THIS BOOK IS about the fire at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, one of the most tragic in the nation’s history, and about how it affected the people and the community it touched. What happened on December I, 1958, and after is much more than a story of sorrow and death. It is also a story of hope and survival. Through taped interviews with former students who survived the fire, parents of those who died, teachers, firefighters, clergy, police, investigators, hospital personnel, news reporters, and others—many of them talking publicly for the first time—we have tried to construct a narrative of courage, perseverance, compassion, and professional dedication. The stories of these lives testify to the resiliency and essential goodness of the human spirit, and deserve to be remembered.
Our Lady of the Angels was not the worst school disaster in American history. That dubious distinction belongs to Consolidated School in rural New London, Texas, where on March 18, 1937, a natural gas explosion demolished the building and killed 427 pupils and teachers. The nation’s second worst school tragedy occurred March 4, 1908, when fire swept the Lakeview Elementary School in Collinwood, Ohio, killing 178. Although the death toll at Our Lady of the Angels was not as great, it remains more than a defining episode in the colorful and tragic history of a great city, for it led to a complete overhaul of school fire safety laws in the United States, thereby changing the manner in which schoolchildren are housed.
The fire at Our Lady of the Angels School brought crushing grief to those who lost loved ones, inflicted terrible physical and emotional suffering on survivors and their families, sickened firefighters, police officers, and news reporters who responded to the scene, and literally destroyed the school’s neighborhood. It brought angry denunciations of the archdiocese of Chicago, school personnel, and the city of Chicago.
We have often been asked why we decided to write this book. The question has never been an easy one to answer. For both of us, what began as genuine curiosity soon turned into outright obsession. The deeper we dug, the more attached we became to the subject. In many respects the Our Lady of the Angels fire remains as much a mystery as it did the day news of the disaster appeared on the front page of virtually every newspaper in the country. After several years of working independently, in 1990 we decided to combine our efforts and work together as partners. By doing so we hoped finally to set straight the record on the fire, perhaps to give voice to those who still grieve, and to provide a sense of closure to an historical void that has remained open for nearly four decades.
Outside of government and the official church, many people helped make this book a reality. It is their story, not ours; we simply put it together for them. We relied on numerous sources in the Chicago Police and Fire Departments, the Cicero, Illinois, Police and Fire Departments, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, and the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office who provided us with documents, reports, photographs, and other materials. The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago allowed us access to its archives, but the information it had collected on the fire was skimpy. There was not even a specific file on the fire, and missing were any personal papers from former Archbishop Albert Meyer pertaining to the fire. Other, more abundant sources of relevant information include the National Fire Protection Association, the International Association of Firefighters, Chicago Fire Department annual reports, and news reports published in the Chicago Daily News, Chicago American, Chicago Tribune, and Chicago Sun-Times.
At the time of the fire more than sixteen hundred pupils were enrolled in the school. Many of them had riveting stories to tell. The time, energy, and logistics involved in researching and writing a history of this fire were enormous. We sought out as many survivors as possible. Most were willing to talk with us about their experience, as unpleasant as this may have been for them, and we are deeply grateful for their candor. In most cases there was one constant: people remembered the fire as if it occurred yesterday, and they carried many unresolved feelings about it.
In the final manuscript we chose to include those recollections we thought best represented all who were involved. We made no attempt to create a “pecking order” of those who endured the worst trauma or whose lives were most deeply affected by the fire. Because there are too many people to mention, and because we fear we might inadvertently omit a name or two, we simply wish to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to everyone who gave of themselves. We would, however, like to recognize the parents of fire victims who shared their recollections with us: Lydia and John Trotta, Nick and Mary Malinski, Mario and Della Maffiola, Nick and Emma Jacobellis, Mary Stachura, and Josephine Jajkowski.
Many other men and women contributed important information or opened doors that enabled us to complete this book. The late Fire Commissioner Robert J. Quinn authorized access to the Chicago Fire Department’s files on the school fire and granted us permission to interview department personnel. Among many Chicago firefighters who spoke with us were the officers of the first three fire companies to reach the scene: Lieutenants Stanley Wojnicki, Charles Kamin, and Jack McCone. Chief George Schuller, an original member of the Fire Department’s arson squad, offered invaluable assistance. We are also grateful to Richard Scheidt, Salvatore Imburgia, Henry Holden, Walter Romanczak, Tony Pilas (whose daughter died in the fire), Thomas O’Donnell, Anthony Reilly, James Neville, Albin Anderson, William Mueller, Thomas Powers, and other Fire Department personnel. Ken Little, the Chicago Fire Department’s unofficial historian, provided helpful information about Fire Department history, statistics, and organization.
Sergeant Drew Brown of the Chicago Police bomb and arson unit, the lead police investigator assigned to the case, provided details of his personal findings. So too did private fire investigator John A. Kennedy, who offered his extensive report on the origin and cause of the fire. Polygraph examiner John Reid turned over to us his complete files. George Lindberg, Reid’s former associate, was equally helpful. Maurice Door and Ed Rothchild were patient and gracious in explaining Illinois juvenile laws and juvenile court procedures. We are grateful to former youth officer Ron Richards of the Cicero (Illinois) Police Department, and to Cornelius J. Harrington, attorney for the Chicago archdiocese. Several others deserve mention but wish to remain anonymous. They know who they are.
Many in the religious community helped us. Sisters Mary Davidis Devine and Andrienne Carolan, BVM, teachers who were in the building when the fire started, gave generously during personal interviews. Clergy stationed at OLA at the time of the fire who offered information included the Reverends Joseph Ognibene, Charles Hund, Alfred Corbo, and Monsignor John Egan. Monsignor Ed Pellicore, former OLA associate pastor, and Bishop William McManus, former Catholic school superintendent in Chicago, were especially candid in responding to our questions. So too was the Reverend Patrick McPolin, who served as Chicago Police chaplain at the time of the fire. Personnel at St. Anne’s Hospital who spoke with us include Sister Mary Almunda Klaus, the hospital’s administrator, and Sisters Judian Brietenbach and Stephen Brugeman, PHJH, and Henriette Rocks, RN, all nursing supervisors at the hospital when the fire occurred.
We thank several members of the news media who covered the disaster and its investigation: Hal Bruno, formerly of the Chicago American, one of the first reporters at the scene; Charles Cleveland of the Chicago Daily News, who covered the Cook County Morgue; William Braden of the Chicago Sun-Times; George Bliss and Weldon Whisler of the Chicago Tribune; Steve Lasker, former photographer with the Chicago American; and Jimmy Kilcoyne, photographer for The New World Catholic weekly. Sister Rita Benz, BVM; Alex Burkholder of WLS-TV; Dick Fitzpatrick and Bill Burnham of the Chicago Fire Department photo lab; and Jay Copp, news editor of The New World, also provided information and photographs.
Social workers Terri Schmidt and David Plaggemars were especially helpful in providing background information on posttraumatic stress disorder, and we are equally grateful to social worker Carolen King, herself a survivor of the fire, for sharing with us her expertise. Linda K. Maffiola graciously made available to us her many contacts in the Our Lady of the Angels community and served as a source of inspiration and encouragement.
We are particularly indebted to our editor and publisher, Ivan Dee, whose demanding editorial criticisms and suggestions made this a better book.
Lastly, we can never adequately acknowledge the support and helpful suggestions we received from our families and close friends, who never gave up on us, especially during those times when we ourselves were the greatest doubters.
DAVID COWAN
JOHN KUENSTER
Chicago, Illinois
January 1996