Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

54 | JUNE 3 • 2021 

A UP Disaster that 
Mirrored Mt. Meron
L

ast month, Israel experienced the worst 
civil disaster in its history. On April 30, 
tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews 
attended a celebration of Lag b’Omer on Mt. 
Meron in northern Israel. As celebrants began 
to leave the event, they used narrow, slippery 
stairs. Without warning, a 
human stampede developed, 
with 45 people crushed to 
death and at least 150 wound-
ed.
Did you know that Michigan 
was the scene for a similar 
horrific calamity, the Italian 
Hall Disaster in the village of 
Red Jacket in 1913? In that era, Red Jacket, 
which became Calumet in 1929, was home 
to the massive Calumet & Hecla copper mine 
and 5,000 citizens; more than 25,000 lived in 
Calumet Township.
The William Davidson Digital Archive of 
Jewish Detroit History does not hold any sto-
ries of the disaster itself, but it does have good 
information about Jews in Michigan’s Upper 
Peninsula. For example, David Heineman 
wrote a series of articles about Jewish immi-
gration to Michigan for the Chronicle in 1918. 
In the Dec. 6 issue, he states that the Jewish 
Leopold and Austrian families owned stores 
in Calumet Township and nearby Hancock. 
The Italian Hall Disaster occurred in the 
midst of a major labor strike against the 
Calumet & Hecla Mining Company. The 
now-defunct Western Federation of Miners 
began the strike in July 1913 and it lasted 
until April 1914. This bitter, prolonged labor 
action still divides opinion in the UP and the 
Italian Disaster is still a living memory.
On Dec. 24, 1913, about 400 men, women 
and children gathered for a Christmas party 
on the second floor of the Italian Hall, a local 
community meeting place. The partiers were 
supporters of the strike. In the midst of their 
celebration, someone yelled “Fire!” Although 
there is some evidence that an anti-union 

instigator yelled the fatal 
word, no one knows for 
certain. What is known is 
when the crowd rushed to 
escape, there were too many 
people for the narrow stairway 
passage. Much like the circum-
stances at Mt. Meron, people 
slipped, fell and were crushed. 
At the Italian Hall, 73 were 
killed; 59 of the fatalities were 
children.
In the aftermath, there were 
investigations including that of a 
subcommittee from the House of 
Representatives that traveled to the UP
, but 
no conclusions were reached. The event is 
still shrouded in mystery today. Since that 
time, a number of books have been written 
about the disaster. Woody Guthrie sang 
the song, “1913 Massacre” and, in 1984, 
the Italian Hall was demolished. Only the 
facade is left as a memorial to those who 
perished. 
The strike was the beginning of a slow 
decline for copper mining in the UP
. 
Calumet now has about 800 residents.
There are references to Calumet 
and the UP in the Davidson Archive. 
See, the “Chabad House on Wheels 
Reaches Upper Peninsula” (Aug. 4, 
1978 JN). The Yiddishe Cup Klezmer 
Band performed in the Calumet Opera 
House (June 16, 2001). “Frozen Chosen” 
reported the efforts of Jewish UP communi-
ties to stay united (Oct. 10, 2016).
The Italian Hall Disaster, like Mt. Meron, 
was a tragedy reported around the world. 
Although not a Jewish event, it did have an 
impact on Jews and many other citizens in 
Michigan’s UP
. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation 

archives, available for free at

www.djnfoundation.org.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

escape, there were too many 
people for the narrow stairway 
passage. Much like the circum-
stances at Mt. Meron, people 
slipped, fell and were crushed. 

killed; 59 of the fatalities were 

In the aftermath, there were 

investigations including that of a 
subcommittee from the House of 
Representatives that traveled to the UP
, but 

no conclusions were reached. The event is 
still shrouded in mystery today. Since that 
time, a number of books have been written 
about the disaster. Woody Guthrie sang 
the song, “1913 Massacre” and, in 1984, 
the Italian Hall was demolished. Only the 
facade is left as a memorial to those who 

The strike was the beginning of a slow 

Band performed in the Calumet Opera 
House (June 16, 2001). “Frozen Chosen” 

