retired in 2018.

@candacesmith75 10 месяцев назад

Well said!

@melven83708 8 месяцев назад

I use to have a patient who had a son that passed in the fire. She told me she would follow the fire trucks around town sometimes because she didn’t have anything to do as a housewife. That day she dropped her son off and was on her way to do some errands and was going home and decided to follow the fire trucks and it lead right back to her sons’ school and she found out later he had passed in the fire. Many years later when she was dying, she kept on saying she sees her son waiting for her at the foot of her bed! The grief is unreal and stay with her for over 50 years!

@amberkat8147 7 месяцев назад

I've heard that dying people often see their loved ones coming to get them. I've only heard of one case where the patient believed it would happen and then it didn't happen. Apparently she was an absolutely awful woman, mean to everyone, and her last words were in a quiet, scared voice; "they aren't coming." Honestly that sent a chill down my spine far more than people seeing their loved ones coming to get them- that's actually pretty comforting to me.

@bordershader 5 месяцев назад

@@amberkat8147that has proper given me the chills. Aaaah! Too late to realise your mistakes... >shudder

@suescherdel6278 4 месяца назад

What a heartbreaking story. Tragedies like this affect and change people’s lives forever, some for the good and many others not.

@dawirahope8846 3 месяца назад

What a sad story

@darnellanders8768 2 месяца назад

Not to make light of what you are saying.... There is always something to do As a housewife... Cleaning dish washing laundry knitting vacuuming window washing chat chatting on the phone that hangs from the wall letter writing visit the library and friends and family volunteering and most of all shopping for hours using the husband's credit card.....One would have to be bored to follow firetrucks throughout the day...I'm guessing soap operas were not yet displayed on television but only on the radio??? Nevertheless such a sad way to discover your Child died at the fire that you were led to by chance...

@sandyl4100 10 месяцев назад

So glad this film showed the importance of future fire safety in schools. Those angels forever changed the lives of other children! 😔

@joannparent251 10 месяцев назад

I had a cousin die in the OLA fire and her brother saved because a nun rolled him down a flight of stairs. This destroyed my aunt and uncle. The whole family was never the same. I was only four and don’t remember the whole story. The book To Sleep With The Angels was an excellent read and answered so many questions. My dad went with my uncle to the morgue to identify my cousin. It was one of the few times I remember my dad crying.

@trinataco4493 10 месяцев назад

I also had a cousin die in this fire. My Uncle never recovered, cried every day to the day he passed. Sorry for your loss.

@hoss-lk4bg 10 месяцев назад

prove it

@skate103 10 месяцев назад

@@hoss-lk4bg don't need to call you a Loser- you already did with your pic.😂

@sisiepuntil-wilcek8871 10 месяцев назад

My cousin was in 8th grade and jumped out the window. I still remember all my uncles looking for her.

@richardvoogd705 10 месяцев назад

@@hoss-lk4bg😢

@christal2641 10 месяцев назад

That afternoon, when we got home from our own Catholic school, my Mom said that Daddy would be working late that evening. Then she started crying. "There was a fire at a school in the city. Your Dad is taking pictures for the paper ("The New World" (a Catholic weekly). Dad came home after our bedtime, but when we heard his car on the driveway, we ran to meet him. He reached out to hold us all, and Mom reached out to him from behind us. Then he started to cry in great, shaking sobs. I had never seen him cry like that. The next day after school, Mom went over what had happened and made sure we knew that we were safe in our one story cinderblock school. She told us to be patient while Dad was grieving. Dad had told her that this was even worse than anything he'd seen since the war. Years later, Mom said that the evaluation failure was in part due to a young Sister who didn't know what to do, and was waiting for Mother Superior to tell her. (Or, possibly, she was just in shock.) Dad photographed EVERY Catholic event in the Metro. So he was at every parish event related to the fire, every speech by the Cardinal and Mayor, every press conference regarding the OLA fire and its aftermath. The burden of bearing witness so the world could see was also a gift. That mission let him stay at The New World so he could take more pictures of celebrations, than of horror.

@aimeetrentham9770 7 месяцев назад

Your poor Dad. I’m so sorry he had to go through that

@paulas2218 10 месяцев назад

This documentary was so moving. All those poor children and their teachers. And the families who lost their children. I just can’t imagine. The survivors showed us how you can go on, and it was impressive to see how many went into healthcare and firefighting. Very moving.

@revmo37 10 месяцев назад

Your comment perfectly encapsulates my feelings of sadness and redemption after watching this. I too went to a small Catholic elementary school in Pittsburgh in the 1960's. Looking at the old photos of this school's layout, it is so very similar to my old school, Saint Paul's Cathedral here in Pgh. This was a very moving presentation for me as well. Especially as we are so near to the time of year this occurred. Stay blessed and healthy

@private3364 10 месяцев назад

Not the will of God but the archdiocese having pol. power to not have to put in fire safety items to keep up to code and the cath politicians went along with it

@Maldoror200 9 месяцев назад

😥..(sighh..)..Sooo Very Deeply heartbreaking

@MsKtgrace 10 месяцев назад

Thank you for this documentary. My Father, Uncle and two Aunts were in the fire. My father and Aunt were in the same room. (211) my father jumped out the window, (survived) Nancy Rae hid in the closet with two other girls. She didn’t survive. My uncle who is still living, still remembers the day as if it was yesterday. 😔

@gwechoochoo 10 месяцев назад

My aunt was a Pharmacist at St Ann's Hospital when this happened. She told stories about the kids being brought in and the phone calls to area Hospitals for pain meds because they ran out.

@bwktlcn 10 месяцев назад

I was taught by nuns from 1969 to 1976. They were stone cold serious about fire drills. When I first learned about OLA’s fire, it all made sense.

@thebadgerette69 10 месяцев назад

You did not mess with the nuns, I got the "ruler" many times!

@julierobinson3633 10 месяцев назад

You can see how terrible the trauma has been for the survivors, even all these years later. This is why counselling is so important.

@suestephan3255 10 месяцев назад

Yet it just wasn’t part of the jargon or available back then.

@collinsje5 10 месяцев назад

In 1958, that was not part of reality. People were expected to pull themselves together and move on. That did not work well for the neighborhood surrounding OLA. The fire destroyed too many lives, and the impact was so great that many families moved away in efforts to escape the pain they endured.

@loditx7706 9 месяцев назад

@Julierobinson: counselors with their memorized phrases and too much sympathy and ignorance of situations and personal grief are overrated. Perhaps their best tool is listening to victims talk. What Freud called the talking cure. Most counselors interject themselves too much and meet their own needs to be important. Time, friends, and some families, as well as fellow survivors are the best counselors. I am glad these people started having reunions.

@julierobinson3633 9 месяцев назад

By 'counselling' I really meant ANY help in dealing with their feelings about what happened. Too often back 'in the old days' it was thought the best thing was for people to 'try and forget' and not 'upset themselves' by talking or thinking about things. @@loditx7706

@collinsje5 9 месяцев назад

@@loditx7706 A lot of common sense in this comment.

@josi4251 10 месяцев назад

When I began teaching at Trinity High School, one of the first things my students asked me was whether I knew about the OLA fire. (Not from Chicago area and had no idea. Later I met and worked with a survivor of the fire. Such a horrible tragedy. It reminds me of the saying, "Every safety measure is written in blood." Because of that horrible event, millions of students and teachers have been safer in schools nationwide. But the cost was too high. My deepest sympathies to all those who lost someone or something precious in that fire.

@nubiaaparicio4185 9 месяцев назад

I WAS TOLD BY A FRIEND DONT LIVE ANY HIGHER THAN YOU WANNA JUMP !!!

@nubiaaparicio4185 9 месяцев назад

I would never work or live higher than the second floor!!

@jolinegutierrezkrueger3457 10 месяцев назад

I was in first grade or so at St. Mary School in Albuquerque when the nuns taught us about this fire, which terrified us and never left my young, frightened mind. It was a way to teach us the importance of fire drills, but it was extremely traumatizing. I remember a nun telling us how some children were found at their desks, hands clasped as if praying when they died of the poisonous air. That was the worst image to haunt a little Catholic school kid like me with. I prayed “Please God no fire” over and over for many years, believing that for each time I said those words I protected myself for another day from fire.

@janetarnold447 10 месяцев назад

This is the most saddest and devastating video I’ve ever watched. I’m 54 and I don’t recall ever hearing about this tragedy. The loss of so many children, the loss of those Nuns that tried to save their students, the pain and anguish from the parents who had to identify their deceased child, the stories from the survivors. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it all.

@jonathanstrong4812 10 месяцев назад

it will never be forgotten

@georgesullivan4473 10 месяцев назад

If your 54 then it's before your time so it's quite understandable that you were unaware of this event. One positive aspect of internet is we all can realize events. I'm a year younger than you and I also have only literally come across this event today.

@bonniepritchard4249 9 месяцев назад

@@georgesullivan4473 I am 77 years old and attended Sacred Heart Grade School in Springfield Illinois graduating the 8th grade in 1960, then going on to attend Sacred Heart Academy for girls for one year before graduating from Feitshans High School in Springfield in 1964. I never knew anything about this tragedy until today 12/03/2023. So Sad and heartbreaking.

@DebraALarson 10 месяцев назад

2 of my uncles were some of the first firefighters at this fire. It had a deep profound effect on them both.

@latasha195 10 месяцев назад

😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

@lyndaalterio1027 10 месяцев назад

I was in the 6th grade at that time - and couldn't stop crying for those poor children!! My heart hurt so bad!!! May all of those little angels R.I.P. Still to this day all I can do is cry over this horrendous fire! God Bless all of the survivors and help them all to move on with their lives!

@latasha195 10 месяцев назад

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

@kimlersue 7 месяцев назад

Yes..I know!

@tomaseire 10 месяцев назад

I attended a private Catholic School in the 70’s and we had regular fire drills with the Sisters telling us how important these drills were because of the deadly fire at Our Lady of the Angels in Chicago. We used to pray prayers for the victims, survivors, their families and parish. Our Lady of the Angels Fire was etched into our hearts and minds. Fire drills were most frequent and taken so serious, because of that dreadful fire.

@jbaker7311 10 месяцев назад

I attended one in the 1960's and the tragedy was still very fresh as though it was yesterday. And yes, fire drills were taken very seriously and conducted frequently.

@one_ice_cold_chiq 10 месяцев назад

Nowadays it's active shooter drills. Super sad.

@OhJodi69 10 месяцев назад

I was in Cicero and Berwyn public schools in the '70s, which weren't far from Our Lady of Angels. We had fire drills every month. The teachers would tell us how important it was, because of the children who died at Our Lady of Angels. We practiced different routes out of the building. Doors were always closed, to prevent fire spread. We knew where all the fire alarms and extinguishers were. We were told that if our teacher happened to not be in the classroom when a fire alarm went off, we were to line up and proceed out like we practiced, to never wait for the teacher. We walked out in pairs, and had to look around the room to make sure nobody was left behind. It was serious training. It was kind of frightening, actually. But often the best learning comes through fear.

@limoncellosmith7594 10 месяцев назад

Same here @@jbaker7311

@ani1344 10 месяцев назад

10 years after this fire, I was a first grader at a Catholic school outside the city. The nuns were very serious about fire drills and told us the story of all the children who didn’t get out of OLA. I had nightmares about it. But we sure knew every way to get out of the building fast. We prayed for them and all the families every day. I never knew there was actual film footage of the fire. RIP to all of the ones who didn’t make it and those brave nuns.

@bethluther3950 10 месяцев назад

I grew up in Gary, IN, and all of our tv & news came from Chicago. This fire was the first ‘real’ tragedy I ever saw happen on tv. I was 12 ….. and all of us were greatly impacted by seeing the horrible reality of this fire. No one from our generation, Catholic or not, will ever forget it.

@theresehopkins1581 3 месяца назад

My dad's 2nd wife lost a son in that fire..... she saw him at the window but he couldn't be saved. She never really got over it..... that whole generation never really got over it... Chicago never forgot.

@barbaralamson7450 7 месяцев назад

I find it immensely heartbreaking that I've never heard of this tragedy before you posted this. 😢

@Nitemare.60 3 месяца назад

I'm with you there. I'm almost 62 & I have never heard a word. Although I've never been around the Chicago area, it's just mind boggling to just learn of this only this morning. I sat here and cried through the whole thing. What an awful, awful tragedy. I am so, so so, sorry for all of your losses & sufferings. I truly hope & pray that time has eased your grief even for just the tiniest bit. Even those of you who have suffered survivors quilt over all these years. May PEACE be with each and every one of you. 😢😢😢😢 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😢😢

@barbaralamson7450 3 месяца назад

@@Nitemare.60 I was born in 1959. I find it so tragic that American history is so lacking in history. It's either made up or ignored. That is just sad.

@Nitemare.60 3 месяца назад

@@barbaralamson7450 Yes, it definitely should have been in the American History books considering how many children lost their lives. So tragic. I'm in total agreeance with what you stated.

@Nitemare.60 3 месяца назад

@@barbaralamson7450 hi Barbara, oh my, another one just came up on my phone. Collinsville, Ohio. 1908. 179 deaths inc. 2 teachers.

@Nitemare.60 3 месяца назад

@@barbaralamson7450 Collinwood Ohio

@mackpines 11 месяцев назад

What a great documentary. Anyone who watches this should find a copy of “To Sleep with the Angels” it’s a fantastic read about this absolutely tragic fire and the subsequent investigation.

@dawnreneegmail 11 месяцев назад

or find Michelle McBride's "The Fire That Will Not Die", RIP Michelle who lived to be an adult with her horrible injuries.

@steveshapiro326 11 месяцев назад

Read that book. What a scary part of our history. I recall my parents talking about the fire. Our public school in 1958 was not the safest.

@meh_lady 10 месяцев назад

The author plead guilty to arson at a church and served time in prison. Absolutely nuts!

@coolrunnings414 10 месяцев назад

@@meh_ladyI was just coming here to say that. It was so strange. Many of the survivors who shared their experiences with that author felt understandably betrayed.

@steveshapiro326 10 месяцев назад

@@worldofthesupernatural It was traumatic beyond words. I read that book.

@karenb1749 10 месяцев назад

I was 10 years old when this happened & I was shocked that this could happen at a school. I cried when I saw the pictures in the newspaper of each child who had become an angel too soon. I looked at each picture & read every name & said I was sorry it happened to them. When I went to my school the next day I was glad to see the building was brick, stairs were cement rather than wood that could burn up & that there were many fire alarms around. Fire drills were never the same after that for me ; I have had more respect for them. I have never forgotten that tragic fire & the devastation it ignited in my 10 year old self. 😪

@mackenzieprindiville 11 месяцев назад

I did a firefighter midterm paper on our lady of angels and got 100% on my midterm paper.

@candikildow2643 10 месяцев назад

I read anything I could find about this, as I was growing up. It started as an assignment for school. I was surprised how many laws about school safety came from this fire. As an adult now, I can’t imagine how the entire community was devastated.

@hime273 10 месяцев назад

Conviently started in a Trashcan filled with cardboard, which sounds intentional. Problem-Reaction-Solution I'm sure they conviently had those new Laws already planned and written on paper, and needed a reason to enact said Laws.

@FRLN500 10 месяцев назад

@@hime273 I really feel sorry for you. It must be hell on earth to suffer from ignorance and stupidity on the level that you do.

@magesalmanac6424 8 месяцев назад

@hime273 this is the dumbest, most disgusting comment here. Not everything is a conspiracy. How dare you cheapen the deaths of these children with your incoherent rambling.

@deneenjeffries2768 10 месяцев назад

This was well done. I was a Catholic school student in the early seventies in Brooklyn, the building Holy Family school was completed in 1958 similar look but without all the dangerous wood elements. We had Many Franciscan nuns. I remember nuns were strict but loved the children, skipped rope with us… God bless those who passed and those still haunted by this fire.

@pazza4555 10 месяцев назад

The exemption was so unfortunate because the rules were set largely in response to the Collinwood school fire in Cleveland in 1908 that killed 172 children, two teachers, and one rescuer.

@scottgrunow5201 10 месяцев назад

I was born in 1962 at Saint Anne's Hospital, which treated many of the victims , and I knew persons who lost relatives in this fire. When I was in Catholic school, if anyone dared to misbehave during a fire drill, the nuns would remind us of this fire.

@chantalgertenbach745 10 месяцев назад

My condolences to families who lost kids and family 😢

@Jan96106 8 месяцев назад

Those parents are all dead now. This was back in 1958. Only the children who survived the fire remain.

@SandyKH 10 месяцев назад

So appreciate this broadcast, and this particular story. Growing up in Chicago, we heard of this tragedy all our lives.

@dannielecarli7416 10 месяцев назад

I remember when this fire happened, my father was one of the firemen who fought this fire

@bradspringer2372 10 месяцев назад

Do you remember hearing him tell any stories?

@barbaradoolin4514 10 месяцев назад

Wonderful documentary! I was 8/9yrs old…I don’t remember it…watching this brought back my own memories, of growing up in a Catholic Community…I miss it!😢 I lived in Miami, Fla. at the time. When I was 24yrs old I moved to Georgia, the middle of the Bible Belt and was snubbed by the intolerance of “Christian’s”… There was only 1 Catholic Church in the country, miles away. Over the years I fell away from Organized Religion… I’m still Catholic but Over the years I’ve seen so MANY changes… WHY am I telling this… BECAUSE I MISS THE THINGS OF YESTERYEARS! This documentary has brought memories of a kinder, gentler times that I’ve long since forgotten. I miss those times! Please forgive my rambling!😢

@kathy6222 10 месяцев назад

Thank you for sharing your thoughts; they are important. God bless.

@KOOLBadger 10 месяцев назад

Im from the west side of Chicago. My gym teacher was a little girl there. She was an awesome teacher and we all felt so bad for her. God bless us all..😢❤

@marvinchilds6762 10 месяцев назад

My teachers told us about this terrible tragedy back in the early eighties why it was important to have fire drills I attended school in the Chicago they told us how 92 children were sadly killed 😢

@lindanolan9542 10 месяцев назад

The shot of the school after the fire with all the ladders leaning against it: people thought it meant the fire department’s ladders were too short. The explanation is much sadder. When news of the fire spread, grandfathers ran to their garages and grabbed their ladders-they went to the school to save their grandchildren. Sadly, most were too short, and they could only look on helplessly as children jumped out, their hair or clothes on fire as they smashed into the cement below, or fell back into their classrooms as the flames engulfed them. There is an outstanding book on the O.L.A. fire-“To Sleep With Angels”. It will break your heart and you won’t be able to put it down. I was a student at O.L.A.-we moved out in October of ‘58: the fire was December 1st. The only time I ever saw my father cry. I lost so many friends.😓💔

@xantoniaxxx 4 месяца назад

Wow I didn’t even realize that it could’ve been citizen ladders. Thank you for providing your insight. God was looking over you and your family.

@tomsparks6099 10 месяцев назад

Since 6th grade (1975) I was fascinated by this story, reading the large books of world headlines in the library. It still haunts me. Watching this was heartbreaking. All those children and the brave sisters became Angels of Our Lady that terrible day.

@Edelweiss-hh6tk 10 месяцев назад

This is the best documentary that I have seen on The Our Lady of Angels fire. I can imagine how difficult it was to talk about their experiences, but we are learning so much about the survivors' accounts. It hurts so badly to see such a terrible event happen to these children and nuns and tear apart families.

@logicrealitytruth 10 месяцев назад

Sad that the priest claimed it was “the will of God!” Our God is a loving God. This was not his will! How dare the priest say that to grieving parents! 🥺😢

@KevaFlores 10 месяцев назад

Agree completely. Poor choices of adults who should of been more responsible for the children’s safety caused this! This priest avoided this fact. He wasn’t a parent how could he remotely understand their grief!

@christal2641 10 месяцев назад

In my seminary, they called it "Bad Theology". You might like reading "When Bad Things Happen to Good People.". All libraries probably have it.

@moemcgovern7345 10 месяцев назад

I thought the same thing.

@sharonmiller6436 10 месяцев назад

@@KevaFlores I think that the poor man was in shock and couldn't think of anything appropriate to say, so went back to the teachings and platitudes he had been taught.

@carolynm8350 3 месяца назад

Easy to judge but don't know his heart or what he was feeling. I don't think his motive was to hurt anyone. He was in shock disbelief a human being trying to understand what happened.

@kenwitkowski3908 9 месяцев назад

My Grandma was a Nurse at St. Anne’s and treated many of the victims. My Dad was 9 years old and a student at Help of Christian. He knew many kids who survived the fire as they shared HOC’s school. Today my Dad rests at Queen of Heaven, within eyeshot of many of kids that fell victim. Even today those graves always have fresh flowers, pictures and toys at Christmas. It’s a tragedy we can never forget.

@veronamartin5285 10 месяцев назад

My sincere heartfelt condolences to those who lived this tragedy. My late Father In Law was a District Chief Captain in the City where I currently live in Canada. He had served for over 35 years before cancer came & took him from us. He had told me about this tragedy as he had learned about it years before in his training. I raised two sons in the Elk Island School District in a small town near the city. Whenever they were late for class the school policy is to mark them absent. I have fought this policy for years explaining that should there be a emergency evacuation of the school can they be sure that they got all the students out including those who are registered as “Absent” although they are only late. They still continue this policy 4 years after my youngest Graduated. It gives me chills to think about it. They really don’t understand the ramifications of this policy should they ever face an actual emergency. I still try to have it changed and they still haven’t made any changes. I’m frustrated that they think this is ok. After watching this documentary, I have a renewed interest in addressing my concern and having their policy changed. I still have friends who have Children in that School system. If your Children’s School does this, then please look into having their School Board also change their policy. It only takes a few seconds to miss a child when they are actually in the building.

@stephaniek1076 10 месяцев назад

Great, insightful point. I hope that other parents and administrators come to see the verity of your point and its potentially harmful consequences, and effect and implement a change in protocol.

@christal2641 10 месяцев назад

Go to your Fire Dept. and ask them to write to the school board. Then, leaflet parents at school. Call whoever does the little "Human Interest" stories on your nightly news. Good luck! Good luck.

@Amk0975 10 месяцев назад

It is great to hear that most people in that class went into pursue careers that help people

@lds251 10 месяцев назад

How horrible. I’ve never heard of this. I am from California. I pray everyone found peace.

@mikeh.7499 10 месяцев назад

I'm from California as well and never heard of it so thank you..

@magesalmanac6424 8 месяцев назад

Same here, but many of the comments from Illinois have heard of it. Imo everyone in the country should learn about this event.

@joefranks4235 4 месяца назад

No, no one who lost a child in that fire found peace.

@jadedheartsz Месяц назад

@@magesalmanac6424 a lot of people haven't heard about the Iroquois Theater fire either.

@searchanddiscover 5 месяцев назад

that this happened 50 years after the school disaster at Collinwood makes this even more angering. There should be no policy of grandfather clauses where schools are involved. At least the kids of Collinwood and Our Lady of the Angels didn't die in vain. I remember in school we had to evacuate due to a small fire in a trash can, we didn't think it was a big deal but we got to hang out in the back of the school for over an hour instead of class. Now as an adult I can appreciate the safety measures.

@karinbinnie1862 10 месяцев назад

As I read To Sleep With The Angels I realized that the public school where I attended junior high in 1957-1958, built in 1899, was exactly like this school: red brick, two stories, all wood interiors with layers of varnish and wooden stairs. We moved away at the end of the 1958 school year but I found out years later that the school was demolished, among hundreds of others all over the country. This great tragedy saved the lives of millions of other children. Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

@mariekatherine5238 11 месяцев назад

Teachers, if your students think fire drills are a joke, show them this documentary. (Preview first. It may be too graphic for younger children.)

@Nyquil5 10 месяцев назад

When I taught middle and high svhool, I was an absolute dragon when it came to fire drills. Complete silence or there were serious consequences. The majority of the time I was very humorous and easy going but everyone knew to take fire drills seriously.

@catholiccrusader5328 10 месяцев назад

@@Nyquil5 Me too when I taught.

@jenniferbeardtrusty1671 10 месяцев назад

Who treats it as a joke???? On my decades of teaching, I've never seen anyone treat it as such. Some of the non-connected pre-frontal cortex 7th graders in my classes may have tried to make it a joke, but never the teachers.

@mariekatherine5238 5 дней назад

@@jenniferbeardtrusty1671Not teachers, students horseplay and treat it as a fun break from class. It happened only once in my room. I showed them this film, made it clear absolutely NO fooling around would be tolerated. The entire atmosphere at the school was one of carelessness and laziness. Admin. sets the school culture and this admin. were uncaring, unsupportive, and lazy. They were there to pick up their paychecks.

@kathleenw4446 10 месяцев назад

This is the first time I heard of this, but I recognize the kids in their desks, the Nuns in a Box (the headpiece), kids standing at the back of the room. I was 4 when this happened, and entered Catholic school in 1960 and we had at least 50 kids in each classroom and 2 classrooms of each grade. 100 kids as first graders. We lived in a suburb of Pasadena, CA, and the school and church buildings were Mission style with cement steps. I do remember the nuns especially telling us how important it was to be quiet during fire drills and to walk quickly and line up on the playground where the teacher would call the roll. I went another 4 years at a Catholic high school and credit my strict education with any success I have achieved, especially in reading, literature, spelling and writing (can still diagram a sentence). RIP - all the young lives lost and the 3 nuns who died while protecting the children. Our family lived across the street from the Church and School and I cannot imagine in any world how those kids could go back to class after this happened. In sorrow and prayer, Kathleen

@catherinegrimm4198 10 месяцев назад

This was so well done, I appreciate seeing this. It brings me hope, seeing the teacher who recovered and went back to teaching again and seeing the school be converted to a center for the needy. It’s good to hear about everyone who helped each other during and after the fire. Thank you!

@tammydempsey3304 10 месяцев назад

I applauded all those people and will keep them all in prayer ❤

@LMB8 3 месяца назад

Stop saying “It’s Gods will” when it’s really NEGLIGENCE. Preventable! Had proper measures been taken. Period

@lauriej9418 Месяц назад

Yes, it was all those things, however, without codes there was nothing done till it was over. I remember the long halls in the grade school that I went to. No fire doors . Very scary.

@carolsummers8734 10 месяцев назад

My Chicago elementary school burned down January 1959. Fortunately, it was a Sunday night fire and the building was empty. Arnold Elementary. I was graduating from 8th grade that month.

@yvonneconte3040 10 месяцев назад

I never heard of this tragedy. Sad. Good documentary. I was in 7th grade and we had a student with arson behavior. He even started a garbage pale fire in our school. Caught and extinguished in time, no loss of lives, minor damage.

@mariannebowman6114 10 месяцев назад

My whole class went to the funerals. It is one day I will never forget.

@mariannebowman6114 10 месяцев назад

Mount Carmel, and Our Lady of Angeles. Never understood why the children had to die. Never the same in Chicago.

@VictoriaE77 10 месяцев назад

So tragic and heartbreaking these poor little kids.

@jaggybee4704 10 месяцев назад

Wow, I have never heard of this! Excellent documentary

@devoradamaris 10 месяцев назад

Thank🫂you for posting. Never forgotten.

@Alan-lv9rw 10 месяцев назад

I was in elementary school in a Chicago suburb (Downers Grove) ten years after this fire and we were never told of this. I hadn’t heard of it until today. This is as horrible as the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in NYC (1911).

@g.k.failla9389 9 месяцев назад

One of my cousins went to this school, but was home sick the day of the fire. My aunt was relieved and told my mother that many neighbors had lost or injured children. My cousin went to public school after that. From Chicago, U.S.A.

@reneedennis2011 10 месяцев назад

Thank you for this documentary.

@carolynwillard-q8t 10 месяцев назад

I remember this fire. I am now 75, living in Wisconsin. But at the time attended Our Lady Help of Christians school. Not far from the school. After the fire, every class had to share their desks with the living students in a split shift class day. We had to carry all our books to school every day. There was no such thing as back packs back then. And we walked several miles to school. No such thing as school busses or mothers who drove you to school. It was a real sad time.

@andyl9740 10 месяцев назад

We had to walk to OLA to board CTA buses for the trip down Chicago Ave. to HoC.

@shamammap8054 10 месяцев назад

I’ve been trying to find this dvd for awhile. Thank you for posting this important story.

@violinda. 10 месяцев назад

My parents were young marrieds living near that neighborhood at the time. My mother was a public school teacher. So very, very sad.

@carlg.7882 10 месяцев назад

My home state of Massachusetts had its own parochial school fire on October 28, 1915, that claimed the lives of 21 schoolgirls in Peabody. Ranging from 18 years old down to 6 years old. It's rarely talked about and I've been trying to make little info bios on the victims.

@xantoniaxxx 4 месяца назад

Wow and they both started from rubbish bins being set ablazed downstairs

@pamelakoester734 10 месяцев назад

I was in 2nd grade. At a different Catholic School. I was so disturbed by this. I lived in Chicago as well.

@WAL_DC-6B 10 месяцев назад

"To Sleep with the Angels," (The Story of a Fire), by David Cowan and John Kuenster, is an excellent book on the Our Lady of the Angels school tragedy. It goes into detail about the fire itself, some lost opportunities to act sooner to respond to the fire, the aftermath for many of the survivors and what perhaps was most likely the cause of this fire.

@jaynekranc8607 10 месяцев назад

I like Michelle McBride's book better: The Fire That Will Not Die.

@margaretmurphy9498 10 месяцев назад

I remember this fire and it has moved me all my life

@cocoaorange1 10 месяцев назад

We are Black, but my elder brother's former kindergarten teacher died in the fire. She was the youngest nun. I think she was Hispanic.

@michaelshea5165 10 месяцев назад

I remember this fire. I lived in Salt Lake City. I was 8 years old. The programs - probably in LIFE magazine - haunted me well into adulthood. Such a sad thing.

@lilsuzq32 10 месяцев назад

10:00 - I can attest to the Baby Boom of that time, and the sad failure of parochial school education...my sister and I grew up in the far NW Chicago suburb of West Dundee. My Dad was Polish Catholic, and my mom (a German Lutheran) went along for the ride via marriage, so we went to St. Catherine of Sienna grade school from 1961 thru 1965. In the 1965 year (starting in Sept 1964) my sister was in second grade and I was in fifth. The first day of that year, my sister came home from school crying her eyes out. Mom kept asking sis (Sharon) what was wrong, what happened. Sis finally sobbed out: "Mama...the teacher said that - that we can't ask any questions. How am I ever going to learn anything?" -- My mother hit the roof, and drove directly over to the rectory and demanded to speak with Father Vaughn. She was LIVID that one of her children couldn't ask questions in class, and she demanded to know why. Poor Father Vaughn had to explain to my hysterical mother that my sister Sharon, at age 7 in second grade, was one of *_SEVENTY TWO_* children in the class -- with only one teacher. Because tuition was not refundable, Sharon and I had to finish out that year, with a far-below average education -- Sharon never got above a D in any of her 2nd grade subjects, and I managed to cruise through 5th with a passable C. The next year, when Mom enrolled us in public school, Sharon's grades miraculously (!) improved to B+ in most subjects, and I (in 6th grade) got straight A's and A+'s for the first time.

@christal2641 10 месяцев назад

Now Protests want most of their kids to go to church schools, away from non-believers and OTHER believers, but they want the Fed. Gov't. to defund public education to pay for it! The G.O.P. has been working on this since Nixon's Southern Strategy drew the Dixiecrats into the G.O.P. They want this because the "Christian" schools can refuse a seat to kids with the "wrong" version of Christianity (and the wrong color or ethnicity )

@mellimel1174 9 месяцев назад

A lot of urban public schools were top notch at that time.

@lilsuzq32 9 месяцев назад

@@mellimel1174 - We were suburban, but IMHO public schools still far outperform private/religulous schools throughout the nation...

@Flipper86 9 месяцев назад

@@lilsuzq32Vast overgeneralization. Quality of schools, whether public, private, or parochial varies greatly. Staff, administration, funding, and socioeconomic factors all play a part.

@AnnacolleenEtters 10 месяцев назад

I think this is the hardest thing I've ever seen as a faithful Catholic. How does any child come back? How does a parent, without faith? God rest all those who lost their lives. God Bless the survivors.

@leslieannestiles7026 10 месяцев назад

You asked how does a child come back. They will come back in the resurrection. (John 5:28, 29) They will come back to earth just as Lazarus did when Jesus resurrected him ( John 11 [entire chapter])

@reneevaz7848 10 месяцев назад

Try serving God, Jesus, not Catholicism.

@AnnacolleenEtters 10 месяцев назад

@@reneevaz7848 To say something as ignorant, shows how tiny your understanding of Catholicism is. It is THE ONE TRUE faith. It took me thirty-five years to admit that I'd let people tell me what they THOUGHT Catholicism was. You can't find God without what Jesus Himself left us.

@loridontcaretotellu6497 10 месяцев назад

@@AnnacolleenEttersRespectfully, I think EVERY believer feels THEIR faith is the "one TRUE FAITH." I know many I've spoken to about the Lord or faith in general feel that way, including myself! I was christened in the Catholic faith as an infant but we never went to mass that I recall. At age 7, after mom remarried and we moved to New England I began attending a Southern Baptist church and joined it officially around age 13. I was baptized there and began to wonder why christen infants when they aren't able to be knowingly sinful or to repent from sin? I still wonder that. I believe young children and infants automatically go to Heaven upon death. And why would I want to confess to a priest or pastor (the latter being equivalent in my faith) when, because I asked Jesus into my heart and repented from sin, I can speak directly to God the Father through Christ Jesus and KNOW I will go to Heaven! I don't care for all of the ritual in Catholicism. There seems to be more show than substance for ME personally.

@moemcgovern7345 10 месяцев назад

How do you tell a parent, this is God's will; that you lose your child?

@damageincrn 10 месяцев назад

My mother-in-Law was there that day. She tells us about it, how horrible it was. We went to the memorial at the local cemetery and she gets so sad.

@djpalindrome 10 месяцев назад

Fire doors were LOCKED?? Whoever locked these kids in this fire trap were guilty of criminally negligent homicide

@samuelschick8813 8 месяцев назад

Not a fire. I'm over in the Philippines which has earthquakes. We were looking for a school to enroll our son in and checked out this one school. The front entrance had a security guard and one of those old style grate gates which they kept locked all the time. The guard would sit inside the gate and unlock and lock again ( padlock) every time someone went in or out. This gate was mounted into the doorway brick frame. The only other door was at the rear of the school on the 2nd floor, and yes it was padlocked and the single guard at the front had the key. So if an earthquake hit the guard would have to unlock the front ground floor then run upstairs and to the rear to unlock the other door. I asked the school what if an earthquake hit or a fire broke out, how will the kids get out. Their reply was " The guard will unlock the front gate and then run and unlock the rear door." I then asked them what if the only person that has a key gets injured and cannot unlock the gate and doors. Their reply " We didn't think of that." Needless to say, took our son to a different school. There was a case where a school girl about 14 killed herself at school. What she did was go up to the 4th floor walkway and jump because the 2nd and 3rd stories had rails to prevent jumpers. So the news shows up and interviews the principle of the school. News: " Why do you have rails on the 2nd and 3rd story walkway?" Principle: " We installed those so no one would jump." News: " Then why didn't you install them on the 4th story if you were worried about students jumping?" Principle: " We didn't think anyone would jump from the 4th floor." Yes, true stories.

@mjbaz1 5 месяцев назад

The fire doors that existed in the school were propped open. The class 'b' fire door that enclosed the first floor corridor from the northeast stairwell, where the fire originated, was closed. The 2nd floor stairways were open, and the double doors on the west side of the 2nd floor corridor, were not fire doors. They were wooden doors that had upper glass panels that was not safety glass. They would be ineffective in blocking fire. The wooden exit door from Rm. 207 that opened to a small corridor that led to the school's one fire escape, was locked. Sr. Geraldita had left her key at the convent that morning. That door was unlocked by the janitor and Fr. Charles Hund.

@erikriza7165 10 месяцев назад

When this fire happened, i was in third grade at Most Holy Trinity School in a small town in downstate Illinois. That was when we started to have a lot of fire drills.

@happyhello5988 10 месяцев назад

I’m so sorry for the loss of so many children and the families that grieved for so many years. It seems like it always takes something devastating to affect change in policies. It’s heartbreaking that it usually involves children. My thoughts and prayers are with all the survivors.

@WickedlyMe328 10 месяцев назад

My mom attended Catholic schooling and told me about nun’s. My brother and I never attended Catholic schools but we attended private Christian schools. Always wondered if certain tragedies lead to changes in my day. Fire drills I remembered very well, like the inclement weather having us held back before being released. (An Illinois tornado that killed kids after school)

@marthaball8029 11 месяцев назад

I had never heard about this fire. Cried hearing their stories. Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee..........

@reneevaz7848 10 месяцев назад

Why do you pray to Mary?God says you should not worship the dead. This is a sin.

@marthaball8029 10 месяцев назад

@@reneevaz7848 fuck 9ff thanks in advance

@magesalmanac6424 8 месяцев назад

It’s a Catholic thing, you won’t get it

@andrewpatton5114 4 месяца назад

Why do you hate Scripture?

@dellahicks7231 10 месяцев назад

Well I will never listen to "Don't Stop Believin' " in the same way again. I cannot imagine as a parent waiting and watching that smoke billow out, I would not be surprised if one or more suffered medical distress themselves just waiting helplessly. Thank You to those that participanted in the documentary, may you continue to live long, healthy lives.

@geraldinepetress3766 10 месяцев назад

It's been 65 years since that fire. May those babies all rest in peace.

@BenFoldsFan421 8 месяцев назад

I have heard about the documentary and have been wanting to see it for years… Gave up on they were trying to find it, but here it is… I got here by way of a titanic survivor interview…. I have read books about this school fire and I’m really glad this documentary is here. Thank you.

@destinypowers1146 11 месяцев назад

thank you all for sharing this story. i knew of two fire stories but not this one til now. tho I wasn't born and raised here in Chicago, my heart is so broken for the families that lost family members and survivors for what you endured. I'm so emotional right now. I'm truly sorry what yall endured and I pray justice. we know if yall don't get justice on earth, our heavenly Father will get it for everyone of you. i wish I could give all families big hugs. my prayers are with you all xxxxxxxxx Praying protection over all of you In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen and may they rest in eternal peace crosses self

@joestephan1111 9 месяцев назад

I was eight years old at the time, going to a Catholic school in Kansas City. When the news bulletin came thru we were immediately taken to the church next door to pray for everyone involved. When the final news and death count came thru it was like being hit by a truck. I still remember that day and will forever. This story brings everything back hard. I can only thank God that it wasn't much worse.😢

@LMays-cu2hp 11 месяцев назад

Thank you fir sharing this show. Yes, I saw this history show last month on channel 11 here in Chicago. Great history with sad memories of what happened. I was born in the 1960s here in Chicago and so I am not from the tome period to remember this bad memory situation.

@MaryYounkin-u4q 10 месяцев назад

Having grown up in a Catholic school, I understand the sense of loss. Our beautiful church and grade school was torn down many years after I graduated. (I am 74) It still makes me sad as it was the first big Catholic parish in my home town. And it was beautiful!! God Bless the surviving members of the families of those lost that day in Chicago!

@mike48877 9 месяцев назад

This documentary was very nicely and respectfully done. As a Catholic & an Italian, I found it very moving. Thank you. 🌈 ❤️

@CSLewisUnderstood 10 месяцев назад

I just finished watching this and I cannot possibly fathom the horror this day brought to the lives of these people. I have lived in Chicago off and on for greater of 20 years and I never heard mention of this……..to me that’s a tragedy. My next visit I am going to go and pay my respects to the 3 Sisters and the 92 children or as many as I can find. I am so so very sorry for all those who lost a family member, friend or suffered from the injuries sustained.

@peachypie2926 10 месяцев назад

Wow I had never heard of this fire God bless each and every one of them

@seniorLu48 9 месяцев назад

This is definitely one of the best and touching documentaries I have ever seen. I was giving the sing of the Cross through out the whole program. Gracias

@bradspringer2372 10 месяцев назад

What a fantastic doc. I heavily researched this tragedy years ago and am glad to see some new footage and victim stories. I am also so disappointed Chicago has devolved into what it is today. Wish we could go back to the mid 50's again.

@sfojimbo5889 9 месяцев назад

When black people weren't allowed south of 99th street?

@DarleneHarris-s6h 9 месяцев назад

I can’t even imagine!! All those kids and families what they went through. As I watched this I could only cry, just cry. God bless them. 💖🙏😢😭

@kimemerson5732 10 месяцев назад

The parents, the students, the teachers, the custodians, and the fearless firefighters; all the heroes that day...I can't imagine. Those angels lost their lives to save millions and millions of other children's lives due to all the changes made in school safety measures.

@CPAndy-x5x 11 месяцев назад

I don't live in Chicago but our school was similar. Plus we had the old wooden desks attached in rows.

@thebadgerette69 10 месяцев назад

We had one of those metal tubes like a slide attached to our school ...problem you had to go out in the hall to get to it. Wood floors and desks that smelled of highly polished wood.

@ForeverBleedinGreen 9 месяцев назад

I cried through this entire video. I was also confused when Journey came on, until I realized why. Born on New Year's Day in 1960, Journey is still one of my favorite bands, and still remember the day I first heard "Don't Stop Believing" on the jukebox of our favorite watering hole. I predicted that the song would make it to the top of the Billboard charts, and I was close, since it broke the Top 10 at #8. Until seeing this heart rendering video I had no idea of the deep and direct connection to not only one of my favorite bands, but to one of my favorite songs of all time. God Bless the Angels of Our Lady of the Angels, and may they never be forgotten, and always remembered...

@amytomey8202 10 месяцев назад

What a difference a fire door might have made... I wonder if the inspector who gave a pass EVER felt somewhat responsible for the great loss of life if he hadn't reported "no violations"

@xantoniaxxx 4 месяца назад

They were grandfathered in 😔

@dianemadison1679 3 месяца назад

Our Lady of the Angels fire happened when I was in 8th grade, and we read stories in the Chicago Sun Times for weeks afterwards. As I teacher, each year I shared the story of this fire with my students, not to frighten them but to let them know how important the fire drills were. If one route was blocked, we would always have at least one alternative route out and away from the building.

@brendajohnson5975 7 месяцев назад

I can't even begin to imagine the trama these firemen suffered after such a devastating fire. People simply do not acknowledge our emergency responders and the horrors they witness. As a parent, I can't begin to imagine the pain of not only losing a child, but having to go to the morgue to identify your child 😢

@rubydawn1 10 месяцев назад

so tragic. I enjoyed listening to all the people that where there

@LeeBv9983 10 месяцев назад

In 1958 I was in the sixth grade of a Catholic grammar school on the south side of Chicago. Oddly, I have no recollection of this fire and this documentary is the first I heard of it. Our school, though, was quite a bit newer and the adjacent church was very modernistic, often call the bus station. What was definitely similar were the HUGE class sizes, 60-70 kids in a classroom. There were two kids to each desk, one sat in the chair and the other on a stool. We moved to that area the previous year from much farther south in the city where I went to public school where we often just had 15 kids in a class.

@christal2641 10 месяцев назад

55-60 in each classroom for me in the 50s and 60s. The baby boom really stressed resources pertaining to kids!

@michaelstokes2501 7 месяцев назад

I was three at the time i remember my mother telling me what happened and having us pray for them 🙏

@debbyfronke3227 10 месяцев назад

I lived two blocks away on monticello ave I was three-my mom buddled me up -it was december -and we walked over to it-I still remember the thick black smoke in the sky-even at three I cried thinking how can those kids breathe-I thought that whole christmas how those families had no christmas-no one cared about safety in those days-imagine what a sprinkler system could have met-above just sitting there and praying for the Lords help!!