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Photo:
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Hartford History
The Circus Fire
This is a resource
page on the fire that broke out during a performance of the Ringling Bros.
and Barnum & Bailey circus in the north end of Hartford on July 6,
1944. One hundred sixty-seven people died as a result of the blaze, which
broke out while several thousand were under the big top for an afternoon
performance. Flames spread instantly along the canvas of the tent, since
it had been waterproofed with a mixture of gasoline and paraffin. The
spectators' stampede to escape proved as deadly as the fire; hindering the
escape of many were steel railings along the front of the bleachers and an
animal chute blocking a main exit. The circus fire remains the worst
disaster in city history. Because it was a circus performance, and because
it occurred on a Thursday afternoon during World War II, when many adults
held down one or more jobs at war-production plants, children accounted
for many of the casualties; only 100 of the dead were older than 15. The
injured numbered 487. The lot where the circus performed - bounded by
Barbour Street, Cleveland Avenue, Hampton Street and Kensington Street -
became the site of the Stowe Village housing project.
The list of resources below probably isn't exhaustive. To suggest
additions, contact Kevin@HartfordHistory.net.
Those with personal recollections of the disaster are invited to post
them on the site's Bulletin Board.
Special note: The Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation Inc.
has been founded to raise money for building a permanent, outdoor memorial
to the victims and witnesses of the fire. Plans call for building the
memorial on the site of the fire, as a gift to the city. Kathleen E. Palm,
the city's treasurer, wrote about the memorial recently in her role as
capital campaign chairwoman of the foundation: "It is intended to be
contemplative, elegiac and thoughtful - a tribute to the spirit both of
the people who endured the tragedy and the community that came together on
that terrible day in response." Her words appeared as an op-ed article in
the Feb. 8, 2004, editions of The Hartford Courant. The article, along
with an artist's rendering of the memorial, can be viewed by clicking here, though registration may be required. To make a
contribution to the foundation, send it to:
Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation
P.O. Box
231332
Hartford, CT
06123-1332
Books"The Circus Fire: A
True Story," by Stewart O'Nan, published in 2000 by Doubleday, New
York. Author's site: www.stewart-onan.com
"A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire and the Mystery of
Little Miss 1565," by Don Massey and Rick Davey, published by the
Willow Brook Press. Authors' site: www.Hartfordcircusfire.com
"The Great Hartford Circus Fire: Creative Settlement of Mass
Disasters," legal scholarship on the arbitrated settlement between the
circus and survivors, by Henry S. Cohn and David Bollier, published in
1992 by the Yale University Press, New Haven.
"Masters of Illusion," a novel based on the circus fire by
Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, published in 1994 by Warner Books.
Video"The Wrath of God: Fire
Under the Big Top," one of the "Wrath of God" documentaries on
disasters appearing regularly on the History Channel. A videocassette of
the 50-minute program can be purchased at HistoryChannel.com.
"The Hartford Circus Fire of 1944," a production of Connecticut
Public Television. Using film footage and photos of the fire as well as
"interviews with the people who were there," the documentary "recalls the
horrors of the fire, the search for its cause, and the aftermath of the
tragedy on the community and the circus industry," according to the CPTV Web site. Check the
station's listings for the next air date. For now, this work is
unavailable for purchase.
Web Sites"Hartford Heroes" - a section of the Connecticut
Historical Society site dedicated to the photographs of Hartford fires,
firefighters and fire equipment taken by Horace B. Clark. While there is
no material on the circus fire - Clark's photographs run roughly from the
turn of the century to the late 1930s - the display shows vividly the fire
department's evolution in the years leading up to the disaster.
Ringling.com - the
official site of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The
history section is extensive but apparently contains no information on the
fire.
Curtiseller.com
- the site for Curtis Eller's American Circus, a New York City band that
performs a song about the fire, "Hartford, CT." Read the lyrics here.
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