The Hartford Circus Fire Remembered

A note to patrons: The elevator that provides access to our gallery spaces and accessible bathroom is out of order. This program will be held in our ground-floor Auditorium and is fully accessible, with no stairs required for entry. There is also a set of bathrooms on the ground level that are fully accessible, again with no stairs required. However, visitors who cannot climb stairs will not have access to the museum galleries, or to the wheelchair-accessible bathroom. 

Eighty years ago, the worst disaster in Hartford history took the lives of 168 people. The circus fire has lived in the memories of survivors and the imaginations of Connecticans ever since. On June 6th, the Connecticut Museum welcomes Don Massey and former Hartford Fire Chief Charles A. Teale to talk about the lasting legacy of the fire. Don Massey is coauthor of A Matter of Degree: The Hartford Circus Fire and the Mystery of Little Miss 1565, documenting arson investigator Rick Davey’s identification of one of the fire’s unclaimed victims as Eleanor Emily Cook. Chief Charles Teale co-chaired the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation, which created a memorial to the victims on the site of the fire on Barbour Street. The conversation will be moderated by the Connecticut Museum’s Deputy Executive Director, Ilene Frank.

Light refreshments will be served.

This is the second event in our 2024 Woodward Lecture Series, in which we examine the impact and legacy of disasters, both natural and man-made, in our state’s history. Save the date for our last presentation in the series, an examination of 2017’s Hurricane Maria, which devastated Puerto Rico and sent thousands of survivors to seek refuge in Connecticut.

Questions? Contact Natalie Belanger, Adult Programs Manager, at nbelanger@connecticutmuseum.org.

TICKETS
$15 General Admission
$10 Members
FREE for Connecticut Museum NARM members and above