This week’s show revisits three classic episodes about disasters in Boston history. We’ll start with episode 21, which spotlighted the 1897 subway explosion on Tremont Street. Episode 39 discusses the tragedy at the Cocoanut Grove, followed by episode 91 on the collapse of the Pickwick nightclub. They key takeaway this week? We should all be thankful for modern building codes, safety measures, and government oversight.
The Tremont Street Explosion
Destruction after the explosion on March 4, 1897 (all photos via Digital Commonwealth)
The test track constructed for the Meigs Elevated Railway. (monorail, monorail, monoraiiiiiiiiiil!)
Resistance to the subway plan
- The Boston Globe’s March 5, 1897 coverage of the explosion, from Boston Fire History.
- A view of the explosion http://healthsavy.com/product/zovirax/ site in 1897 and 2014.
- The 2009 Readville gas explosion, a 2011 followup, and the final settlement in 2015.
- Compare that to this 1900 appeal in the Wolfe Koplan case.
- The Race Underground, by Doug Most
- A City So Grand, by Stephen Puleo
Tragedy at Cocoanut Grove
During our description of the fire itself, we quote extensively from four sources without stopping to identify each one. Here are those sources:
- The 1942 Fire Commissioner’s report.
- A 1970 Fire Department report.
- Goody Goodelle’s handwritten account.
- A Boston Globe retrospective.
Read more about the jazz scene in Boston before the Cocoanut Grove fire, then see how the Savoy Cafe reopened, but Steinert Hall did not.
These days, you can read more about the fire from the Cocoanut Grove Coalition who keeps the memory of victims, survivors, and first responders alive. You can also read this Globe editorial about condo owners who don’t want a memorial at the most fitting site.
(Except the floor plan, civil defense poster, and newspaper headline, the above photos are from the Boston Public Library Print Department, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license via Digital Commonwealth.)
The Pickwick Collapse and the Charleston
- New England Watch and Ward Society annual reports from 1919 and 1921 blame jazz for a decline in morals.
- Music publishers fight back against moralistic Boston censors.
- The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances, by Mark Knowles outlines how dances like the Charleston scandalized early 20th century America.
- Initial coverage of the disaster from the Boston Globe and the Associated Press.
- AP follow up stories on the recovery efforts and legal proceedings on July 6, July 7, July 11, July 12, July 14, and July 16.
- Blaming the Charleston (see also The Wicked Waltz).
- Changes to make the Charleston more chaste.
- Pictures of the collapse from Getty and Tufts. Header image via UMass
Boston Book Club
If you need a last minute Valentine’s day gift for the history lover in your life, you could do worse than My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams. It’s a collection of letters representing one of America’s greatest love stories.
In 1762, John Adams penned a flirtatious note to “Miss Adorable,” the 17-year-old Abigail Smith. In 1801, Abigail wrote to wish her husband John a safe journey as he headed home to Quincy after serving as president of the nation he helped create. The letters that span these nearly forty years form the most significant correspondence―and reveal one of the most intriguing and inspiring partnerships―in American history.
As a pivotal player in the American Revolution and the early republic, John had a front-row seat at critical moments in the creation of the United States, from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to negotiating peace with Great Britain to serving as the first vice president and second president under the U.S. Constitution. Separated more often than they were together during this founding era, John and Abigail shared their lives through letters that each addressed to “My Dearest Friend,” debating ideas and commenting on current events while attending to the concerns of raising their children (including a future president).
Full of keen observations and articulate commentary on world events, these letters are also remarkably intimate. This new collection―including some letters never before published―invites readers to experience the founding of a nation and the partnership of two strong individuals, in their own words. This is history at its most authentic and most engaging.
Upcoming Event
On Wednesday, February 20th, from 5:45 to 7pm, the National Park Service and Boston Harbor Now will present the lecture, A Revolutionary Harbor: Boston’s Maritime Underground Railroad at Atlantic Wharf, 290 Congress Street. There will be light refreshments and drinks. The event is free, but registration is required.
During the years preceding the American Civil War, Boston served as one of the most important stops on the Underground Railroad. Did you know that many fugitives from enslavement came to Boston by stowing away on ships from southern ports? Join National park service Ranger Shawn Quigley to explore the untold stories of men and women making daring escapes to freedom through Boston Harbor.