The Hartford Circus Fire

Author : Michael Skidgell
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
Page : 158 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2019-04-08
Category : History
ISBN : 9781625845221

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The Hartford Circus Fire by Michael Skidgell Pdf

Through firsthand accounts, interviews with survivors and a gripping collection of vintage photographs, author Michael Skidgell attempts to make sense of one of Hartford's worst tragedies. Almost 7,000 fans eagerly packed into the Ringling Brothers big top on July 6, 1944. With a single careless act, an afternoon at the "Greatest Show on Earth" quickly became one of terror and tragedy as the paraffin-coated circus tent caught fire. Panicked crowds rushed for the few exits, but in minutes, the tent collapsed on those still struggling to escape below. A total of 168 lives were lost, many of them children, with many more injured and forever scarred by the events. Hartford and the surrounding communities reeled in the aftermath as investigators searched for the source of the fire and the responsible parties.

Author : Stewart O'Nan
Publisher : Anchor
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2008-12-10
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 9780307482983

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The Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan Pdf

The acclaimed author of Emily, Alone and Henry, Himself brings all his narrative gifts to bear on this gripping account of tragedy and heroism—the great Hartford circus fire of 1944. It was a midsummer afternoon, halfway through a Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus performance, when the big top caught fire. The tent had been waterproofed with a mixture of paraffin and gasoline; in seconds it was burning out of control. More than 8,000 people were trapped inside, and the ensuing disaster would eventually take 167 lives. Steward O'Nan brings all his narrative gifts to bear on this gripping account of the great Hartford circus fire of 1944. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of survivors, O'Nan skillfully re-creates the horrific events and illuminates the psychological oddities of human behavior under stress: the mad scramble for the exits; the perilous effort to maneuver animals out of danger; the hero who tossed dozens of children to safety before being trampled to death. Brilliantly constructed and exceptionally moving, The Circus Fire is history at its most compelling.

Author : Don Massey,Rick Davey
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : Arson
ISBN : 1930601247

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A Matter of Degree by Don Massey,Rick Davey Pdf

A MATTER OF DEGREE, bound in a high-quality hardcover first edition, is a haunting tale of personal loss and public controversy, a superior work of narrative nonfiction filled with passion, purpose and poetic imagery. Don Massey humanizes history by placing a dedicated fireman's spiritual quest for an unknown and unclaimed child against the backdrop of a public tragedy.

Author : Laura A. Woollett
Publisher : Chicago Review Press
Page : 180 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2015-06-01
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781613731178

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Big Top Burning by Laura A. Woollett Pdf

International Literacy Association Award Winner for Intermediate Nonfiction 2016 Eureka Children's Book Honor 2016 On July 6, 1944, thousands of fans made their way to Barbour Street in Hartford, Connecticut, to see the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performance. Not long after the show's start, a fire broke out and spread rapidly as panicked circus-goers pushed and scrambled to escape. Within 10 minutes the entire big top had burned to the ground, and 167 people never went home. Big Top Burning recounts the true story of one of the worst fire disasters in US history. It follows the tragic stories of the Cook family—including children Donald, Eleanor, and Edward, who were in the audience that day—and 15-year-old Robert Segee, a circus employee with an incendiary past. Drawing on primary sources and interviews with survivors, author Laura Woollett guides readers through several decades of investigations and asks, Wasthe unidentified body of a little girl nicknamed"Little Miss 1565" Eleanor Cook?Was the fire itself an act of arson—anddid Robert Segee set it? Young readers are invited to evaluate the evidence and draw their own conclusions. Combining a gripping disaster story, an ongoing detective and forensics saga, and vivid details about life in World War II–era America, Big Top Burning is sure to intrigue any history or real-life mystery fan.

Author : Paul B. Janeczko
Publisher : Candlewick Press
Page : 116 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2007-03-27
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 076363400X

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Worlds Afire by Paul B. Janeczko Pdf

In a novel written as a collection of eyewitness poems, the excitement and anticipation of attending the circus on July 6, 1944 in Hartford, Connecticut, turns to horror when a fire engulfs the circus tent, killing nearly 170 people, mostly women and children. Reprint.

Author : Don Massey,Rick Davey
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 317 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : Arson
ISBN : 1930601239

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A Matter of Degree by Don Massey,Rick Davey Pdf

A fire which killed 168 people in 1944 was the object of an investigator's nine-year mission that lead to the discovery of arson and political conspiracy. This account of the investigation reveals the arsonist's confession, facts about the cover-up and the identification of a child victim.

Author : Mary-Ann Tirone Smith
Publisher : Macmillan Reference USA
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1994
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 078381187X

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Masters of Illusion by Mary-Ann Tirone Smith Pdf

Author : Jessica Gunderson
Publisher : Capstone
Page : 113 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2022
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9781663990556

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Audrey Under the Big Top by Jessica Gunderson Pdf

Includes author's note, discussion questions, and glossary.

Author : Henry S. Cohn,David Bollier
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 207 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : History
ISBN : 0300050127

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The Great Hartford Circus Fire by Henry S. Cohn,David Bollier Pdf

On July 6, 1944, The Big Top suddenly caught fire at a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus performance in Hartford, Connecticut. The inferno killed 169 people, mostly women and children, and injured more than 550 others. Faced with hundreds of liability suits, the Greatest Show on Earth was headed for bankruptcy and liquidation, and tort claimants were likely to receive nothing. This dismal scenario was averted only when a small group of public-spirited Hartford attorneys fashioned a creative, successful solution to one of the nations earliest mass torts. This nearly forgotten episode offers some valuable lessons for us today, when litigation involving asbestos, the Dalkon Shield and other mass torts is yielding a dubious brand of justice for all.

Author : Paul B. Janeczko
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2004-01
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0605013934

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Worlds Afire the Hartford Circus Fire Of 1944 by Paul B. Janeczko Pdf

Author : Richard M Lytle
Publisher : Arcadia Publishing
Page : 100 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2015-11-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781614231707

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The Great Circus Train Wreck of 1918 by Richard M Lytle Pdf

What really happened on the circus train in 1918? Read the story of this tragedy for the entertainment industry of the time. In the cool, pre-dawn hours on a June night in 1918, a train engineer closed his cab window as he chugged toward Hammond, Indiana. He drifted to sleep, and his train bore down on the idle Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus Train. Soon after, the sleeping engineer's locomotive plowed into the circus train. In the subsequent wreckage and blaze, more than two hundred circus performers were injured and eighty-six were killed, most of whom were interred in a mass grave in the Showmen's Rest section of Chicago's Woodlawn Cemetery. Join local historian Richard Lytle as he recounts, in the fullest retelling to date, the details of this tragedy and its role in the overall evolution and demise of a unique entertainment industry.

Author : Donald H. Roy
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:49015003460590

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Women and Children First by Donald H. Roy Pdf

Twenty-three days after the horrible Hartford circus fire, July 6, 1944, I was born in Hartford, Connecticut. My mother and aunt lived but 700 feet from the circus grounds. Growing up so close to the circus grounds caused me to be haunted by this fire, which no one spoke about much and no one adequately explained. In the 1980s, I began some research on the circus fire and eventually discovered a unique way of retelling this fire's long story. First and foremost, remember the personal characteristics of those who died, then read the documentary account of the fire over the years, and in the process consider this author's reflective commentary. Starting in the late 1980s, I began writing public policy dialogues, which turned into five books: Dialogues in American Politics, Public Policy Dialogues, Reuniting America: Eleven Multicultural Dialogues, The Dialogic Resurgence of Public Intellectuals, and State Governments: Institutions and Issues. My preferred way of writing is dialogic, since in politics there are always many different, compelling voices and perspectives to consider. In this circus fire book, there is a dialogue between the documentary evidence (the many voices) and my own commentary. Growing up a New Englander puts me in that tradition of seeking public accountability, thus the underlying, persistent theme of this book.

Author : Michael Downs
Publisher : LSU Press
Page : 197 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2012-03-05
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9780807144527

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The Greatest Show by Michael Downs Pdf

Fire sweeps along the wall of a circus tent while inside thousands of people enjoy a Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey matinee. Within minutes, flames consume the canvas and vast sections collapse, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds more. Inspired by the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire, the interconnected stories in Michael Downs's The Greatest Show explore the aftermath of a disaster in a world of clowns, elephants, and childhood fantasies. In the opening story, Ania Liszak, a young Polish housemaid, steals circus tickets from her employer to take her three-year-old son, Teddy, to the matinee. The fire nearly kills both and leaves them scarred in different ways: Teddy's mother enjoys the beautiful strangeness of the scar on her face, but the patches across Teddy's body inspire cruel schoolmates to call him "Lizard Liszak." Over time, his mother transforms her pain into drama, while Teddy, having no memory of that day, seeks ways to return to it. These and other captivating characters appear throughout the book, creating a portrait of an American city and its people over five decades, raising questions about wounds and healing, memory and forgetting, and about the human capacity for kindness -- with all its futility and power -- in the midst of great loss.

Author : United States. General Accounting Office
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 118 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 1976
Category : Blood
ISBN : PURD:32754063380558

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Hepatitis from Blood Transfusions by United States. General Accounting Office Pdf

Author : Les Standiford
Publisher : PublicAffairs
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2021-06-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781541762268

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Battle for the Big Top by Les Standiford Pdf

“Les Standiford takes us under the big top and behind the curtain in this richly researched and thoroughly engaging narrative that captures all of the entrepreneurial intrigue and spirit of the American circus.” —Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Devil in the Grove Millions have sat under the “big top,” watching as trapeze artists glide and clowns entertain, but few know the captivating stories behind the men whose creativity, ingenuity, and determination created one of our country’s most beloved pastimes. In Battle for the Big Top, New York Times–bestselling author Les Standiford brings to life a remarkable era when three circus kings—James Bailey, P. T. Barnum, and John Ringling—all vied for control of the vastly profitable and influential American Circus. Ultimately, the rivalry of these three men resulted in the creation of an institution that would surpass all intentions and, for 147 years, hold a nation spellbound. Filled with details of their ever-evolving showmanship, business acumen, and personal magnetism, this Ragtime-like narrative will delight and enchant circus-lovers and anyone fascinated by the American experience.