On The Road
Hartford Circus Fire: July 6, 1944
by Chris Brunson
related story
It’s sacred ground, the level field behind an elementary school in the North End of Hartford. What happened more than 60 years ago still echoes from the past.
As a mournful train whistle sounded in the distance, members of the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation broke ground in 2004 for a memorial dedicated to the survivors and victims of the Hartford Circus Fire that happened July 6, 1944.
It was a hot and sultry July day.
A crowd gathered to listen to the plans for the memorial where 168 died and thousands were injured at the matinee performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. What should’ve been a festive outing turned deadly when a fire blossomed in the tent (reports differ as to where and why) and quickly fanned out to engulf the entire tent - with some 8,700 people inside. What ensued changed history. It should never happen again, and the lesson learned should never be forgotten. A heartfelt ceremony atop the circus fire site included speeches from Hartford Fire Department Chief Charles Teale and Kathy Spada-Basto, co-chairs of the memorial committee.
TO Design, LLC and DuBose Associates worked with a committee of volunteers to create the memorial, a worthy design. A circular memorial marks where the center ring once stood and features the names of those who died cast into a bronze plaque. Visitors may walk paths to see bricks carrying messages of victims’ families, survivors and other contributors.
The Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation Inc. is the group that has raised the funds to build the permanent, outdoor memorial to the victims and witnesses of the fire.
“It is intended .. [as] 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,” so wrote Kathleen Palm, Hartford’s treasurer, capital campaign chairwoman of the foundation.
Foundation members include: Don Massey and Rick Davey, treasurers; Ron Basto, William Cieri, Brad Davis, State Representative Marie Lopez Kirkley-Bey, Antonio Matta, City Treasurer Kathleen Palm, Nancy Spada and former Hartford Fire Chief John B. Stewart, Jr., committee members.
The memorial is located behind Wish Elementary School at 350 Barbour St., Hartford, in the North End. Unless you are familiar with the area, consult a map as it is easy to get lost in the inner-city neighborhood.
Two Books That Are Must Reads About the Fire and the City:
The Circus Fire, by Stewart O’Nan, is a gripping account of the fire and ensuing events (the people, their firsthand accounts and the aftermath will bring the time alive). O’Nan is a novelist and short story writer and writes that he “never intended to write the book.”
However, soon after he moved to Connecticut, he went looking for a book about the fire - and was stunned to find there wasn’t one. He began researching, thinking he’d turn his notes over to another writer, even asked newspaper reporter Lynn Tuohy, who had written an exhaustive feature for the Hartford Courant, about the project. She declined; O’Nan then crafted his book. “I started asking people around town what they knew about it. Everyone had a friend or neighbor who had been there that day, a grandmother or a cousin. Everyone had a story.”
Also see author's Web site: www.stewart-onan.com
A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire and the Mystery of Little Miss 1565 is by Don Massey and Rick Davey. Massey is a member of the foundation that is responsible for the memorial. This book is a more personal account of the event, more of a calling to find the identity of “Little Miss 1565” and the cause of the fire. Both Massey and Davey are members of the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial committee.
See authors' site: www.hartfordcircusfire.com
