Italian Hall Memorial committee seeks donations; Jim's Pizza in Calumet to match $5,000 through May 2017

This image depicts the future Italian Hall Memorial (inset at left), which will list -- engraved on black granite -- the names and ages of the victims of the 1913 Italian Hall disaster in Calumet. Next fall the memorial will be added to the park on the site of the original Italian Hall at 7th and Elm streets in Calumet. The arch from the Italian Hall now marks the site. (Image courtesy Mike Lahti)

CALUMET -- A new Italian Hall Memorial is slated to be installed in the fall of 2017 at the present Italian Hall site at 7th and Elm streets in Calumet. An Italian Hall Memorial committee of volunteers is now raising funds for the black granite monument, on which the names and ages of the 73 victims of the Christmas Eve 1913 tragedy, many in family groupings, will be engraved.

The Italian Hall Memorial will honor the memory of the victims, mostly children, who were crushed to death in the stairwell of the Italian Hall when someone yelled "Fire" -- a false alarm -- during a Dec. 24, 1913, Christmas Party for the children of striking miners.

Memorial to be funded through donations

Mike Lahti, Italian Hall Memorial committee chairperson, said the goal of the fundraiser is to raise $30,000 to finance the memorial and its installation on the site, which is a property of Calumet Village, plus other site work. So far the committee has raised about $8,000 toward the goal.

"The Calumet Village Council has been very supportive in helping us get the donations we need in order to pay for the project," Lahti said. 

Poster announcing Jim's Pizza offer to match donations up to $5,000 towards the Italian Hall Memorial through May 2017. UPDATE: Jim's Pizza will continue to match donations through June! (Poster courtesy Marc Norton, Copper Island Printing)

UPDATE: Jim's Pizza in Calumet is offering to match up to $5,000 in donations toward the monument through JUNE 2017. Donors may drop their contributions in the box at Jim's Pizza or mail them to the Village of Calumet, 340 6th St., Calumet, MI 49913.

Donation checks are to be made payable to the Village of Calumet - the Italian Hall Memorial fund. The contributions are tax deductible.