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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: Sanks On: 10/30/2009 ID: 491
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I'm only 27 but I firmly believed this changed the course of the West Side forever. My Grandparents and their 12 kids lived at 3745 W Lyndale. My family lived actually nearly exactly 14 blocks north on Lyndale and Hamlin right by Mozart School. My Grandparents were devout Catholics especially my Grandmother. Many of my Father's older Brothers and Sisters went to Our Lady of Grace on 2500 N Ridgeway. Some OLA students came to OLG after the fire. Our neighborhood started going downhill in the mid 1970's after the area around OLA went downhill. Many in my area were alarmed by how Chicago Ave, Augusta, Division went so downhill. They moved fearing it would come north. In the mid 70's Armitage was the dividing line between the good and the bad. I lived in the area in the 1980's and it became very bad, the last place we lived was on Harding and Wrightwood, we moved from the area in 1991. Sometimes I think if the area around OLA could have stayed strong maybe we could have too. Sadly both proud areas would ruined. May the god bless the victims of this tragic event and both of these once great neighborhoods.


Posted by: eileen lambert On: 8/9/2009 ID: 490
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before yes, 2705 n laramie ave
i was a child when this fire happened. my father worked at crawford service and ignition on crawford ave and huron st. when he found about the fire he called my step mother, lily curry, who lived across the street from his business and told her as she and her family all went to OLA. she got my brother and i and drove over to the school. she stood us up against the brick wall across from the school. I recall seeing and hearing screaming, children jumping , parents screaming, and cops and firemen and ladders everywhere. it got to be too much for me and i turned my face to the brick wall. i am now 62 years old and i think of this horror every year. i recall awhile ago reading somethingabout a kid from the neighborhood who was a firebug and there was talk that he set the fire. i also read that he was a failure his whole life did a stint in viet nam and some time later i read he died. i cannot recall the name but this info is burned into my mind as i till this day dont know why something wasnt done about this rumor. i do have the book on the fire and from i read this kid was a nightmare even as a child. i am so very sorry for these families who lost their babies that day. i pray for them and the survivors.


Posted by: Anne On: 7/25/2009 ID: 489
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before New York
I was 7 years old in 1958. My mother had grown up in a suburb of Chicago so it was a very special place to me and we visited there yearly. I was horrified to see the Life Magazine artist's depiction of what happened in those classrooms where so many died. I dreamed about it. My own catholic school had windows that did not open all the way and they would never have provided an escape for us. Each and every fire drill reawakened the memory of those frightful pictures and the suffering children in them.

One of those pictures in life magazine is still seared in my memory and I can see it today as if it were 1958. I grew up fearful of fire and for some reason was never able to forget that picture and the children in it. It was such a tramatic experience for me;I can only imagine how it impacted the lives of those children who lived through it. God Bless you all and give you peace.


Posted by: Wayne Mahnke On: 7/16/2009 ID: 488
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago, Illinois
I was 8 when the fire broke out.. I was getting ready to leave St Helen School for the day, when our nun, (I dont remember her name), told us of the fire.. I was in shock at the news I had just heard about.. I do remember walking home, to my home on Iowa Street (ironic isnt it??) crying all the way home.. I remember telling my grandmother what had happened and she turned on the news on WGN to find out what the details were.. I remember her praying the rosary, all during the newscast..
I felt so sorry for all the family of those that had died.. But I really didnt gain all the aspects of what had happened, until I had gotten older..
In my heart of hearts, I wish ALL those that perished, were alive today..
May God have mercy on all 95 that perished..


Posted by: Tia LaMantia On: 7/12/2009 ID: 487
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Northern New Jersey
I was six at the time of the fire at Our Lady of the Angels. I was in the second grade, but it was my first year in Catholic school. Our school was in its first year and had only first and second grades in the basement of the church, which looked like the OLA Church. You might say I felt a kinship with those children halfway across the country because they, like me, were Catholic.
I remember looking at the photos in the centerfold of the New York Daily News--all those anguished parents--and feeling their pain. Somehow I remember hearing the song "Unchained Melody" playing on the radio at some point when the story was still new--and the sadness of the song made me cry. The solemn violins connected me with those photos of the grieving. Whenever I hear an instrumental version of that song, I think of the fire in Chicago. The event imprinted itself firmly in my memory.
Years later, as a middle school teacher in a tough neighborhood, I emphasized the need to keep silence and to listen to directions.
When a wisenheimer scoffed, I told them what happened in Chicago in 1958--how I'd never forget it, how I promised myself to be vigilant during firedrills, and how even losing one child would be too much for me and my fellow teachers to bear. It sobered up the whole class, including the wise guy.
I stumbled upon this website in a very bizarre way--I googled my own name to see what would come up. What a jolt it was to see that a victim of the fire had the same last name. I don't believe she was a relative...but the link from her name brought me here. I pray for the peace of the survivors.


Posted by: Kathy On: 7/5/2009 ID: 486
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
I was born and raised in Chicago, and during the eighties attended a Catholic grade school on the Northwest Side. I was also acquainted with Victor Jacobellis' parents and sister (my mother still talks with Grace Ann to this day), as well as many police officers and firefighters.

Once, during a visit to the Jacobellis family's home (I was probably about eight at the time), I saw a baseball glove and a framed photo of Victor on their dining-room table. I asked my mom why these items were there. She said the child had died a long time ago and not to mention it to either Grace Ann or her parents.

I completely forgot about this until one day, I noticed my mom had bought "To Sleep With The Angels." Being the bookworm I am, I decided it looked interesting. I grabbed it and got comfy.

I couldn't put it down. To put it mildly, I was horrified that so many people died, in such an awful way -- and that it took a tragedy of that magnitude to strengthen fire-safety codes. And my heart broke at how many others that fire affected, too: the firefighters who put out the fire and brought out the children, the police officers, the priests and nuns, families in the neighborhood and throughout the city. The book really brings that side of the tragedy to life.

In addition, I was floored to learn Victor Jacobellis was a victim. Now I know why my mom cautioned me not to ask the Jacobellis family about him. I shudder to think what would have happened had I done so.

My prayers go out to the OLA fire survivors and their families, the OLA religious community, and the Jacobellis family (including Grace Ann and her late mother, Emma). May the good Lord bring you peace and strength.


Posted by: KaylaR On: 6/23/2009 ID: 485
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
What a service this forum is! I cried more than once reading entry after entry of those who survived or were affected by loss of a loved one or loss of security because of OLA. And more than once I stunned -- especially by those who hadn't spoken of that day and by the entry by the woman who obviously has serious concerns about her estranged father and the fire.

I learned the horrible details of the OLA Fire as a teenager in 1979, when I attended a school built in 1921. One of my history teachers was telling us about public safety and fire codes and walked us through the details of our school's retrofit to meet code-- and why. Until that day, it hadn't occurred to me that 92 *children* and 3 nuns died so that I could be safer in my school. I've always been afraid of fire; and learning about OLA was devastating. (From the time I was 5 until my family moved when I was 8, one of my best friends was a "Burn." Her name, not mine. Her nightgown had caught fire when she was 4 and burned her face and neck.) After class, I asked my teacher about Our Lady of the Angels School. He told me that he was from Chicago and was deeply changed by the fire. Since that day, I've tried to be very aware of exits and exit routes. When I taught, I always kept at least three exit strategies in my mind. I still do.

I have both books on the OLA Fire. McBride's book touched me so very deeply and taught me so much. There are so few books about the pain of *surviving.* There are even fewer books that admit that Pain Is. I was sickened to read that many children felt guilt for living, questioned their own "goodness." As a Catholic, I've heard the same sort of things said...

I want to thank all of you survivor/victims for posting your experiences here. You, too, have taught me. As I survivor of another kind of devastating event, I can say that surviving isn't for wimps. I send my love and prayers out to you all.

Kayla


Posted by: Diane On: 5/25/2009 ID: 484
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No After n/a
This story touches me deeply because of this website's humanizing it, turning it from merely a historical footnote into a massive event that affected countless individual lives. It also affects me because my parents were both still enrolled in local (San Antonio, TX) Catholic schools during this time, my father in 8th grade, my mother in 7th. Realizing that some of the victims and survivors of this horrific event were my parents' ages and living similar lives to my parents as devout ethnic Catholics -- it really, really hits close to home there.

I too attended Catholic schools my whole grade and high school life, and what Ann from Washington, D.C., said is just as true now as it was back when she and my parents were attending Catholic school. There is that whole attitude of "us vs. them" regarding Catholic vs. public schools, and a sort of kinship is evident amongst all Catholic school veterans. The OLA children were on our side, and it's almost overwhelming knowing something like this happened to "our" side. I am glad the children didn't die in vain, as it appears the fire affected real change in safety codes and fire safety awareness throughout the land. I did not have to worry about the risks of fire because of what happened with OLA, and that is one huge legacy these children (and nuns!) have left us.

It is unfortunate this event isn't as well known as it should be, but I am pleased this website and the outspoken survivors are helping keep this event alive in people's memories, either real or forged by others' accounts. This is an event that should never be forgotten.


Posted by: mike l On: 5/25/2009 ID: 483
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before norristown, pa
I was in first grade at St. Helena's parish, about 20 miles outside of Philadelphia, when the fire struck Our Lady of the Angels. I remember hearing about it on the TV news that night and, on Sunday, I read about it in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Being a Catholic school kid made me more interested in the story. I remember reading in part about how some of the children were still seated in their old wooden desks, like the ones I knew, stuck there when the heat melted the lacquer. I tried to imagine a school so different than mine, which was all one-story. Each classroom, except for the two under the convent, had two doors to the main corridor and an exit door out to the school property. It would have been very safe compared to OLA. About the only thing we had in common was the large numbers of students in each classroom. My kids think I'm fooling when I tell them that we had about 60 or more kids in each class, two rooms for each grade. Back in the early 80's, I worked for a newspaper in town and one of the writers was a new college grad from Chicago. One day, out of curiosity, I asked her if she knew about the OLA fire, which probably occured around the time she was born. She knew nothing about it,surprisingly. I guess I thought everyone from Chi knew about it, right there with Mrs. O'Leary's cow. I went into our archives and came up with some stories about the fire. It was the first I had read anything about it since that time. Over two decades from the tragedy and as an adult, I still wondered why it happened and how the children felt, how the nuns tried to keep them calm. 50 years later, I still do.


Posted by: Chicago Policeman's Daughter On: 5/8/2009 ID: 482
At OLA on 12/1/58? Born before or after 12/1/58? Where Lived on 12/1/58?
No Before Chicago, SW side
I was not born until 1958, but that is also the year my father became a Chicago policeman. I had known about the fire since I was young, but it is something my father never talked about in any detail whatsoever other than that he was there. He died some time ago, and I wish he were here today after reading all this to ask him.

Reading everyone's stories and recollections almost feels like I am eavesdropping on something that is so personal I shouldn't hear it. Along with the sheer horror of the fire and what very young children saw and heard, they were told not to discuss it. Of course, I realize things were very different back then and there was no such thing as grief counselors, etc., but it just seems to me to be common sense that anyone, especially kids, would want and NEED to talk about it. And to tell you that "God only takes the good ones" both disgusts me, but is also not surprising of the church.

It took 50 years, but finally those who are willing can finally tell their stories.