Posted by R. Gadbois on June 14, 19100 at 08:56:17:
In Reply to: photos of GreatLakes Shipwrecks? posted by Lara on June 13, 19100 at 22:42:56:
I'd like to comment on two wrecks, The Lady Elgin & the Eastland.
In sheer loss of life these two wrecks would qualify as the tops, Elgin over 300 and Eastland over 800. The Eastland overturned in the Chicago river, not on the lakes, and was later resurrected as a Coast Guard ship, the USS Wilmette.
The Elgin disaster happened just prior to the Civil War, devastated Milwaukee's Irish community and was accused of being sabotoge. Brendon Baillod, on whose site these letters are posted, has one of the most detailed accounts I've ever seen on the Elgin (outside of books), including copies of the only two extant photos I know of, one shot the day before the disaster by Samuel Auschuler and residing at the Chicago Historical Society and the other shot at a dock in Lake Superior and residing in the collection of historian C. Patrick Labadie of Duluth's marine museum. I know of no "quality" digitized copies on the WEB, but I am sure you can obtain copies from the two mentioned sources.
As for the Eastland, there were many photos taken of that, before and after the disaster. Some are even on antique post cards. The Chicago Public Library is a good source. And there is an Eastland exhibition currently at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry (in connection with a Titanic exhibit). Also there are a couple Eastland memorial Web sites out there (yes, there are still some survivors still alive).
One problem with photos is that some are still privately owned, so for commercial uses permission might be needed.