“The Richmond Theater Fire is totally engrossing, a real page turner.” Katherine Fuller-Seeley, author of “Celebrate Richmond Theater”
“Gracefully written…A solid contribution to early American history.” Nancy Isenberg, author of Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr
The day after Christmas in 1811, hundreds of Virginia’s most prominent citizens thronged into the rickety Richmond Theater. Among the holiday crowd of soldiers, slaves, statesmen, and debutantes were the families of Governor George Smith, Chief Justice John Marshall, and President Madison. The audience prepared for an evening of comedy and merriment, little supposing when the play began that th
e evening would end in tragedy. During the second act of “The Bleeding Nun,” a tiny fire kindled behind the scenery, raced to the ceiling timbers, and swallowed the trapped audience in ravenous flames.
“The disaster & grief seem to be universal. None has entirely escaped. Very many years will pass away before the town recovers from the gloom into which it has been plunged.” James Monroe, January 1, 1812.
After this night, Virginia and the nation would be forever changed. The mass civilian casualties of the Theater Fire—nearly a hundred killed in mere minutes—were unlike anything experienced in America’s young history. It was, at that date, the worst urban disaster to affect the country. The fire was only the opening act in a remarkable story of transformation. The disaster was almost solely responsible for the revivification of a fast-fading Episcopal Church in Virginia, launched the first national discussion on public building safety, and spurred an American backlash against the theater and the acting profession. It also resulted in the construction of Monumental Church in Richmond–a memorial to the victims created by America’s first native-born architect, Robert Mills.
In The Richmond Theater Fire, the first book about the event and its aftermath, the curtain is pulled back on this forgotten catastrophe and its wide societal impact using private letters, personal diaries, rancorous newspaper articles, and a score of printed sermons, among other rare or never-before-published primary documents. By viewing the event and its outcomes through the fascinating lenses of early nineteenth-century medicine, theater, architecture, and faith, The Richmond Theater Fire by author Meredith Henne Baker reveals a rich and vital untold story from America’s past.
Welcome to the site! Please see the events page for information about commemorative activities and author events. If you are interested in the people affected by the fire, please visit the resources page where you will find a timeline, selected bibliography, and a victim list. And please visit the blog for a background look at the writing of this book, advice on turning your research into a publishable manuscript, and more current information about the Richmond Theater Fire. We also have a facebook page! This is a new site–please continue visiting as we update and expand our content!
