Memorials
Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation The completed memorial has been erected at the site of the circus fire, behind the Wish School at 350 Barbour Street in Hartford, Connecticut, and was dedicated on July 6, 2005. The memorial consists of several bronze plaques that describe what was happening at specific times during the fire. The center plaque sits exactly where the center ring of the bigtop was on July 6, 1944, and has the names of each victim of the circus fire embossed on it. A list of the victims, taken from the memorial plaque, can be found here. Photos of each Memorial Brick are in the process of being added to the site - if you have any specific bricks that you would like to see, let us know. Click on images below to enlarge.
Hartford Circus Fire Memorial at Northwood Cemetery A memorial was erected at the Northwood Cemetery in Windsor, Connecticut, and is inscribed as follows: "This plot of Ground consecrated by the City of Hartford as a Resting Place for three adults and three children who lost their lives in the Circus Fire. July 6, 1944. Their identity known but to God." See listing at findagrave.com.
The Frank Bradley Memorial Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company This granite and bronze sculpture commemorating Simsbury firefighters is named after the first fire company member to die. Frank Bradley and his wife Helen were victims of the Hartford Circus Fire in 1944, just days after the formation of the fire company. Consisting of a cast bronze helmet on top of a six-sided granite sculpture, each of the six sides of the memorial represents one of the fire stations in town. A bell from the department’s old ladder truck inside the sculpture is rung at the annual memorial service. The surrounding Memorial Walkway honors deceased fire company members who achieved honorary life status and those who died while an active fire company member. A story with a photo of the memorial can be viewed here. [Directions to the memorial and photos to follow.] Simsbury Volunteer Fire Company also hosts a memorial page for Frank Bradley, in addition to a memorial stone on the lawn at the Main Station.
Hartford Circus Fire Virtual Cemetery www.findagrave.com Find A Grave members collect and publish information and photographs of burial markers, including a virtual cemetery of the victims of the circus fire.
The Hartford Circus Fire: Presentation and Tour Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation Saturday, July 10, 2010, 10:00am - noon General Admission: $5.00; CHCF Members and Let's Go Arts Members: Free This year marks 66 years since the Hartford Circus Fire. This catastrophic event changed the lives of many residents throughout Hartford and beyond. Join us for a presentation about the Hartford Circus Fire, which will include commentary from a gentleman who attended the circus that day. Following the presentation, attendees are invited for a tour to visit the graves of some of the people who lost their lives to the Circus Fire.
Telling a Tragic Tale: Writers on the Hartford Circus Fire The Mark Twain House & Museum Tuesday, July 6, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. in the Museum Center The Mark Twain House & Museum marks the anniversary of Hartford’s tragic 1944 Big Top disaster with an airing of a CPTV documentary on the fire, followed by a panel made up of those who have written about the tragedy. Authors of books about the fire, including novelist Mary-Ann Tirone Smith (Masters of Illusion) and non-fiction authors Don Massey and Rick Davey, who traced the mystery of “Little Miss 1565,” a girl whose body had never been identified, in A Matter of Degree. P.T. Barnum Museum Executive Director and Curator Kathy Maher and circus fire survivors will also take part. Mark Twain House & Museum Assistant Curator Jeff Mainville will be presenting an exhibition of circus fire artifacts in the Great Hall.

www.circusfire1944.com

email: asylum00@sbcglobal.net