Big Top Burning
Page 8
“a cigarette would have smoked … ”: Report of Commissioner of State Police, January 11, 1945.
“Coroner: Supposing your chemical analysis … ”: Hickey statement, August 10, 1944.
“At about the end of the animal [act] … ”: Pelton witness statement.
“a patch of flame … ”: Fyler witness statement.
“I sat … about two seats from the top …”: Dewey witness statement.
“Many patrons for the first time … ”: Report of Commissioner of State Police, January 11, 1945.
“Upon the testimony before me … ”: Report of Commissioner of State Police, January 11, 1945.
“It appeared throughout our investigation … ”: Letter from Lavin to Hickey, May 25, 1950.
“was always very mean to Robert … ”: Robert Segee’s confession, June 27, 1950.
“You are responsible”: Robert Segee’s confession, June 27, 1950.
“I laid down and went to sleep … ”: Robert Segee’s confession, June 27, 1950.
“The confession is not true”: Hartford Courant, March 13, 1991.
“only chance”: Robert Segee interview by James Butterworth and Bill Lewis, March 16–17, 1993.
“We was scrutinized … ”: Robert Segee interview, March 16–17, 1993.
“They wanted to clean the Goddamn book … ”: Robert Segee interview, March 16–17, 1993.
“That don’t mean nothing”: Robert Segee interview, March 16–17, 1993.
“You see, gentlemen … ”: Robert Segee interview, March 16–17, 1993.
“I think the final question … ”: Robert Segee interview, March 16–17, 1993.
“With as many people that were there … ”: The Circus Fire, CPTV, 2000.
CHAPTER NINE: A NAME FOR LITTLE MISS 1565
“The eight-year-old who was partial to hair ribbons”: Hartford Courant, March 9, 1991.
“Somebody, somewhere must have cared … ”: Hartford Courant, July 7, 1945.
“Your report was reviewed … ”: Letter to Anna DeMatteo from Connecticut State Police, April 23, 1956.
“the apple of their eye”: DeMatteo notebook, Connecticut State Library Archives.
“cheeks seemed rounder”: DeMatteo notebook , Connecticut State Library Archives.
“had on a white dress … ”: DeMatteo notebook, Connecticut State Library Archives.
“This isn’t the same little girl … ”: DeMatteo notebook, Connecticut State Library Archives.
“It may be concluded from this examination … ”: Notes from Department of State Police, July 15, 1944.
“Those changes in her appearance … ”: Davey and Massey, A Matter of Degree, 238.
“seemed rather cursory in its assessments … ”: A Matter of Degree, 236.
“appear on the doorstep one day … ”: A Matter of Degree, 269.
“One mistake at the armory …”: O’Nan, The Circus Fire, 353.
“There is no doubt … ”: Don Massey, presentation at Mark Twain Museum, July 6, 2010.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
FROM THE CONNECTICUT STATE ARCHIVES
Legal Documents
State v. Ringling Bros.–Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc. a Delaware Corporation, James A. Haley, George W. Smith, Leonard S. Aylesworth, Edward R. Versteeg, David W. Blanchfield, and William Caley. Superior Court. Jan. session, 1945.
State of CT v. Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows Inc., et al. Motion for suspension of sentences and leave to withdraw pleas. March 27, 1945.
Official Reports
Casualty Lists. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 1, Folders 14, 15.
Casualty List. Appendix II. Office of the Public Records Administrator and State Archives. Subject Guide to the Hartford Circus Fire, July 6, 1944. 2nd ed., Connecticut State Library, 2002.
Coroner’s Report. Memorandum to Coroner Healy: July 18, 1944. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 3.
Criminal Files, Hartford Superior Court. 13599-16671. 1937–1945. Box 24, File #16579.
Hartford Board of Inquiry on the Circus Disaster. Report of the Municipal Board of Inquiry. Includes Lease of Grounds, Performance License. Special Collection. TH9449.H3 A5 1944.
Hartford County Coroner Records 1883–1979. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 16, Folder 3.
Hartford Police Department, Office of the Chief, Official or Confidential Report, July 3, 1944. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 1, Folder 6.
Record of Inquest Held on the Body of Miss Elaine B. Akerlind, and 167 Others Who Died as a Result of the Circus Disaster, July 6, 1944, at Hartford, Conn. Report written by Frank E. Healy, Coroner for Hartford County. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 3.
Re-Examination Forensic Report 1993. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 1, Folders 1, 3.
Report on Circus Disaster July 14, 1944. To Mr. Henry B. Mosle, Administrator From Ralph S. Goodsell, Protective Division. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 4.
Report of Commissioner of State Police as State Fire Marshal to State’s Attorney for Hartford County Concerning the Fire in Hartford on July 6, 1944 at the Ringling Bros.–Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc., January 11, 1945. ConnDoc F51r c.3.
Report of Henry Cohn, Attorney for the State of Connecticut, undated. RG 069. Manuscripts Collections. Box 1, Folder “Dr. Milton Fleisch.”
Report of Officer S.E. Freeman, July 8, 1944. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 8.
Report of Investigators Paul Lavin and Paul Beckwith, May 25, 1950. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 7, Folder 1.
Robert Segee’s Confession and Statements from Dorothy Segee Thompson and Amy Josephine (Aspinall) Segee. State of Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of State Fire Marshal, Arson Bureau. Investigation Report, Privileged and Confidential. Columbus, Ohio, June 27, 1950. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 6, Folder 8.
State Highway Patrol Report of Investigation, November 21, 1950. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 7, Folder 3.
Suspect File for Robert Segee. Includes psychological report from Lima State Hospital, Aug. 19, 1950. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 6, Folder 7.
War Council Reports. Notes on the Organization of the State E.M.S. of the War Council at the State Armory, Hartford, Connecticut, July 6–July 9, 1944 During Crisis of Hartford Fire. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 4.
Weather Report. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 5.
Personal Letters and Notes
Edward Lowe Collection, Elliot Smith Collection, RG 069:112, Manuscripts Collections, Box 1.
Letter from Donald Anderson to Governor Baldwin, October 2, 1944, RG 005, Records of the Governors, Box 451.
Letter from Anna DeMatteo to Connecticut State Police, April 18, 1956, RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 7.
Letter to Anna DeMatteo from the Connecticut State Police, April 23, 1956, RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 8.
Letter from Emily Gill to Commissioner Hickey, July 20, 1944, RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 6.
Letter to Commissioner Hickey from Investigator Paul Lavin, May 25, 1950, RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 7, Folder 3.
Notebook of Anna DeMatteo, RG 161. Dept. o
f Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 8.
Notes from Department of State Police, July 15, 1944 about hair samples from Eleanor Cook and Unidentified body of small girl approx. 6 yrs. of age, Lincoln Opper, M.D., Director of Clinical Laboratories, RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 6.
Robert Segee’s school records, City of Portland, Maine. Police Department, June 8, 1950, RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 7, Folder 2.
Photographs
Armory photographs. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 4, Folder 8.
Circus employee photographs. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 4, Folder 9.
Circus grounds before and after the fire. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 1, Folder 5.
General photographs. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 4, Folders 6, 7.
Hospital photographs. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 4, Folder 10.
Gladys Nelson Collection. RG 069. Manuscripts Collections. Box 1, Folder “Nelson Collection.”
Robert Segee Artwork. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 7, Folder 7.
Unidentified body, Little Miss 1565. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 9.
Carl Wallis photographs. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 4, Folder 4.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Publicity Materials
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey 1944 tour handbill. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 7.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus program, 1944 season. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 1, Folder 4.
Statements and Interviews
Detective Statements. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 1, Folder 7.
Hartford Police Statements. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 1, Folder 13.
Direct examination of New York Fire Marshal Thomas B. Brophy, by Coroner Frank E. Healy. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 3.
Robert Segee Interview by Sgt. James Butterworth and Detective Bill Lewis, March 16–17, 1993. RG 161. Audio tapes and transcription. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 1, Folder 2.
Statement of Commissioner E. J. Hickey, continued, given to coroner August 10, 1944. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folder 3.
Statement of William H. Cronin, Department Clerk, concerning issuance of circus license for Ringling Bros.–Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows, Inc. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 1, Folder 5.
Telegraph from Commissioner Hickey, State Fire Marshal to Harry Callan, State Fire Marshal, Columbus, Ohio. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 7, Folder 1.
Telephone conversations between Commissioner Hickey and Harry Callan. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 7, Folders 1, 3.
Witness statements. RG 161. Dept. of Public Safety, Division of State Police. Investigation Files. Box 3, Folders 1, 2.
NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES
Boston Globe: July 6, 1944 (evening edition); July 7, 1944 (morning and evening editions); July 8, 1944 (morning and evening editions).
Bradbury, Joseph T., “The Season of 1944 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus,” The White Tops Magazine, May–June 1981, vol. 45, no. 3.
Hartford Courant: July 5, 1944; July 7, 1944 (morning edition); January 12, 1945; January 20, 1945; February 1, 1945; February 22, 1945; February 23, 1945; July 7, 1945; Aug 16, 1945; July 4, 1950; March 9, 1991; March 13, 1991; March 17, 1991; June 22, 1991; June 23, 1991; July 6, 1991; July 5, 2005; July 7, 2005.
Hartford Times: July 6, 1944 (extra edition); July 12, 1944; November 17, 1944; November 21, 1944; December 1, 1944; January 9, 1945; January 12, 1945; January 20, 1945; February 1, 1945; February 21, 1945; February 23, 1945; April 21, 1945; June 8, 1945; July 17, 1945; May 22, 1950; August 27, 1952; July 7, 1956.
Providence Journal: July 2, 1944; July 3, 1944; July 7, 1944; July 8, 1944; July 9, 1944.
News Channel 8: July 6, 2005 (article found online at www.wtnh.com).
New York Times, July 7, 1944; July 8, 1944.
Newsweek, July 17, 1944.
Life Magazine, July 17, 1944; July 17, 1950.
Time Magazine, July 17, 1944.
Tuohy, Lynne, “Eternal Flame,” Northeast Magazine, supplement to the Sunday Hartford Courant, July 7, 1991.
BOOKS
Cohn, Henry S. and David Bollier. The Great Hartford Circus Fire. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1991.
Massey, Don and Rick Davey. A Matter of Degree. Simsbury, CT: Willow Brook Press, 2001.
O’Nan, Stewart. The Circus Fire. New York: Anchor Books, 2000.
Skidgell, Michael. The Hartford Circus Fire. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2014.
RADIO, TELEVISION, AND THEATER
The Circus Fire. Connecticut Public Television (CPTV), 2000.
Front Street, by playwright Anne Pié. Presented by the Little Theater of Manchester. Manchester, Connecticut, August 20, 2005.
The Hartford Circus Fire: An Audio Recollection. Hosted by Brandon Kampe. Presented by University of Hartford radio station WWUH (includes recordings of radio news broadcasts from 1944), recorded July 13, 2005.
Wrath of God: Fire Under the Big Top. The History Channel, 2000.
PERSONAL INTERVIEWS WITH THE AUTHOR
Eugene Badger
Mauro Balboni
Kirsten Freeburg Cassarino
Dick Connolly
Guy Cummings
Jeff Cummings
Jane Diana
Anna DiMartino
Lorena Dutelle
Barbara Wallis Felgate
Linnea Freeburg
Phil Handler
Arthur S. Lassow
Shirley Lawton
Harry Lichtenbaum
Donalda (LaVoie) Matthews
Rose Norrie
Bob O’Connell
Barbara Schweitzer
Kenneth Sinkwitz
Lillian Tetreault
Calvin Vinick
IMAGE CREDITS
Page 9: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Pages 10–11: Courtesy of Dan McGinnis Sr.
Page 15: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161.
Page 17: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 19: James Spence
Page 26: Courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society
Page 28: Courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society
Pages 32–33: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, Gladys Nelson Collection, RG 069
Pages 38–39: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 43: Photo by Ralph Emerson Sr., courtesy of Michael Skidgell
Page 44: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 46: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Pages 48–49: Courtesy of the Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Libarary
Page 53: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 56: Courtesy of the Connec
ticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 58: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 61: ACME photo, courtesy of Michael Skidgell
Page 65: AP Wirephoto, courtesy of Michael Skidgell
Page 69: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Pages 82–83: Courtesy of the Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library
Page 87: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 93: Photo by Wesley Mason, courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 95: Photo by Spencer Torell, courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society
Page 97: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 98: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 123: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 124: Courtesy of the Connecticut State Library, State Police Investigation Files, RG 161
Page 132: Photo by the author
LAURA A. WOOLLETT has a master’s degree in children’s literature from Simmons College and is a writer and editor of literacy curriculum for kids and young adults. Originally from South Windsor, Connecticut, Laura now lives in Massachusetts with her husband, daughter, and two cats.
Jacket design: Sarah Olson
Front cover images: match courtesy
imgkid.com; tent courtesy HelleM/
Bigstock.com; flames courtesy
clipartpanda.com
Printed in the United States of America