191. The Hartford Circus Fire Tragedy

Grating the Nutmeg

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Hartford Circus Fire. In this episode of Grating the Nutmeg, Natalie Belanger of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History tells the story of the deadliest man-made disaster in Connecticut history.

On July 6, 1944, the Big Top of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus caught fire during a matinee performance. Within ten minutes the tent was burned away, taking the lives of 168 people with it. Hundreds of people were injured, and thousands of survivors would remember that day for the rest of their lives. For generations, people have been drawn to the story of the fire, and to the mystery surrounding the identify of the unclaimed child victim who came to be known as "Little Miss 1565."

Please note that this story includes graphic content and may not be suitable for all listeners.

If you'd like to learn more about the disaster, there are many sources available. Here's a partial list. You can also visit the site of the disaster, which is marked with a memorial, on Barbour Street in Hartford, behind the site of the former Fred D. Wish School. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33804-d3324207-Reviews-Hartford_Circus_Fire_Memorial-Hartford_Connecticut.html

Stewart O'Nan, The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy, 2000

Don Massey and Rick Davey, A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire and the Mystery of Little Miss 1565, 2001

Don Massey, ed., Circus Fire Memories: Survivor Recollections of July 6, 1944, 2006

Michael Skidgell, The Hartford Circus Fire: Tragedy Under the Big Top, 2014

You can read some survivor accounts in this Fall 2006 CT Explored article.

A wide collection of primary sources are collected by Michael Skidgell on the website https://www.circusfire1944.com/

You can also read more here:

https://connecticuthistory.org/the-hartford-circus-fire/

Image credit: Connecticut Museum of Culture and History

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