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Images: St. Charles Family Survived Titanic Disaster

Eleanor Johnson, in the middle front, is pictured in this 1927 high school graduation class picture for Wasco School. COURTESY OF ST. CHARLES HERITAGE CENTER
A huge crowd gathers in front of the White Star Line office on New York City’s Broadway, waiting for the latest news about the Titanic. The luxury liner was on its maiden voyage between Southampton, England, and New York, when it struck an iceberg and sank in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. More than 1500 people died in the disaster. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Downtown St. Charles is pictured in this view looking west, circa 1910. The Fox River is featured in the foreground. COURTESY OF ST. CHARLES HERITAGE CENTER
James Cameron, the writer/director of the movie “Titanic” looks through a souvenir book that belongs to Eleanor Johnson, right, a survivor of the tragic sinking, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 1997, in Chicago. Johnson, who lives in Elgin, Ill., was 18-months-old when the ship sank in 1912. “Titanic,” a movie about the ship’s last moments, cost $200 million to make and was released on Dec. 19, 1997. ASSOCIATED PRESS
This is the life vest worn by Madeline Astor, wife of John Jacob Astor IV, and is seen on display at the Titanic Museum in Springfield, Mass., April 3, 2001. Astor, who was 18 at the time of the sinking, is shown with her husband, 48 at the time, in the photograph at right. She survived the sinking of the Titanic on April 12, 1912, aboard one of the lifeboats. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Titanic is pictured on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eleanor Johnson Shuman, 86, a survivor of the April 14, 1912 Titanic sinking, is assisted to the rail of the cruise ship Royal Majesty Thursday evening, Aug. 29, 1996, at the site of the sinking 420 miles southeast of Newfoundland, where she tossed flowers into the water in memory of family friend Elin Braf who perished in the sinking. The Royal Majesty and another cruise ship were part of a commercial expedition that took passengers to the site to watch salvage crews attempt to recover a section of the Titanic’s hull. Despite two attempts, one getting a section of the sunken ship just 70 feet from the surface, the crews were unable to complete a successful salvage. ASSOCIATED PRESS
This signed image of the wreck of the Titanic was given to Eleanor Johnson Shuman by underwater photographer Ralph White. COURTESY OF ST. CHARLES HERITAGE CENTER
Crowds gather around the bulletin board of the New York American, in New York City, where the names of people rescued from the sinking Titanic are on display. The luxury liner was on its maiden voyage between Southampton, England, and New York, when it struck an iceberg and sank in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. More than 1500 people died in the disaster. ASSOCIATED PRESS
This April or May 1911 photo provided by the Library of Congress, shows the hull of the S.S. Titanic. under construction in dry dock. The tragic sinking of the Titanic nearly a century ago can be blamed on low grade rivets that the ship’s builders used on some parts of the ill-fated liner, two experts on metals conclude in a new book. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Eleanor Johnson Shuman, of Elgin, Ill. looks over some books about the “unsinkable” Titanic while attending a titanic disaster 80th anniversary gathering in Boston, Mass. on April 10, 1992. Shuman was 18 months old when she made the trip on Titanic with her mother and brother. ASSOCIATED PRESS
This May 31, 1911 photo provided by the Library of Congress, shows the hull of the S.S. Titanic. under construction in dry dock. The tragic sinking of the Titanic nearly a century ago can be blamed on low grade rivets that the ship’s builders used on some parts of the ill-fated liner, two experts on metals conclude in a new book. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The giant propeller of the sunken Titanic lies on the floor of the North Atlantic in this undated photo. The propeller and other portions of the famed ship were viewed by the first tourists to visit the wreck site in September 1998. ASSOCIATED PRESS
People are gathered in front of the The New York Sun’s building on Broadway, reading the bulletin board with latest news about the Titanic, in April 1912. The luxury liner was on its maiden voyage between Southampton, England, and New York, when it struck an iceberg and sank in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. More than 1500 people died in the disaster. ASSOCIATED PRESS
This image was made of survivors of the sinking of the Titanic who attended a Titanic Historical Society Convention in Wilmington, Delaware, in about 1992. Eleanor Johnson Shuman is at the bottom right. COURTESY OF DEBRA SHUMAN
This image of late 1911 or early 1912 was made as Alice Johnson visited her family in Europe. Alice’s mom Mrs. Berg is in the background, and Alice’s sister Anna is below with her son. At bottom left is Alice’s son Harold. Above right, Alice is holding her daughter Eleanor in the doorway. Alice and the children would have left sooner, but the kids got the chicken pox and had to wait until they were well to travel. They stayed a total of nine months in Finland, and also visited Oscar’s family in Sweden on their journey. Alice, Eleanor and Harold survived the Titanic sinking on their way home. COURTESY OF DEBRA SHUMAN
The Shuman Family Earl, Debra, Melissa and Robert travel with Eleanor on board the Royal Majesty cruise ship in August 1996. COURTESY OF DEBRA SHUMAN
Eleanor Johnson is pictured in Finland for her one-year-old portrait. Alice Johnson sent this image back home to St. Charles to her husband Oscar. Alice and Eleanor, along with Harold, survived the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. COURTESY OF DEBRA SHUMAN
Eleanor Johnson Shuman meets George Tulloch of RMS Titanic Inc. and French scientist Paul-Henri Nargeolet aboard the Royal Majesty cruise ship in August of 1996. COURTESY OF DEBRA SHUMAN
Alice Berg Johnson is pictured in her twenties. Johnson and her two children survived the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, when Alice was 26 years of age. COURTESY OF DEBRA SHUMAN
Eleanor Johnson Shuman and her brother Harold of St. Charles are pictured soon after they survived the sinking of the Titanic. COURTESY OF DEBRA SHUMAN
In this April 10, 1912 file photo, the luxury liner Titanic departs Southampton, England, prior to her maiden Atlantic voyage en route to New York City. Five days into her journey, the ship struck an iceberg and sank, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,500 people. ASSOCIATED PRESS
  Oscar Johnson prepared a new home on the 900 block of South 3rd Street in St. Charles for his wife and two children as a surprise for their arrival home from Europe in April 1912. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
St. Luke’s hospital is pictured from the hospital’s 1912 annual report. This building, a complex of Beaux Arts buildings designed by Ernest Flagg, is along 113th Street near Amsterdam Avenue. This is the building where St. Charles Titanic survivors Alice Johnson and her children Eleanor and Harold were treated due to exposure to the cold. Courtesy of the Archives St. Luke’s and Roosevelt
Oscar W. Johnson of St. Charles is pictured in this undated photo. Johnson’s wife Alice and two young children survived the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912. COURTESY OF DEBRA SHUMAN
Alice, Harold, and Eleanor Johnson are pictured in the Elgin Daily Courier on April 17, 1912 and listed as “probably lost” in the Titanic disaster. The Elgin Daily News of the same date reported they had died. COURTESY OF GAIL BORDEN PUBLIC LIBRARY
Titanic survivor Eleanor Shuman sits for a portrait at her Elgin home on December 12, 1997. DAILY HERALD FILE PHOTO BY DAVE TONGE
Titanic survivors Alice Johnson-Peterson , left, is pictured with her children Eleanor Shuman, center, and Harold Johnson, right, at a 1959 special showing of the film A Night To Remember. COURTESY OF SHUMAN FAMILY
  On the evening of April 24, 1912, Alice Johnson and her two young children arrived back in St Charles after having survived the sinking of the Titanic. They enjoyed a celebratory meal with husband and father Oscar at the home of family friend John J Daly who lived along the 200 block of West Main Street. This is how that portion of West Mian Street appears today. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
  On the evening of April 24, 1912, the Johnson family arrived at the Chicago Great Western train station at Cedar and 9th in St. Charles. A large crowd gathered to greet Alice and the children, survivors of the Titanic disaster.The train depot long gone, this is how that site appears today. Patrick Kunzer/pkunzer@dailyherald.com
Lifeboat number 14, right, tows collapsible D toward the Carpathia in the early morning on April 15, 1912. George Grantham Bain Collection / Library of Congr
Crowds assembled in New York City await the arrival of Titanic survivors aboard the Carpathia on the evening of April 18, 1912. George Grantham Bain Collection / Library of Congr
Crowds assembled in New York City await the arrival of Titanic survivors aboard the Carpathia on the evening of April 18, 1912. George Grantham Bain Collection / Library of Congr
The liner Carpathia is pictured in April, 1912 in New York harbor. The ship rushed to the rescue of Titanic survivors adrift in lifeboats on the north Atlantic in the early hours of April 15, 1912. George Grantham Bain Collection / Library of Congr
Crowds assembled in New York City await the arrival of Titanic survivors aboard the Carpathia on the evening of April 18, 1912. George Grantham Bain Collection / Library of Congr
Survivors of the Titanic disaster approach the liner Carpathia early in the morning on April 15, 1912. George Grantham Bain Collection / Library of Congr
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