A Girl Hero

On the morning of June 15, 1904, the paddle-wheel steamer General Slocum pulled away from Manhattan’s Lower East Side carrying more than a thousand passengers—most of them women and children—on a Sunday school outing. Flags snapped in the wind, the decks were crowded with families in holiday dress, and the East River shimmered in the bright sun. Within minutes, the scene would turn to horror.

A fire broke out in a forward cabin, fed quickly by the ship’s wooden structure, oiled timbers, and strong river winds. Flames raced across the decks. Panic swept through the passengers as smoke rolled upward and the great side-wheeler became an inferno.

The captain steered toward North Brother Island—one of two small slips of land just off the tip of Manhattan, near the mouth of the Bronx Kill. At the time, the island housed Riverside Hospital, New York City’s quarantine facility for smallpox, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, and other contagious diseases. It was a place where steady hands and steady nerves were part of everyday life.

One of the young women working there that day was Pauline Puetz, a waitress at the hospital who was also studying to become a nurse. Newspapers later described her as slender, quiet, and unassuming. Nothing in her appearance suggested what she was about to do.

When word spread that a burning steamer was drifting toward the island, Pauline ran from her workroom toward the shoreline. The scene was unimaginable: passengers trapped behind railings, the upper decks ablaze, people leaping into the fierce current. Pauline pulled off her apron and shoes.

“I must go,” she said. “I can’t see those people drown without giving a hand.”

She dove into the East River.

The water was thick with ash and debris, and passengers were struggling against the pull of the tide. Pauline swam directly to the side of the burning vessel and called to the mothers crowded there:

“Throw your babies overboard—we’ll catch them!”

One woman, wrapped in flames, threw her four-year-old son, Louis Weis, into the water. Pauline reached him and brought him safely to shore. His mother and four siblings did not survive.

She went back again. And again. She pulled several children and at least one adult woman from the water, who clutched her in a panic strong enough to drag them both under. In the end, Pauline helped save six children.

Later that summer, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children awarded Pauline a gold medal for “signal heroism.” Little Louis Weis stood beside her during the ceremony—living proof of what her courage had accomplished.

“I didn’t expect anything for what I did,” Pauline said. “At the moment of the accident the little children were standing with their arms outstretched, waiting for help, and I just couldn’t keep from helping them.”

Why It Matters

The General Slocum tragedy remains one of the deadliest disasters in New York City history. More than a thousand lives were lost in less than fifteen minutes. Amid this devastation, a young woman working quietly on a quarantine island chose not to look away.

Pauline Puetz reminds us that heroism often comes from unexpected places—from people who see suffering, act quickly, and refuse to let fear decide their course.

Her story endures because it reflects the best of what ordinary people can do when confronted with extraordinary need.

Image Credits & Sources

Slide 1 – “A Girl Hero” (Header Image)
Artist rendering created for History in Two Voices, inspired by contemporary reporting on the General Slocum disaster (1904).

Slide 2 – The General Slocum
Engraving of the excursion steamer General Slocum, c. 1891. Public domain.

Slide 3 – Flames Spread Quickly
Illustration of the burning General Slocum from newspaper coverage of the disaster, June 1904. Public domain.

Slide 4 – Pauline Puetz (Portrait)
Newspaper sketch of Pauline Puetz, 1904. Public domain.

Slide 5 – Pauline Diving (Artistic Rendering)
Artist rendering created for History in Two Voices, inspired by eyewitness accounts reported in June 1904 newspapers.

Slide 6 – “Throw Your Babies Overboard”
Artist rendering created for History in Two Voices, based on reports from The Province (Vancouver), July 7, 1904.

Slide 7 – Medal Presentation
Photographic reproduction of Pauline Puetz receiving a medal for heroism from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 1904. Public domain.

Slide 8 – North Brother Island Waitress Scene
Artist rendering created for History in Two Voices, based on descriptions from The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland), September 1, 1904.

Slide 9 – Why It Matters (Final Slide)
Artist rendering created for History in Two Voices, inspired by contemporary accounts of Pauline Puetz’s rescue efforts during the General Slocum disaster.

Sources Consulted

The Inter-Ocean (Chicago), June 16, 1904 — detailed coverage of the General Slocum disaster and early reports on passenger casualties.

The Province (Vancouver, British Columbia), July 7, 1904 — accounts of Pauline Puetz’s rescue efforts, including her statement encouraging mothers to throw their children to safety.

The Oregon Daily Journal (Portland), September 1, 1904 — reporting on Pauline Puetz’s work on North Brother Island as a waitress “while learning to be a nurse.”

New York Evening World, June 1904 — contemporary sketches and descriptions of the burning steamer.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (SPCC), Medal Presentation Reports, 1904 — documentation of Pauline Puetz’s award for saving six children.

U.S. Census, 1910 — age verification and biographical details for Pauline Puetz.

Public domain photographs and engravings of the excursion steamer General Slocum and the North Brother Island medical facilities.