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A decades-old tradition will continue today and tomorrow, as residents of Calumet commemorate the 1913 Italian Hall Tragedy.
107 years ago this afternoon, striking copper miners and their families were celebrating Christmas on the upper level of the hall, when someone yelled “fire.” There was no fire, but the rush of panicked people down the stairway resulted in a log jam at the bottom. As people tried to force their way through, 73 people were crushed to death. Most were children.
Once again, members of the CLK Rotary Club will place 73 luminaries at the site of the disaster. The luminaries will be set up this afternoon. This year, they will be left in place through tomorrow, and picked up on Saturday.
At 4:30 this afternoon, the historic firehall alarm will sound, to note the time when it alerted the community to the tragedy for the first time in 1913.
