Personal experiences with Our Lady of the Angels School Fire on 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:

Anita Schultz

On:

3/4/2007

ID:

315

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	East Gary (now Lake Station) IN

We were having a small 25th wedding anniversary gathering with just a few relatives present for my parents at their home (they were married 12/1/33) when the TV broke in with the news report of the fire. Our festivities turned to sorrow when we heard the tragic news. It's like when Pres. Kennedy was shot--I'll never forget where I was on that very sad day.

Posted by:

Barbara Reichhardt

On:

2/27/2007

ID:

314

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Philadelphia

I have no personal recollections myself, but my husband was from Illinois, and he often talked about the fire. He moved to Virginia and was a firefighter there for 27 years. His brother also retired from the fire service in illinois. As I said he talked of it a few times. He was just 12 years old at the time so many of the ones that were in that fire are our age. Last Christmas I was looking on line at the Chicago Fire Store and I saw that book To Sleep with the Angels and i bought it for him to add to his fire collection. It was only then after reading this book that the true horror of that day hit me. I cried as i read of the children and the terrible things they went through. I also found this web site and I couldn't stand the thought of those poor little children. It hurts but something is compelling me to go back and read more and more about this. It almost feels like it just happened yesterday. I can't discribe the feeling of helplessness and dread that i feel . I can only emagine the pain and fear that was in their hearts on that horrible day. I hope the ones that have survived have found comfort in some way. I know they will live with it till the day they die. I pray for them for peace .

Posted by:

Mark Hale

On:

2/16/2007

ID:

313

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Atlanta, GA, suburbs

Although I was many hundreds of miles away on 12-1-58, I was a fourth grader like so many victims of the OLA fire. I remember the next day at my school near Atlanta, there was a fire drill - no one had any doubt as to the reason for the timing. We knew we had been blessed and spared.

Posted by:

Lynn Hirshman

On:

2/13/2007

ID:

312

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Evanston

Just two days ago, I met another woman from Chicago at our little county library here in Colorado. As we exchanged notes on growing up in Chicago, she said, "I was in the Our Lady of Angels fire."
I had not thought about that for years; in 1958 I was in high school in Evanston, but I had attended grade school in Chicago in an old building every bit as much a firetrap as OLA, and shuddered to think of what might have happened had a fire started there -- Nettelhorst School was FOUR stories tall, and all wood inside.
Thank goodness for the internet -- today I googled OLA, and found the whole story, and all the memories came rushing back. I sit here with tears in my eyes, not sure if I want to thank my new friend Toni or not...

Posted by:

Susan Mosher Harvey - gmashoefly@gmail.com

On:

2/8/2007

ID:

311

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Chicago - Foster & Canfield

I attended St. Eugene's school at Foster and Canfield in 1958 - I was in 7th grade. We also were taught by Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM's). What I remember vividly about the OLA fire was our nun telling us afterwards that some of the nuns at OLA had just told the children to put their heads down on their desks and pray because the fire was so fast and so awful there was nothing else they could do. This horror has stayed with me for 48 years. When I stumbled on this site yesterday, I couldn't stop reading and looking at the photos even though I was in tears much of the time. The before class photos look exactly like mine - even taken by the same photographer. There are over 50 students in each class - just like our classes. How horrible it must have been to try to get that many children out of a classroom. I turned 60 my last birthday and I've had a hard time adjusting to being "old". It has often depressed me to think how little time I have left and how those years I do have will be spent being old. I can't tell you what this site has done for me in that regard. I looked at the photos of each of these precious children and realised what they and their families would have given for them to have 60 years instead of 8 or 10 or 12. These children were my contemporaries - they never got to go to high school, or date or get married or have children of their own - much less grandchildren. The fire at OLA was a horrible, senseless tragedy. But after 48 years, these precious angels are still giving us gifts. I thank them, and you for putting this site together.

Posted by:

gemini

On:

2/7/2007

ID:

310

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Skokie

In 1969, while attending high school, I can clearly remember my first day of Biology Class. Our teacher telling us that in the case of the fire alarm sounding, we were all on our own. We were all 16 years old and could get ourselves out of a building. I thought this strange, first coming from a teacher, but also we were in the first room, first floor, closest to the front door.

We later found out that our teacher was an OLA survivor.

When the fire alarm test was coming, she would give us about 5 minutes warning. The bell would go off, she left. We would calmly go about closing windows or whatever and meet her outside.

Not another word was ever spoken. I'm almost sorry - she could have probably helped with future school designs. She had her good and bad days but I have to give her credit: she came back to teach and she was a hell of a good teacher!

Posted by:

Cameron

On:

2/2/2007

ID:

309

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	After	n/a

Myself and two other members of a group are working on a short-documentary about the Our Lady of the Angels School Fire. If there is anyone who would be willing to share their story with us, or possibly have an over the phone interview, we would be thrilled. Also if you have any other ideas or options for us we are all ears. We hope you get back to us, thank you.

Posted by:

Sue Smith

On:

1/31/2007

ID:

308

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	Oak Lawn, IL

I was in the 4th grade in Cook School, Oak Lawn. I was a patrol girl, and remember getting out of class just a bit early to go be at my post. I remember the day after the fire. Everyone was talking about the horror of it. When the paper came out with all those pictures on the front page, our family stared, prayed, and cried for the kids and the families involved. So many lives have been saved because of the lessons learned from this fire. The book by Mr. Cowan and Mr. Kuenster was so well written and revived all the memories of that time in my life. Thinking now, how carefree I would be leaving my classroom, running down the open staircase from the second floor. Realizing now, how very dangerous all those schools were with the highly varnished woodwork...and now, thinking what if WE had had the fire...what would have happened. My father was the custodian at our elementary school. Oh how strange is life!! I view the kids that perished in the OLA fire, real heroes..through them we all learned valuable lessons, lives were changed, laws were changed, the world of elementary schools is better because of the high price THEY paid. Thank you for a job well done,Mr. Cowan and Mr. Kuenster, though I am sure it was so horribly difficult to do. It is an important work, glad it is recorded.
It is my hope that we can all come together to extend our sympathies to the families of those who died, to encourage and support the survivors at the 50th anniversary of this tragedy.

Posted by:

Michelle Beard

On:

1/27/2007

ID:

307

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	After	n/a

I don't have any personal experiences related to the fire as I was born 17 years later. However, my mother (who is the second oldest of 7)and her siblings were all school age children at the time of the fire as well as a few of my previous co-workers. About a year and a half ago I was watching a documentary on OLA and the tragedy of Dec, 1st 1958. I was quite intrigued as I couldn't beleive being 30 years old by this time that I had not heard of this unfortunate event. I immediately called my mother to ask if she remembered the story being on the news and her reply was, "Oh my God, yes! How could anyone forget!? It was so sad." I told her I had never heard of the school or what happened and she basically told me everything I had just heard on the documentary. Even though she nor anyone in her family had lost any friends due to the fire she still spoke of it as if I had just reminded her of a personal tragedy she had hidden away from her child hood. The same reaction came from the ladies I work with when I brought it up at lunch the next day. They couldn't believe I had never heard ANYTHING about it. Honestly, neither can I which brings me to the whole point of why I'm writing this today. As I read the recap of the events that took place that fateful day, it occured to me that next December 1st (2008) it will be the 50th anniversary of that tragic day. If anyone knows of any benefits being given or contributions being taken or anything taking place in which we can give to the remaining family members or students that this fire effeted or even a contribution to a fund be sure it never happens again please let me know. I would like to help out. I can be reached at mrsbeardjr@hotmail.com. Thank you, and blessings to those who read this that were effected by this tragedy.

Posted by:

John Sullivan

On:

1/27/2007

ID:

306

At OLA on 12/1/58?	Born before or after 12/1/58?	Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No	Before	3830 W. Adams

I lived very close to OLA and always felt that I must have known some of the children from cub scouts or day camp at garfield park. I thought that GOD must be very angry to let such a horrible tragedy happen to a bunch of innocent children, especially so close to Christmas.
If you remember the picture on one of the papers of a big fireman carrying out a little child, years later I met his son and the firemans
name was Woodall and he had terrible nightmares until he passed away.
God Bless

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