The Hartford Circus Fire

The Hartford Circus Fire PDF Author: Michael Skidgell
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1625845227
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
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.

The Hartford Circus Fire

The Hartford Circus Fire PDF Author: Michael Skidgell
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1625845227
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
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.

The Circus Fire

The Circus Fire PDF Author: Stewart O'Nan
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307482987
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
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.

A Matter of Degree

A Matter of Degree PDF Author: Don Massey
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781930601246
Category : Arson
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
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.

Big Top Burning

Big Top Burning PDF Author: Laura A. Woollett
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
ISBN: 1613731175
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
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.

The Greatest Show

The Greatest Show PDF Author: Michael Downs
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807144525
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
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.

Worlds Afire

Worlds Afire PDF Author: Paul B. Janeczko
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 9780763634001
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
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.

Masters of Illusion

Masters of Illusion PDF Author: Mary-Ann Tirone Smith
Publisher: Macmillan Reference USA
ISBN: 9780783811871
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description


Killer Show

Killer Show PDF Author: John Barylick
Publisher: UPNE
ISBN: 1611682657
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
The definitive book on The Station nightclub fire on the 10th anniversary of the disaster

The Proper Order of Things

The Proper Order of Things PDF Author: Tara Benwell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780986865909
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Inspired by the true life Connecticut circus fire of 1944, The Proper Order of Things is a coming-of-age novel set in the 1980s in Southwestern Ontario. Unsure why she is the only child (of 9) who gets to choose between moving with her dad to an apartment in the city and staying with her mother in her remote hometown, Caroline receives an answer that she will contemplate throughout her adolescent years: "You are the lucky one." With parents whose secret past haunts every limb of the family tree, and siblings who range from rats to copycats, Caroline is sure to face a difficult journey no matter which household she chooses. While her compulsive mother allows the family to multiply exponentially in hopes of replacing what was lost, her superstitious father is petrified of history repeating itself. Caroline's only hope is to move closer to Chester, the one person who truly understands the importance of a pinkie swear. In a family where a birthday is more sacred than life itself, only one member's death can reveal the truth about the others.

Chicago Death Trap

Chicago Death Trap PDF Author: Nat Brandt
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 080932721X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
A blow-by-blow account of the deadliest fire in American history retraces the final days of the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago, a supposedly indestructible building that burned killing more than six hundred people.