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The Richmond Theater Fire: Early America's First Great Disaster
On the day after Christmas in 1811, the state of Virginia lost its governor and almost one hundred citizens in a devastating nighttime fire that consumed a Richmond playhouse. During the second act of a melodramatic tale of bandits, ghosts, and murder, a small fire kindled behind the backdrop. Within minutes, it raced to the ceiling timbers and enveloped the audience in flames. The tragic Richmond Theater fire would inspire a national commemoration and become its generation's defining disaster.
A vibrant and bustling city, Richmond was synonymous with horse races, gambling, and frivolity. The gruesome fire amplified the capital's reputation for vice and led to an upsurge in antitheater criticism that spread throughout the country and across the Atlantic. Clerics in both America and abroad urged national repentance and denounced the stage, a sentiment that nearly destroyed theatrical entertainment in Richmond for decades. Local churches, by contrast, experienced a rise in attendance and became increasingly evangelical.
In The Richmond Theater Fire, the first book about the event and its aftermath, Meredith Henne Baker explores a forgotten catastrophe and its wide societal impact. The story of transformation comes alive through survivor accounts of slaves, actresses, ministers, and statesmen. Investigating private letters, diaries, and sermons, among other rare or unpublished documents, Baker views the event and its outcomes through the fascinating lenses of early nineteenth-century theater, architecture, and faith, and reveals a rich and vital untold story from America's past.
A vibrant and bustling city, Richmond was synonymous with horse races, gambling, and frivolity. The gruesome fire amplified the capital's reputation for vice and led to an upsurge in antitheater criticism that spread throughout the country and across the Atlantic. Clerics in both America and abroad urged national repentance and denounced the stage, a sentiment that nearly destroyed theatrical entertainment in Richmond for decades. Local churches, by contrast, experienced a rise in attendance and became increasingly evangelical.
In The Richmond Theater Fire, the first book about the event and its aftermath, Meredith Henne Baker explores a forgotten catastrophe and its wide societal impact. The story of transformation comes alive through survivor accounts of slaves, actresses, ministers, and statesmen. Investigating private letters, diaries, and sermons, among other rare or unpublished documents, Baker views the event and its outcomes through the fascinating lenses of early nineteenth-century theater, architecture, and faith, and reveals a rich and vital untold story from America's past.
364 pages, Paperback
First published March 14, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 30, 2012
A thoroughly researched and necessary book for what would qualify as one of the worst disasters in American history (for the time). Not only do we get minute by minute detail of the terrible evening, but some of the religious backlash that reverberated after the fire. My only complaint would be a better CAD diagram of the building, but that's petty. Well done.
April 2, 2022
The programme for the Boxing Day 1811 experience at the Richmond, VA Theatre is about five hours long – two full-length comedic dramas, copious variety skits and acts, and more. The place is full, with over six hundred in attendance, along with the casts and crews backstage. So when the entire thing burns down after an accidental mix-up, there are a lot of the great and good (and the rest of us) trapped in an inferno, with nothing like the reasonable chance to get out that modern buildings provide. This was a watershed saga for the young USA, which had wide-reaching effect on life there, and was still of note for this book to come out originally for its bicentenary (give or take mere months).
However from turning to almost any page of this, especially once the conflagration has burnt the place to the ground within minutes, you might think this book about a completely different kind of building entirely. We start with the story of the tragedy, and I was fully on board for learning of the disaster, especially with the promise of the fall-out that was to come. And I didn't even recognise the palaver of such a tragedy until I remembered the mud-slinging and finger-pointing that began within hours of London's Grenfell tower block tragedy, and which has yet to stop. As soon as it was vaguely known back then who and how many had perished, people were whingeing that too many of the deceased were female – were they just in the showier boxes where exit was the hardest to achieve, or was male selfishness at hand? And even before the blaze is full-on, the story here spins off to point out that some people may have been on alert for violence, arson and insurrection from slaves, with a concentration on rich white young adults a prime target.
But the greater majority of the book concerns a different kind of show-house, a very removed kind of performance – the church. I was all for the quite eye-opening nutjobbery that came out and said theatre-going was an affront to Christian sensibilities and should be banned. So what if prostitutes were using it as a meeting place? The fire and brimstone language used in the sermons and pamphleteering was hardly appropriate. But the book doesn't let up – even once it's covered the foundation and building of the Memorial Church that took the theatre's place, it drags the reader through each and every major denomination of religion, and sees what their history in the key decades was, and how they felt about theatres. The city of Richmond, often thought the source of too much ribaldry, theatrical types, open gambling and whoring and fisticuffs, was after the nightmare turning to the solace of the church service, but the religions still wanted their followers to know the playhouse was a den of iniquity.
Now I guess this well-written, forensically-detailed and -crafted book does do what it wants to do. But it doesn't do what I wanted it to – hours of reading about religions have no bearing in my mind on theatres, this particular tragedy or the people who were just having a jolly lark in a theatre when disaster struck. Yes, the decades are a time of evangelism, and seeing how people reacted to both the fire and that religious growth can be interesting, but what the piece then lacks is a clear cause-and-effect. Did one performance venue really strike a city's diverse communities (still rich in European blood, or that of slavery, and forever swapping sides in the religious debate) so that so much of society changed? To me they just coincided. Either way, this book only in patches coincided with what I sought from it, even with the happy ending of modern building regulations and more. This certainly seems to fit the religious history shelf more than the writing-around-theatre section.
However from turning to almost any page of this, especially once the conflagration has burnt the place to the ground within minutes, you might think this book about a completely different kind of building entirely. We start with the story of the tragedy, and I was fully on board for learning of the disaster, especially with the promise of the fall-out that was to come. And I didn't even recognise the palaver of such a tragedy until I remembered the mud-slinging and finger-pointing that began within hours of London's Grenfell tower block tragedy, and which has yet to stop. As soon as it was vaguely known back then who and how many had perished, people were whingeing that too many of the deceased were female – were they just in the showier boxes where exit was the hardest to achieve, or was male selfishness at hand? And even before the blaze is full-on, the story here spins off to point out that some people may have been on alert for violence, arson and insurrection from slaves, with a concentration on rich white young adults a prime target.
But the greater majority of the book concerns a different kind of show-house, a very removed kind of performance – the church. I was all for the quite eye-opening nutjobbery that came out and said theatre-going was an affront to Christian sensibilities and should be banned. So what if prostitutes were using it as a meeting place? The fire and brimstone language used in the sermons and pamphleteering was hardly appropriate. But the book doesn't let up – even once it's covered the foundation and building of the Memorial Church that took the theatre's place, it drags the reader through each and every major denomination of religion, and sees what their history in the key decades was, and how they felt about theatres. The city of Richmond, often thought the source of too much ribaldry, theatrical types, open gambling and whoring and fisticuffs, was after the nightmare turning to the solace of the church service, but the religions still wanted their followers to know the playhouse was a den of iniquity.
Now I guess this well-written, forensically-detailed and -crafted book does do what it wants to do. But it doesn't do what I wanted it to – hours of reading about religions have no bearing in my mind on theatres, this particular tragedy or the people who were just having a jolly lark in a theatre when disaster struck. Yes, the decades are a time of evangelism, and seeing how people reacted to both the fire and that religious growth can be interesting, but what the piece then lacks is a clear cause-and-effect. Did one performance venue really strike a city's diverse communities (still rich in European blood, or that of slavery, and forever swapping sides in the religious debate) so that so much of society changed? To me they just coincided. Either way, this book only in patches coincided with what I sought from it, even with the happy ending of modern building regulations and more. This certainly seems to fit the religious history shelf more than the writing-around-theatre section.
July 22, 2022
After seeing a presentation by the author of this book, I had to read it. What a wonderfully done, well-documented account of the Richmond Theatre Fire or 1811. I learned so much and really appreciated the attention to the details of the climate and morals of the people of that time. This is a keeper and I hope to own a copy for future historical reference.
August 8, 2022
Incredible research, fascinating detail in a form which reads like good fiction. Her insights into the impact of this event, particularly the religious revival, is worth the price of the book. I highly recommend it for historians, theologians, and anyone who is trying to make sense of events like 9-11. Powerful!
May 21, 2023
I found the parts of the book describing who attended the play the night of the tragedy, the description of how the fire started and what happened during the incident and the immediate aftermath as well as how people mourned the event to be the most interesting parts of the book.
There is much other information provided within its chapters.
There is much other information provided within its chapters.
January 21, 2025
Interesting companion to The House Is on Fire, by Rachel Beanland. I purchased and read the Kindle edition.
Painstakingly footnoted, extensive review of the record of the Richmond Theater Fire in 1811. For my purpose (leading book group on the Beanland novel), too much focus on the religious response to the fire, but that's something I'll want to revisit.
Painstakingly footnoted, extensive review of the record of the Richmond Theater Fire in 1811. For my purpose (leading book group on the Beanland novel), too much focus on the religious response to the fire, but that's something I'll want to revisit.
May 12, 2019
I was searching for an authoritative and well researched volume on this subject, accidentally I encountered this text during my most recent trip to the library. It’s the book I was hoping to find.
March 25, 2022
interesting read.
April 26, 2024
Well researched, full of details and facts. I was engrossed in this book. As a Richmond native I was fascinated by the history.
November 13, 2024
I slogged my way through. The writing was too dry. Unless you are really interested in detail read the historical fiction called The House in on Fire.
September 9, 2015
As a life-long Richmonder who worked 35 years one block from the site of this dreadful fire, I had great interest in learning more about the fire. And learn I did. The author combined strong, albeit second-hand, or even third-hand or greater, eyewitness accounts with news reports and a bit of her informed imagination, to relate the details of that horrible night. The details she gave regarding the racial and political climate of the day reminds her readers that it was an unsettled time in United States history. Information about the religious and social habits completed the context in which the fire and its aftermath occurred. Her account of the city's mourning and the funeral were almost palpable with the cloud of grief that hung over my city in the weeks following the fire. Though I have been inside Monumental Church several times and have sat upon her steps more often than I can count, I did not know the story of her design and funding. The machinations that finally resulted in the "monument" left this reader thinking that some things never change! The book concludes with a thorough discussion of the religious leaders' outcry against the immoral influence of theater. The short memories of Richmonders fueled by the passage of time caused a forgetfulness that alarmed pastors of all denominations. I enjoyed this carefully researched and well-organized historical account.
March 24, 2015
It's an interesting read. It's really suited for someone who has a very specific interest in this event. It was less about the fire and more about the impact the fire had on religion in Richmond. The other said this book started as her graduate thesis and you can tell. Like I said, good for people who like reading heavy, detailed histories, or for researchers. Very well researched and thought out, and she makes a compelling argument. I'm from Richmond and it did revive my interest in learning more about the history of that amazing city.
March 6, 2016
VERY informative. This work contains not just information on the Richmond Theater Fire but also a lot of information on what Richmond Society was like at the time, what they believed, etc. It is worth reading but not to be undertaken by the faint of mental energy as reading this work is slow going due to the sheer amount of information contained in each chapter.
January 9, 2014
This book takes one historical event and uses it to depict the social, religious and cultural life in early Richmond, VA. Book is very well researched using lots of original material and historical documents. This does not slow down the lively telling of the story.
July 22, 2015
It was interesting, but I just got bored after about the midway point. The author definitely put in a ton of research, but I just couldn't get into it after a while, sorry.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews