Family Theatre
421 S. Main Street,
Elkhart,
IN
46516
421 S. Main Street,
Elkhart,
IN
46516
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On July 30, 1915, the Mayor of Elkhart forbade the playing of the Eastland newsreel in which 844 people were killed while docked at the Clark Street Bridge just six days prior. Family Theatre Manager Peter Sarantos felt that amounted to censorship and played the film.
On August 4, 1915, Elkhart Mayor F.E. Smith found Sarantos guilty but - instead of permanently removing his license to operate the theater - gave him a ten day suspension provided that he didn’t violate a future order by His Honor. Theaters in Goshen and Chicago were not allowed permission to show the same film. The issue was that the rapidness of the newsreel’s production commercially exploited the grief of those impacted.