Edgar Owen: The 18-Year-Old Tribune Apprentice Who Saved 17 Lives in the Eastland Disaster
Despite his heroic efforts at just 18 years old, Edgar Owen’s name seems to be absent from Eastland Disaster books and historical records. This young Tribune apprentice saved 17 people when the ship capsized—a feat that made the front page of the Chicago Tribune in 1915. Yet, his incredible bravery has been largely overlooked in modern retellings of the disaster. This newspaper article brings his courageous actions back into the spotlight, where they belong.
The Chicago Daily Tribune, July 28, 1915
The Chicago Daily Tribune, July 28, 1915 - Transcript below.
Edgar Owen, Generative Art inspired
SEVENTEEN LIVES SAVED BY “TRIBUNE” APPRENTICE (transcript)
Edgar Owen, Employed in Composing Room, Rescues Fifteen Young Women and Two Men.
Edgar Owen, 4000 Jackson boulevard, an apprentice in The Tribune’s composing room, saved seventeen lives of passengers on the ill-fated Eastland last Saturday morning.
Owen was on his vacation. He had his bathing suit on under his street clothes and was on his way out of town. He had reached the Union station when he heard the Eastland had capsized, and hurried to the scene.
When he got to La Salle street he saw a young girl in the water clinging to a chair. He stripped to his bathing suit and dived in, bringing her safely to the dock.
He then swam into the middle of the river and brought sixteen others, mostly women and girls, to the sides of the rescue boats in the short time he had to work. Of the seventeen saved by young Owen, two were men. - The Chicago Daily Tribune, July 28, 1915
Edgar Owen after the Eastland Disaster
Edgar Owen's draft registration card, Sept. 12, 1918
Edgar S. Owen - Find A Grave
Edgar died in 1970 and was married to Adele Glewe Owen who died one year later. They are buried in Mount Olive Cemetery in Chicago and here is the link to their memorial on Find a Grave
The inscription on Edgar’s headstone: “ILLINOIS PVT US MARINE CORPS WORLD WAR I"
Edgar S. Owen - Find A Grave
