FUNDRAISING FOR THE ITALIAN VICTIMS OF THE 1901 TRAIN WRECK MEMORIAL IN ADRIAN, MI
The city of Adrian, MI, has launched an online fundraising campaign titled “Italian/American Train Wreck Memorial – Honoring The Forgotten Victims After 115 Years” on the Patronicity website.
On November 28, 1901, on the eve of Thanksgiving, two trains crashed near Adrian. Following the crash, the trains caught fire and more than 100 Italian immigrants, recently arrived in the United States, died. Not all the victims were identified and some of the remains were buried in unmarked graves in the Oakwood cemetery of Adrian. Only recently, after the discovery of the exact burial site, the Adrian mayor Jim Berryman has announced his willingness to commemorate the victims of this tragedy with an event organized in collaboration with the Consulate of Italy in Detroit, and the COMITES. A fundraising campaign has been launched on the Patronicity website to finance the building of a memorial with a goal of $12,000. The monument will include a sculpture made by the Italian-American artist Sergio De Giusti and Ken Thompson.
The memorial will be unveiled during a commemorating ceremony on September 24, 2016 at the Oakwood cemetery of Adrian.
