100 years ago on September 4, 1918 a bomb blast ocurred in Chicago’s Loop at the old federal building on Adams and Dearborn. The blast ocurred at about 3 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon. The bomb went off in the lobby of the federal building and killed four people. It was a powerful blast that even shattered windows at the Marquette building across the street. The person/s who threw the bomb were never caught.
Authorities believe it was an act of terrorism that had to do with the end of World War I or the labor movement. Police rounded up and took into custody large numbers of people that they believed had any links to these movements. The main suspect group was the Industrial Workers of the World radical labor group. This group denied any involvement.
The people killed were postal workers Edwin Kolkow and William Wheeler and sailor Joseph Ladd, as well as Ella Miehlke.
Walt Disney was a postal worker in the building at the time and just barely escaped the bombing. He said he was in the lobby when it ocurred.
Although the explosion did much damage to the federal building, it didn’t affect it’s foundation, so the building was repaired. It wasn’t torn down until 1965. No one was ever convicted for the bombing.
- Photos are from Wikipedia and are public domain
Very interesting. I am not sure that I ever saw the old building. I remember the old first national bank down the street on Madison Street.
Thanks Suzette. I just recently learned about the old federal building and I never knew there had been a bomb incident until I saw it in the Sun-times.