The Search for the Truth Behind the 1913 Italian Hall Disaster ANN ARBOR MI (Michigan Radio) - On Christmas eve in 1913 a tragedy occurred in Calumet in the Keweenaw Peninsula. This was during the copper boom. At the time the miners were on strike a long and very divisive strike. But it was Christmas eve and the union was holding a party for the miners kids on the 2nd floor of what was called the Italian Hall. At some a cry of fire was heard. No one knows why. Tere wasn't a fire. But people panicked and fled down a steep stairway. They couldn't get out. By some accounts 53 children and 20 adults were crushed to death. Everything about this story including the number of people who died has been argued about for almost a century. Steve Lehto is the author of a new book "Death's Door: The Truth Behind Michigan's Largest Mass Murder." © Copyright 2010, Michigan Radio