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Our Lady of the Angels (OLA) School Fire, December 1, 1958
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Personal Experiences with Our Lady of the Angels School Fire

If you have a personal experience, recollection or opinion about the December 1, 1958 Our Lady of the Angels school fire, whether you were present at the fire or not, you can relate it here. Any story or information is welcome as long as it relates to Our Lady of the Angels school fire.
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Posted by: Timothy J. Hughes On: 9/15/2004 ID: 198
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago's South Side
The Our lady of Angels Fire in Chicago is my first memory as a child. I was a five year old boy who would attend 12 years of Catholic schools in Chicago. Additionally, my family had been fire fighters in Chicago since the late 1800's. A number of my cousins, uncles and my Grandfather were at the fire working for the Chicago Fire Department. In every case I have seen the anguish in their eyes as they have discussed this tragic day. My Grandfather, who was a high ranking officer at the time of the fire, had a very difficult time talking about this fire until the day he died in the late 1970’s. My Uncle Harry, now in his 70’s, who I’m told was the first fireman to enter the room with the children still in their seats praying with their teacher, a Nun, has had the mental scars from that memory until this day.

We, some of my brothers and sisters, were with my mother shopping on Chicago’s southeast side. I don’t recall if we heard it on the car radio or if others in the crowd shopping informed us, but I knew it was a Catholic School and the word were that there were many dead. I remember thinking about my family members and if they would be in harms way. I will never forget the look on my Mothers face as she stopped us all to say a prayer for the children, the Nuns and the fire fighters. That evening I remember listening to the radio and watching the local news and our phone ringing with confirmation that my family members had been on the scene and, thankfully, all were safe.

Finally, I remember the talk over the years as I grew up. The terrible memory of those lost but how my family members discussed how and increase in fire safety, long overdue, was being instituted. While these measures were too little and too late for those people that perished I always thought my Grandfather took great pride in some of the things he was able to push through as he rose further in the Chicago Fire department and later became the State Fire Marshall of Illinois.

Timothy J. Hughes
Tempe, Arizona
858-414-6091


Posted by: J Matarrese On: 8/22/2004 ID: 197
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before 400 N Monticello
I went to Ryerson Public School,every Wednesday we would go to OLA for our CCD classes getting a half day off of school. That day Of the fire was monday I remember very clear I got out of school about 2pm and there was thick black smoke in the sky toward the church. It was so strange because all you could hear was the sounds of sirens.I ran home and my father who washed windows for the church went right away with his ladders to see if he could go help.As anyone who lived that nightmare knows it seemed like those sirens never stopped all night. Then we had the visitation for the 92 children in the church, and the nuns who had their wake in the convent.We later had Mass and CCd in the Alamo.That day touched a lot of people. I hope the suffering can be lifted with all our prayers , bless you all that were in the school that day,or lost a loved one.


Posted by: Guy A. On: 8/19/2004 ID: 196
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Bradley, Illinois
The 1958 fire at Our Lady of the Angels is an event I shall always remember. At the time, I was 10 years old and attending St. Joseph's grade school in Bradley, Illinois, about 60 south of Chicago. This two story wooden school building had an extremely narrow wooden staircase leading to the top floor. To make matters worse, the outside of the building was covered in highly flamable tar paper. I was afarid for weeks afterwards that a similar fate would happen at St. Joseph's.

While the nuns were clearly horrified by this event, one of them said shortly thereafter that, "God has a speical love for people who burn to death." It was a remark I have never forgotten or understood.

Out of all the tragic memories of this event, the one that will always stay with me concerns a man who lost his son at Our Lady of the Angels. Days before the fire, he had undergone delicate eye surgery and was told he could not shed one tear or he would be blind for life. I cannot imagine the depth of grief this man dealt with.


Posted by: Nena (Cizewski) Smith On: 8/14/2004 ID: 195
Enrolled on 12/1/58? Present on 12/1/58? Injured? Age Grade Classroom Teacher
Yes No No 2.5
It's a funny thing about memories.. the more intense the circumstance, the stronger the memory. There were always two or three images that come back to me from my years before I started elementary school. The first is of one of my older brothers being wrapped in a blanket and taken by car to the Contagious Disease hospital (he had complications from chicken pox) ---The other was of a school fire tragedy. I didn't put two and two together until many, many years later that both of these events occured within weeks of each other. I was only two and a half years old.

I have spoken with my mom about this, and she agrees that it was a strong memory to have. She also told me we attended some of the funerals.


Posted by: David M. Habben On: 8/9/2004 ID: 194
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Hammond, IN
I was in the 1st grade, at St. Paul's Lutheran School in Hammond, IN. Even at the young age of 6 years, the fire had quite an impact on me. I recall television coverage of the fire. The school I was attending was very similar in structure to OLA, which frightened me a little. I recall a dream I had soon after of walking down my street, at night, with my mother, and a firey object falling from the sky and landing in my mother's arms. All I remember her saying was, "He's from the fire." I've been able to visit the memorial site and, in particular, John David Trotta's grave site. May God bless their innocent spirits.


Posted by: Cynthia On: 8/2/2004 ID: 193
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago
I was ten years old when the tragedy happened, my mothers best friend lost her grandson Paul Silvio in the fire. I remember her sadness and tears, as we all cried for a young boy I did not even know. I wrote this poem about the fire when I was fifteen. I am posting it today.

The Fire
It was December 1, 1958, when the tragedy began.
Down in the basement, by the chapel, in a cardboard trash can.

There was only one fire alarm, no sprinklers, to help put out the blaze.
I will remember this horrific fire, for the rest of my days.

A catholic elementary school in Chicago, with layers of wax on wooden floors.
Served as fuel for the hungry flames, there were no fireproof doors.

Smoke filled the school as the rooms turned black.
Heat and flames kept up their attack.

Ninty-two Little Angels, went up to God that day.
Some jumped out of windows, to try and get away.

I hear the mothers screaming, I see their river of tears.
Fireman carried bodies out,the worst of all their fears.
Its like a slow motiion movie now, when I replay it in my mind.
When the sky went black that day in 1958, and we left them all behind.


Posted by: Marianne Kwiatkowski On: 8/1/2004 ID: 192
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Milwaukee WI
When I was in Catholic grade school in Milwaukee in the early 60's and we had fire drills, our nuns talked about "the children who died, still sitting at their desks in a school fire in Chicago." Because I was so young (3) when the fire happened, didn't live in Chicago and didn't read newspapers, I never heard about it, but at 8 or 9 years of age when the nuns told us about the fire, we had no reason to question whether it was true or not; after all, they were nuns, so, of course, it had to be true. By 8th grade, I was still hearing the story, but I was starting to think it was just a tale concocted by the nuns to make sure we got out of the school fast during a fire drill. Fast forward to the 1990's when the video "Hellfire" appeared on The Discovery or The History Channel, and there, after some 30 years of thinking this was "just a story" was the "real story". I wept. I then read "To Sleep With the Angels" and it is one of the most riveting books I've ever read. The neighborhood surrounding OLA reminded me of the one I grew up in: a neighborhood defined by a church and its school. There are no words that can describe the loss the OLA neighborhood sustained in 1958 and my heart goes out to everyone who lost their loved ones or friends and to the survivors.


Posted by: Charlotte A. On: 7/30/2004 ID: 191
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Albuquerque, New Mexico
When the fire occurred, I was a 4th grader in an Catholic school in Albuquerque. I heard nothing about the fire until I read the account of it in the December 15th(?)issue of LIFE magazine. Actually, in those days, I probably looked at the photos more than read.
When I saw the photo of Susan Smaldone, I told my mother that I wanted to write to her. I knew she was going to be okay, and I wanted to hear from her. Surprisingly, my mom agreed with me. After I wrote the letter, there was the problem of how to address the envelope. We just addressed it to "Susan Smaldone, Our Lady of the Angels School Fire, Chicago, Illinois". I waited and waited and heard nothing, of course. Then, in either late January or early February, a hand-written letter came to me from Chicago. It was from a priest (I don't remember his name), telling me that Susan had died. I just didn't understand that.
As I was reading TO SLEEP WITH THE ANGELS, one of the things that was said about Susan was that she wrote to Santa Claus reminding him that she was in the hospital, and not to forget her. I remember how important Christmas was when I was 9 years old, and when I think of Susan dying on the 23rd, all I can think is, "That really bites." I hope her 1958 Christmas was the best ever, and that she got to meet Santa in person! That's my whimsical thought.
I've thought of her all these years. Whenever I see that photo of Susan taken the day after the fire, I STILL see just a girl my age with soot in her hair. That's all. I never realized then that she was swollen up from the burns, and I don't see that now. I just see a sick little girl whom I had hoped to become friends with.


Posted by: octavia On: 7/24/2004 ID: 190
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before maryland
Even unto this day, the phrase "Our Lady of the Angels" still makes me weep. Despite the fact that I was reared half a continent away, and that the buildings in which the various Catholic schools I attended were either brick or concrete block, I am still inspired with a sense of horror at the monstrous event which destroyed so many young lives that fateful winter day in December of 1958.

I can certainly appreciate the irrationality and stupidity of the nuns who, instead of herding the children outside to safety, forced them to sit at their desks and "say the rosary". (You don't have to be a rocket scientist to be a nun.) In every respect, they were just as culpable for the many deaths and injuries as the boy who apparently set the blaze - for whatever evil and/or deranged purpose that inspired him to do so.

In my own Maryland suburb, the parochial school was crowded beyond the limits of sanity; my half of the 3rd grade room (which was built to accommodate roughly 30 pupils) had an incredible 93 children packed in like sardines (the tallest children, of which I was one, were shoved in the back of the room, and the boys were forced to sit in the cloakroom, sometimes practically enveloped in winter coats.) If another child came into the parish, another desk was pushed into the room, and we were constricted even further. If a child fainted in class (likely due to attenuated oxygen levels), Sister revived the hapless tot with a good, hard smack in the face. And that was only one-half of the class - the other 93 kids were crowded into a room equally inadequate!With the post-war baby boom population of the Catholic schools in the D.C. metropolitan area stretching the facilities beyond all reasonable limits - can you just imagine the horror that would have transpired had my school (which fortunately was concrete block) gone up in flames?

Fortunately (for the mental health of succeeding generations) the Catholic school system is closing up shop in many parts of the country, and today's children are not being subjected to the inadequacies of that regimen. But for those of us old enough to remember: Our Lady of the Angels - the phrase, and the harrowing images in print and on the television - is a tragic memory that will haunt us until the end of our days. God rest the souls of those tragic young victims who did not live to fulfill the promise of their lives.


Posted by: Martha Dolciamore On: 7/6/2004 ID: 189
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Huntington Station, New York
I was in the third grade at St. Hugh's School on Long Island. My father always brought the N.Y.Daily News home from work and I always read the paper. When I saw the story and photos on this fire, I was very upset. My classroom was located in the basement of an old building with other classrooms. There were only two exits. One was a flight of stairs at one end that could only accommodate a single file of students and there was one skinny door at the top. The other exit was at the other end of the building.But between my classroom and that exit were about five other classes, mostly second and third graders. I kept thinking that if a fire happened I would not be able to get out, like the kids at Our Lady of the Angels. I remember the Dominican Sisters who taught us had us say a rosary for them. But I continued to be upset by having nightmares almost nightly. My mother did not want me to see the paper anymore. But I felt I personally identified with the school because it was a Catholic school like mine. The class picture showed that the uniforms at OLA were similar to the uniform I wore. And my class was just as overpopulated. I can count over 50 students in one of my class pictures! Also, the windows in the basement classrooms, were situated high over our heads.My mother says today that it was a real fire trap and wonders why the fire department allowed St.Hugh's to put so many children in a dangerous building. It is the one news story that has stayed with me all these years. God bless the students and Sisters who died and those who survived. Heaven holds the ones we love.