It Happened In 1904: The story of the General Slocum tragedy
begins in the thriving German neighborhood known as
Kleindeutschland, or Little Germany, on Manhattan's Lower East
Side. One of its sanctuaries, St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran
Church on East 6th Street, held an annual outing to celebrate
the end of the Sunday school year. The congregants usually
chartered an excursion boat. Wednesday, June 15, 1904, the day
of the outing, dawned a beautiful spring morning. Shortly before
10 a.m., the General Slocum pulled away from its pier. It
chugged up the East River, gradually increasing speed. Hundreds
of children jammed the upper deck. The adults socialized while a
band played German favorites Then disaster struck. As the ship
passed East 90th Street, smoke started billowing from a forward
storage room. A spark, most likely from a carelessly tossed
match, had ignited a barrel of straw. By the time crewmen
notified Captain William Van Schaick â€“ fully 10 minutes after
discovering the fire â€“ the blaze raged