By Chantel S. White
On October 31, 1903 a tragic disaster between the Big
Four Railroad that could possibly be described as one of the biggest in the
history of college sports. “Purdue
College Team Almost Wiped Out, and Lives of Three Outsiders Sacrificed, Victims
of Colliding Trains Near Indianapolis” (Fort Wayne News). In October there was
a train collision between a special passenger train on the Big Four railroad
and a freight engine on the edge of the city of Indianapolis. There were a
total of 954 people on the train who were students from Purdue University and
friends on the train traveling from Lafayette to Indianapolis. The reasoning
behind them traveling is because of the state championship annual football game
between Purdue and Indianapolis. There were a total of 31 people killed including
17 passengers killed and 14 football team members. While researching according
to Indiana Historical Bureau I was able to find that there was a survivor named
Harry Guyer Leslie who also became and Indiana Governor. The source stated that
“While a student at Purdue University Leslie played football, miraculously
surviving the tragic 1903 train wreck that killed sixteen of his fellow team
members in Indianapolis. After many operations to repair extensive injuries, he
graduated from Purdue and received his law degree from Indiana University( "Indiana
Historical Bureau).In the following paragraphs I will be giving you
information from newspaper databases, secondary sources, and other materials
that will be showing you how the community reacted to and was shaped by this
train wreck of 1903.
[1]Before the wreck
After hearing about a wreck like this one wonders how this
train wreck occurred the reason as discussed in lecture and discussion we
talked about a lack of communication. Other factors that play into this would
be how my sources state that people were trying to help and keep those who were
hurt okay after the collision. As we are talking about how those in the
community reacted we will also discuss how those in the Indiana community were
in 1903 before the wreck. As discussed earlier one of the flaws of the railroad
system was the lack of communication where people didn’t know which train was
leaving and what time. Although the railroad was a new business According to
the source I found that titled “The Angola Horror: The 1867 Train Wreck That
Shocked the Nation and Transformed American Railroads” This is a library journal
that talks about how in 1867 “the New York Express train from Cleveland to
Buffalo derailed in frigid temperatures at Angola, NY, resulting in horrific
injuries and heavy loss of life” ("The Angola horror). The
author tells a detailed account of what happened and refers to the social
aspects of 19th century train travel. The reasoning for this journal having such an
impact is because of the effect it had on America and how it transformed
American Railroads. This relates to how life was before the train wreck because
it gave people a forewarning of what disasters could happen with train wrecks
and how lives could be lost so people understood the dangers but were
developing a sense of faith with the railroad system assuming with time it will
improve and become safer for individuals to travel.
Life
after the wreck
After the wreck occurred the
source titled “Remembering The Purdue Wreck Of 1903” it discusses how in 2003
there was a dedication to mark 100 years since the disaster. In more detail [2][i] the
article states “a tunnel in Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium was dedicated to the
victims. The Purdue football team passes through the tunnel at the beginning
and end of each home game”(Miller, Travis). It is beneficial that they were
able to find the rail bed leading to the accident site since the railroad does
not exist. The accident site is marked by noticeable landmarks that involve “Methodist
Hospital to the east, the Peerless Pump factory to the north, and an electrical
substation on the site of the former Mill Street Power House. The article goes
further to discuss how Purdue University still has several landmarks pertaining
to the tragedy. “Felix Haas Hall,
formerly the Memorial Gymnasium, was built in 1909 to honor the victims. It has
17 steps leading to the front door, one for each victim”. It is great to know
that although this tragic event happened over a 100 years ago that Purdue has
not forgotten the lives that were lost on this day.
How
People and individuals perceived the disaster
Now I will go into more detail
about how different groups and individuals perceived the disaster. According to
the book review written by Laura Wilkerson to Wicked Indianapolis she discusses
more about how people reacted to the disaster and what they did in efforts to
remember the lives lost. She briefly describes the atmosphere aboard the train wreck
before the wreck happened as “It was a boisterous, party atmosphere aboard the
Purdue Special, which had just entered the city limits of Indianapolis, when a tragic
error in communication occurred..”(Wilkerson) The review also discusses how
after the disaster that Purdue Boilermakers didn’t try to regroup for the
remainder of the 1903 season. After Harry Leslie was finished with his recovery
he and other survivors lead the Alumni Association in which they began to
fundraise for dedications to their fellow classmates who died. At first I was kind of confused on why they
would dedicate a tunnel but Laura states that although a tunnel to outsiders
wouldn’t seem appropriate as a dedication that in actuality to them “ It
somehow seems that wave after wave of enthusiastic young Boilermakers pass
hopefully through the limestone arches to return in victory or defeat in a
singularly appropriate way to commemorate the worse train wreck in Purdue
history to date” (Wilkerson). This tunnel makes sense because it not only
serves the purpose of a memorial for times of sadness but it also gets the team
pumped up for their game to dedicate their hard work to those who died. The rival
between Indiana University Football and Purdue University still continues the
competition every year to determine who will win the Old Oaken Bucket.
What methods they suggested for recovering
and preventing future disasters
The
crucial part of railroads in the development of railroads in America was
timing. As we discussed in lecture how people were keeping local time and
standard time are what the railroads went by. Eventually local time started
becoming railroad time. Another measure that could be used in preventing future
disasters such as this train wreck would be communication. If everyone would
communicate timing, speed, and other factors there would have been a less
number of train wrecks. I do understand that with time and the development of
technology it became easier to regulate but after the disaster the most they
could do in this time period was communicate and discuss timing between
conductors.
Analyzing
the victims
The victims on the train as mentioned earlier were those
who football players, coaches, supporters of the team and school, and those who
lived in the West Lafayette community. In terms of class, gender, and race this
all plays into the roles of society in this time period. Reading these were all
men who were victims. In terms of social class they all had to have some kind
of status and money to spare to ride a train to a football game in
Indianapolis. Also although it does not give pictures it is assumed they were
all white males. This is assumed because in this time period blacks were still
fighting for equality and the color line.
African
Americans during 1903-1940
In
conclusion during this time period W.E.B. Du Bois was a strong African American
activist who actually published a book titled “The Political Uses of Alienation:W.E.B.
Du Bois on Politics, Race, and Culture, 1903-1940 that talks about the
treatment of African Americans and the struggle they had to identify themselves
in the United States during this period asking these questions “ what, after
all, am I? Am I an American or am I a Negro? Can I be both? Or is it my duty to
cease to be a Negro as soon as possible and be an American? If I strive as a
Negro, am I not perpetuating the very cleft that threatens and separates black
and white America?” (Holt, Thomas). In the society of America there was still
the struggle of inequalities between race, class, and gender and how society
was isolating people who were not the majority that had an privilege in society
that those suppressed struggled with on how to identify themselves. Du Bois
argued three main points: “First, Du Bois understands black politics narrowly as
a process by which elites rule over their followers, not as an agonistic
contest among equals. Second, he assumes that an essentialist black ‘folk’
exists before politics rather than being constructed through politics. Third,
Du Bois regards white supremacy as anomalous to American democracy rather than
constitutive of it. This just furthers the argument that Barry pointed out and
that I am saying of how in history race, social class, and gender determined
who would be excluded in American society.
Conclusion
In Conclusion there has been a lot of ideas discussed in
this paper regarding the train wreck of 1903 where Purdue students, coaches,
and fans were killed in a collision in Indianapolis, Indiana due to the lack of
communication and keeping up with time travel. Before the wreck there was a
sense of competition and a fired up for a game leaving the Purdue campus
atmosphere not knowing what was in store for those riding the train and how
lives would be lost in such a disaster.
After the wreck there was a survivor who not only survived but made an
impression in Indiana’s politics by becoming a governor but he also left an
impression on Purdue’s campus. As sources stated previously he was one who
joined with others survivors and supporters to create a memorial to remember
the lives lost. There was some level of degree of people knowing that the train
could wreck due to the 1867 train wreck that marked history in American society
of the dangers of railroad travel. After reading how society was in this time
period it compares to today’s how people really don’t believe that while
traveling it could be there very last time and disasters could happen but to
travel by faith in a sense.
There were
certain precautions and measurements put in place to prevent such things from
occurring that mainly focused on communication and timing two key important
factors of train travel. The victims were all seemed to be white, middle class,
and males which is stereotypical of society because this is how things were and
there were few to question why things were this way. Although the train wreck
happened in Indiana where blacks were supposed to be treated better and have
better conditions this was still a struggle for Americans to put into place.
W.E.B. Dubois was a political leader who pointed out the ways of which society
constructs blacks and how they struggle with identity. There was confusion on if they were black or
an American. There were different ones in America that were black political
theorist but W.E.B. Dubois was mentioned because it was not until the early
1900s that those in upper society began to listen to him and hear his thoughts
about how blacks felt in American. In the political spectrum they began to team
up with him to see what they could gain from him and the support of blacks.
Overall society was in the process of changing in the 1900s but there were
still social constructs such as government, race, class, and gender that
affected those in society who were not part of the privilege. The hidden
realities and hidden structure of the community was that there was this sense
of power, social status, and race played a major role in what people could do,
who voice would be heard, even down to the things such as who was able to ride
the train and attend a championship football game. These are all underlying
social constructs of society that still exist today not as extreme but once
someone really examines society they can see who is at the top and who is at
the bottom in politics for example.
References
Fort Wayne News, "Purdue TrainWreck,"
November 9, 1903.
H. Thomas C.. The
political uses of alienation: W.E.B. Du Bois on politics, race, and culture,
1903-1940. unknown: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.
"Indiana Historical Bureau." IHB: Indiana Governor Harry
Guyer Leslie (1878. http://www.in.gov/history/2720.htm (accessed March 4,
2014).
Jeffersonville Evening News, "Killed in trainwreck,"
November 9, 1903.
Logansport Reporter, "Memory of those
Killed," November 10, 1903.
Miller,
Travis. "Remembering The Purdue Wreck Of 1903 - Hammer and Rails."
Hammer and Rails.
http://www.hammerandrails.com/2012/10/31/3581744/remembering-the-prudue-wreck-of-1903
(accessed March 4, 2014).
"The Angola horror: the 1867 train wreck that shocked the nation
and transformed American railroads." Choice Reviews Online 51, no.
06 (2014): 51-3445-51-3445. The Dubois County Daily Herald
(Greencastle),
"Two Purdue Students killed in plane crash," April 17, 1961. The Fort Wayne News, "Frightful Horror,"
October 31, 1903.
"The Purdue Train Wreck; 1903 - Laura Wilkerson - Open
Salon." The Purdue Train Wreck; 1903 - Laura Wilkerson - Open Salon. http://open.salon.com/blog/laura_wilkerson/2012/06/22/the_purdue_train_wreck_1903
(accessed March 4, 2014).
