Angels Too Soon: The School Fire of '58 - A Chicago Stories Documentary
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- Опубліковано 29 жов 2023
- 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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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.
😢😢😢😢😢😢😢🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
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 …… ❤️🙏💯
God bless you 🙏 praying you know your dedication and service made a difference in this world 🙌
God bless
The firefighter in that famous OLA photo was Richard Scheidt. He died in 2009 at the age of 81. RIP.
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
Thank you Steve Watann for your courage
@@lesleymaner2851 Please get his name right.😠
Relax it was probably autocorrect
“Thank you” for rescuing and laying down your life for others... rest in peace Steve Wartemann
@@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.
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!
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.
@@amberkat8147that has proper given me the chills. Aaaah! Too late to realise your mistakes... >shudder
What a heartbreaking story. Tragedies like this affect and change people’s lives forever, some for the good and many others not.
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 .
Horrible and tragic
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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.
Can attest to this statement. As I am to a mother of an angel 👼 forever 19yrs young..😢
No such thing as closure, just living with it.
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.
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
❤️
@@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.
@@trinataco4493 Probably because it was THOUGHT or rumor not a fact to be investigated.
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.
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.
My family went to St. Agatha School, at Douglas and Kedzie in 1958.
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.
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.
@@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.
Well said!
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.
Your poor Dad. I’m so sorry he had to go through that
2 of my uncles were some of the first firefighters at this fire. It had a deep profound effect on them both.
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I was a freshman in a Catholic high school at this time. They replaced all our wooden lockers and redid the entire science lab, which had had a wooden floor. It was a wake up call for private schools across the country.
Good call, it’s heartening to see there was a silver lining to this tragedy.
I and my twin brother were in the fire we survived without injuries Father Joe Ognebiene carried me out of the building my cousin Carol Ann Gazzola died in the fire.
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.
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.
prove it
@@hoss-lk4bg don't need to call you a Loser- you already did with your pic.😂
My cousin was in 8th grade and jumped out the window. I still remember all my uncles looking for her.
@@hoss-lk4bg😢
So glad this film showed the importance of future fire safety in schools. Those angels forever changed the lives of other children! 😔
Those fire safety standards were not only well known by then but were enforced in schools - except for these religious schools that got a pass from implementing them in existing buildings because of the huge Catholic lobbying influence in the city.
I find it immensely heartbreaking that I've never heard of this tragedy before you posted this. 😢
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. 😢😢😢😢
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😢😢
@@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.
@@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.
@@barbaralamson7450 hi Barbara, oh my, another one just came up on my phone. Collinsville, Ohio. 1908. 179 deaths inc. 2 teachers.
@@barbaralamson7450 Collinwood Ohio
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.
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
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
😥..(sighh..)..Sooo Very Deeply heartbreaking
You can see how terrible the trauma has been for the survivors, even all these years later. This is why counselling is so important.
Yet it just wasn’t part of the jargon or available back then.
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.
@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.
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
@@loditx7706 A lot of common sense in this comment.
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.
You did not mess with the nuns, I got the "ruler" many times!
I did a firefighter midterm paper on our lady of angels and got 100% on my midterm paper.
Gloating about an impossible grade built on childrens' deaths? Bad enough that you are a liar
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.
I live in central Illinois and I was 11 years old when the fire happened. I will never forget watching the news and seeing the little bodies covered with blankets. My mother could not stop weeping especially when they showed a little girl that looked a lot like me. It still brings tears to my eyes even all these years later.
This story make me cry.
Jesus H Christ what do you do if you lost a little kid? God look after them Please?
Amazing documentary! I remember this fire like it was yesterday. My cousin was in 8th grade and jumped out of the window for safety. All of my uncles split up and went from hospital to hospital to find him. My dad and another uncle left the ER to go to the morgue when they walked past my cousin who had pushed aside because he wasn't so bad. He was burned but alive!
I can’t imagine how relieved they must have been to not have to make that trip to the morgue!
You're right they were so relieved since the other uncles (8 in all) were looking and all had called in saying they had not found him@@SugarandSarcasm
@@SugarandSarcasmand how relieved that little boy must have been to finally see someone he knew. He must have been so scared, confused and in pain.
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. 😔
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.
or find Michelle McBride's "The Fire That Will Not Die", RIP Michelle who lived to be an adult with her horrible injuries.
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.
The author plead guilty to arson at a church and served time in prison. Absolutely nuts!
@@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.
@@worldofthesupernatural It was traumatic beyond words. I read that book.
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.
I WAS TOLD BY A FRIEND DONT LIVE ANY HIGHER THAN YOU WANNA JUMP !!!
I would never work or live higher than the second floor!!
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.
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.
Nowadays it's active shooter drills. Super sad.
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.
Same here @@jbaker7311
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.
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.
it will never be forgotten
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.
@@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.
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.
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.
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!
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Yes..I know!
I remember when this fire happened, my father was one of the firemen who fought this fire
Do you remember hearing him tell any stories?
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.
I was in kindergarten at neighboring St. Fidelis parish school. I remember my mother weeping in front of the TV. This was the first news story I remember being aware of. Several years later I met survivors in public school. My friend Patty lost her sister that day(her 6th birthday)an older brother and sister survived. My father took us to the cemetaries where the children were laid to rest on the anniversary of the fire many years. This morning I heard a fire engine and remembered this is why I was taught to always say a prayer for the firefighters and the people they were going to help.
..Bless Your Heart of Hearts.., Your inherent sense of Compassion, and Your Loving Soul, Shine Brightly..~Peace, K
P.S. ..Wishing You and Yours, a Verry Joyful Christmas 🎄 Season !!
I was at St. Fidelis school at this time. I was 8 years old. I remember this fire. My parents took us to look at the burned school a few weeks later.. I will never forget.
Back then you didn't talk about emotions, I was taught to keep everything in. Godbless all who died 🙏🇺🇸
You are exactly right 👍 we definitely had to keep a lot of things inside. And were not allowed to ask certain questions about anything 😢😢. I was 10yrs old at the time I'm 75 now and I will never forget that fateful day. As long as I live 😢🙏.
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.
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.
@@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.
@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.
It is great to hear that most people in that class went into pursue careers that help people
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.😓💔
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.
My condolences to families who lost kids and family 😢
Those parents are all dead now. This was back in 1958. Only the children who survived the fire remain.
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.
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.
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 😢
“The Will of God” during a tragedy is used to excuse the lack of preventable action by humans.
Yes but as hard as it is to accept we are not guaranteed a long life my own children can be taken tomorrow and it would be God’s will…
@@sofiabravo1994it’s not “God’s will” because this fire was preventable
Was not keeping the building up to code “gods will”?
The unfortunate truth about the case was that the fire was actually an arson set by the boy later convicted of setting fires in Cicero. He was 10 years old at the time and lived with his single mother, who had had him at age 14. His mother married another man who adopted him, and the boy used his stepfather’s name all his life. The stepfather was shaken at what he was hearing and the boy’s mother and stepfather eventually divorced over it. The church persuaded Judge Alfred Cilella to avoid holding him delinquent in the school fire, and Cilella found him delinquent for setting the Cicero fires. The boy was sent to Starr Commonwealth in Albion, Michigan, and after he reached adulthood, he enlisted, served a tour of duty in Vietnam, and he and his mother both got jobs with the Postal Service. He was a truck driver with the postal service, but was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, had to leave his job, and died of cancer that year. Illinois law at the time on delinquency differs from what it is now. There is currently a case in downstate Illinois where a boy who was 9 at the time is being charged with arson and murder for setting a fire that killed his great grandmother, his mother’s fiancé, his cousin, and the half-siblings his mother had with her fiancé. The mother has made the boy’s name public, and the district attorney has stated that his purpose in prosecuting the boy is to get him professional help rather than to send hi to adult prison.
sometimes, sometimes its all a person has to help them through their losses 😞❤️🩹🙏
Teachers, if your students think fire drills are a joke, show them this documentary. (Preview first. It may be too graphic for younger children.)
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.
@@Nyquil5 Me too when I taught.
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.
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!😢
Thank you for sharing your thoughts; they are important. God bless.
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. 😪
How horrible. I’ve never heard of this. I am from California. I pray everyone found peace.
I'm from California as well and never heard of it so thank you..
Same here, but many of the comments from Illinois have heard of it. Imo everyone in the country should learn about this event.
No, no one who lost a child in that fire found peace.
Such a loss of innocence. Rest in peace sweet angels.
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! 🥺😢
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!
In my seminary, they called it "Bad Theology". You might like reading "When Bad Things Happen to Good People.". All libraries probably have it.
I thought the same thing.
@@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.
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.
My father was the fire chief in the our little community, and I remember they showed the movie that was made about the fire at the fire house. I at the time was around the age of 12 and how it always stuck in my mind. I can also remember how my dad and the rest of the fireman of the department we’re on a crusade to make sure that all the schools in our town were safe, and checked frequently!
I watch documentaries all the time. Lots of sad ones. But this one really got me. 😢
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..😢❤
My fiance is a volunteer firefighter and every fire is devastating but when kids are involved it’s a thousand times harder. My fiancé has seen his fair share of fatal fires, accidents etc. but the one that stands out harder than the rest was when a mom set her house on fire with her husband and two kids in the house (this was at 2:30-3 in the morning. She set it ablaze and went for a walk and then when she got back her house had accidentally caught on fire. The saddest part of the whole thing was the brother was found with his sister and he was laying on top of her trying to protect her (he was in his room when the fire was started asleep) and their father died in front of the little girls room as he was trying to save his kids.
I have been with my fiancé for well over ten years and never seen him cry. He called and told me he was on his way home and to send ourdaughter to my moms and hung up the phone. When he got home he still had his gear on which was very weird and when he got to our porch I could see that on his gear there was something that looked funny (what it is was is further down) and as soon as he stepped in the door he dropped to his knees and that was it he busted out crying and because it was under investigation he couldn’t tell me everything that happened. Finally I was able to get him calm and out his gear and as soon as he went to take it off he froze and told me do not touch any of his gear and to call the police and fire investigators immediately. When he picked up the little boy off his sister he put the little man in his arms to crawl out with him and some of the little boys skin and clothes ended up on his jacket. And then he lost it all over again.
Therapy has worked so well and some of the firefighters that were on the same call are still going through therapy five years later.
Great story. Can you imagine being in a school room and the only way to survive is to jump. God bless all who died, those who lived for years with the nightmare. The priest and nuns - they are heroes 😔
I can imagine that.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I grew up Catholic, but went to public school on the North Shore of Chicago. I remember hearing the stories about this tragedy. Always scared me as a kid. R.I.P to all who perished. I can't imagine the grief the parents felt who lost one, let one the ones who lost two😢
So appreciate this broadcast, and this particular story. Growing up in Chicago, we heard of this tragedy all our lives.
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.
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])
Try serving God, Jesus, not Catholicism.
@@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.
@@user-gu1jk4qn6bRespectfully, 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.
How do you tell a parent, this is God's will; that you lose your child?
I was 6 and I remember this fire in Chicago. Our church in Rockford held a special mass, as alot of Italian Catholics had relatives who were impacted by this fire. 😢
Fire doors were LOCKED??
Whoever locked these kids in this fire trap were guilty of criminally negligent homicide
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.
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.
We lived 5 blocks from this school. I remember the fire hoses all strung together and everywhere trying to get enough water pressure to the school. Inadequate 😢 by the time the water reached, the pressure was too low. My older sisters little friends died in that fire.
How was it to low?
Never heard anything about that and was that a problem for the CFD back then?
@@MIKECNWmost urban and suburban municipalities have the hydrant systems laid out in a “grid” pattern.
Meaning that all the hydrants are supplied by the same water main system from one pumping station. It is possible to have miles of hydrant supply mains being serviced by a single pumping station.
So regardless of the number of hydrants that are used for any particular fire, the same water pressure will be available. The more hydrants that are opened, the lower the pressure will become.
It’s not uncommon for municipalities with older systems to request the water department to increase the hydrant pressure during a larger than normal fire.
Newer systems however may be “high pressure” systems which alleviate that problem. Believe it or not, over 60 years later this same problem exists.
The bigger problem was that they were called too late and then weren’t given the right directions. The fire started and was burning for a while before they were aware the fire was burning. And the fire department went to the rectory at first. Another problem was the fence at the school had to be torn down for them to actually get to some classrooms. But the big factor was that they arrived too late and just didn’t have time to rescue them because the fire was already too far gone for them to do anymore. The real hero’s in this fire were also the janitor and some of the parents. They saved many of the children before the fire department even got there.
@@MIKECNW the water pressure was very low due to the hydrants being blocks and blocks away from the fire, and hoses being connected to the inadequate number of hydrants to begin with. Many lessons learned from that deadly fire. I recall from my 4 year old child memory of that day and all those hoses, many leaking at the connection points, and I thought they were giant snakes.
@@susanjones8489 My understand from a student who posted on a message board from the tribute site claimed there was a hydrant nearby but what was the problem with the CFD and the hydrants in the area were so bad?
I don't remember hearing of this tragedy. I was in first grade in Catholic School in Philadelphia at the time and my father was a Fireman. We always had firedrills. Dear God what a horror 😢
I was in 2nd grade. At a different Catholic School. I was so disturbed by this. I lived in Chicago as well.
I had never heard about this fire. Cried hearing their stories. Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee..........
Why do you pray to Mary?God says you should not worship the dead. This is a sin.
@@reneevaz7848 fuck 9ff thanks in advance
It’s a Catholic thing, you won’t get it
Why do you hate Scripture?
I've been a Journey fan for many years, and I knew the Cain family hailed from Chicago, but I've never heard this story.
God bless the survivors, their families, those who lost loved ones, the Sisters, the rescuers. Our Lady of the Angels, pray for us. May those who were lost rest in peace.
My dad hated them saying that the kids became angel. He felt it made the kids who were severely injured wonder why they had to suffer and were not good enough to be angels.
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."
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.
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.
We had to walk to OLA to board CTA buses for the trip down Chicago Ave. to HoC.
My parents were young marrieds living near that neighborhood at the time. My mother was a public school teacher. So very, very sad.
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.
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.
My grandma lived about 45 minutes from there as a child for a brief time and said when her elementary school learned of the fire, the kids cried and drew pictures for their school.
She also stated she had to stay away from this very heavy due to extreme racism. Really sad story.
?
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
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).
I was in 5th grade on Dec 1, 1958 when Sister Rose Helen stopped the class and told us about the fire that was happening at the school 700 miles away in Chicago. She wanted us all to pray for the children that were in the fire. I’ll never forget how my chest hurt and my eyes filling with tears as our whole school prayed. It was traumatic for us as children to hear about it too. I have never forgotten that day 65 years ago. Incredibly sorrowful.
Father Joe Ognibene my mom’s first cousin. Growing up in Buffalo, New York, we only saw him for a few weeks every summer when he would visit my grandparents. Such wonderful memories of him, his brother Father Sam Ognibene and their father, my great uncle Joe. I had never heard anyone in my family talk about this tragedy, until maybe 10 years ago. What a horrific tragedy.
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.
Wow and they both started from rubbish bins being set ablazed downstairs
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.
So tragic and heartbreaking these poor little kids.
I don't live in Chicago but our school was similar. Plus we had the old wooden desks attached in rows.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 )
A lot of urban public schools were top notch at that time.
@@mellimel1174 - We were suburban, but IMHO public schools still far outperform private/religulous schools throughout the nation...
@@lilsuzq32Vast overgeneralization. Quality of schools, whether public, private, or parochial varies greatly. Staff, administration, funding, and socioeconomic factors all play a part.
I was 4 years old in 1958 so I was not in school yet, but both of my sisters were already at Holy Angels School on Chicago's South Side on Oakwood Blvd. My mom remembered that a lot of parents got confused about the location of the fire, thinking it was at Holy Angels instead of Our Lady of the Angels. She said they came rushing up to Holy Angels only to find out that the fire was not there. My mom said that the nuns and priests at Holy Angels held prayer vigils for the victims of the Lady of the Angels Fire. We had regular fire drills at Holy Angels, and the Lady of the Angels fire was discussed often in our classes.
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"
They were grandfathered in 😔
Thank you for showing such a tragic & awe inspiring event ! My heart goes out to those survivors who had to live with the guilt but strived to help each other & others in times of need.
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.
I well remember the "cloud of gloom" that settled on that parish afterward. I was very young when it happened but heard the adults speak about it in hushed tones.
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.
Wow, I have never heard of this! Excellent documentary
Jonathan Cain you made them all so proud. I have no doubt that your schoolmates and teachers are with you and all the survivors of this horror.
Perpetual Light Shine on Them.
My whole class went to the funerals. It is one day I will never forget.
Mount Carmel, and Our Lady of Angeles. Never understood why the children had to die. Never the same in Chicago.
I was in kindergarten in 1958. While I don't remember the fire, I remember the fire drills and structural changes made at my private school.
I was born in 1958 and now I know why my small town's school buildings had no wood, but cement stairs and floors. Actually, cement everything. My little town is south of Chicago by an hour's drive. I remember the stairs were all painted with red paint; buildings were brick.
These little ones are in Heaven and I am thankful for that!!
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.
I applauded all those people and will keep them all in prayer ❤
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.
I went to St Vincent de Paul school. This was the worst disaster at that time. We went to Mass every single day for the entire month to pray for the victims and survivors. Most of the Nuns at my school had tears in their eyes for months.
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)
I was three at the time i remember my mother telling me what happened and having us pray for them 🙏
"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.
I like Michelle McBride's book better: The Fire That Will Not Die.
I cannot imagine…RIP to all of those lost 🤍🕊
In '58 I was a 9 year old school girl in Los Angeles... I never heard about this. I lived in Chicago from 1969 to 1971 at the corner of Wellington and Racine - a German neighborhood close to Old Town. This fire was such a tragedy. I'm crying now. Thank you for this documentary and bless all the survivors. It wasn't your fault.