Museum Hosts Author for Virtual Lecture; "The 1904 General Slocum Disaster"

Museum Hosts Author for Virtual Lecture; "The 1904 General Slocum Disaster: New York’s Deadliest Day before 9/11"
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KINGSTON, N.Y. – The Hudson River Maritime Museum is pleased to announce the upcoming lecture “The 1904 General Slocum Disaster: New York’s Deadliest Day before 9/11,” held virtually on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 7:00 PM.
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This talk details the extraordinary story of the burning of the steamboat General Slocum, the deadliest day in New York City history before September 11. More than 1,000 New Yorkers perished on June 15, 1904 when their steamboat burst into flames on the East River.  A panicked and untrained crew, coupled with rotten life preservers and inaccessible life boats, turned a small storage room fire into a human tragedy of immense proportions. News of the horror made headlines around the world and elicited an enormous outpouring of sympathy and donations. Later, as evidence of negligence and corruption on the part of the steamer's owners mounted, sympathy turned to outrage and demands for justice that were never fully met.  This talk brings to life this gripping tragedy and the wider, compelling story of innocents lost, heroes made, and a city and people that overcame.

Edward T. O’Donnell is a history professor at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. He is the author of several books, including Henry George and the Crisis of Inequality: Progress and Poverty in the Gilded Age (Columbia, 2015) and Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum (Random House, 2003). O’Donnell also hosted (2016-2020) a popular U.S. history podcast, In The Past Lane (www.InThePastlane.com) and he has written history-themed feature and opinion pieces for the Huffington Post, Newsweek, and the New York Times. O’Donnell has also created courses for the Great Courses Company, including “Turning Points in American History.”
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Tickets are $7 for the general public and free for Hudson River Maritime Museum members. To register, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series.

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Register for Lecture Here

About the Follow the River Lecture Series
For more than a decade the Hudson River Maritime Museum's "Follow the River Lecture Series" has hosted historians, authors, and maritime experts for engaging illustrated talks on a variety of regional history and maritime subjects. In recent years, many of the lectures have also been recorded and are available on YouTube. For more information about upcoming lectures and to access recordings of past lectures, visit www.hrmm.org/lecture-series. The series is sponsored by Rondout Savings Bank.
The Hudson River Maritime Museum is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the maritime history of the Hudson River, its tributaries and related communities. In addition to extensive collections documenting maritime transportation, industry, recreation, and natural science, the museum offers classes and programs at its Wooden Boat School, Sailing and Rowing School, and aboard its floating classroom, Solaris. The museum is located along the historic Rondout waterfront in downtown Kingston. Visit www.hrmm.org for more information.