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On June 15, 1904, the steamboat General Slocum caught fire in New York's East River during a church picnic outing, killing an estimated 1,021 of the 1,358 passengers — mostly German immigrant women and children from the Little Germany neighborhood — after Captain William Van Schaick ran the boat aground at North Brother Island.
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Dark HistoryJun 16, 2026

On June 15, 1904, the steamboat General Slocum caught fire in New York's East River during a church picnic outing, killing an estimated 1,021 of the 1,358 passengers — mostly German immigrant women and children from the Little Germany neighborhood — after Captain William Van Schaick ran the boat aground at North Brother Island.

The General Slocum. June 15, 1904. East River, New York. A church picnic boarded a steamboat. Fire broke out near the lamp room. The life preservers were rotted. The hoses burst. Over 1,021 women and children burned or drowned. Little Germany never recovered.

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https://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/06/13/great-slocum-disaster-june-15-1904
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