[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 37 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       RECOGNIZING THE MEMORIAL TO THE 1913 ITALIAN HALL DISASTER

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                           HON. JACK BERGMAN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 28, 2019

  Mr. BERGMAN. Madam Speaker, it's my honor to recognize the dedication 
of the memorial to the Italian Hall disaster of 1913. Through their 
work to make this monument a reality, the village of Calumet and the 
Italian Hall Memorial Park Committee have ensured that the disaster and 
its victims are forever remembered by the people of Michigan.
  For over 100 years, the area now known as Calumet was the heart of 
Copper Country, attracting thousands of Americans and immigrants from 
around the world, and producing more mineral wealth than the California 
Gold Rush. In response to long work days, low wages, and harsh work 
conditions, the Keweenaw chapters of the Western Federation of Miners 
voted to strike on July 23, 1913. The strike would last nine months--
and though unsuccessful in achieving its goals in the short term, it 
marked a turning point for Copper Country and the rights of the miners 
that called it home.
  On Christmas Eve, 1913, hundreds of striking miners and their 
families gathered to celebrate the holiday on the second floor of 
Calumet's Italian Hall. However, a panic broke out after someone 
falsely shouted ``fire'' in the crowded hall. In the ensuing rush to 
escape the building, seventy-three people, including fifty-nine 
children, were killed. One hundred and six years later, the village of 
Calumet dedicated a new four-ton granite monument inscribed with the 
names of those lost in the Italian Hall disaster. The site of the Hall 
now serves as a place for quiet reflection and remembrance of tragedy 
as well as the history of the Upper Peninsula.
  Madam Speaker, the Italian Hall disaster remains fixed in the 
memories of Michiganders more than one hundred years later. On behalf 
of my constituents, I would like to thank the Italian Hall Memorial 
Park Committee and the village of Calumet for their work to ensure that 
the tragedy and the lives lost there are never forgotten.

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