Nearly one hundred years ago, on Tuesday, January 27, 1920, The Chronicle of Two Rivers announced Jane Addams, head of Hull House, Chicago, one of the most prominent women of the country, was booked to deliver an address at the Opera House on N. Eighth Street in Manitowoc on Thursday evening. Her lecture was free, the expenses being defrayed by local businessmen.

Days after the incident, the paper quoted Vits as saying "The damage to the building is a matter of no moment in view of the terrible toll of the tragedy. The building can be replaced, the lives lost, never..."