User:LBourne/Richmond Theater Fire Construction Page

Brief summary of the facts of the fire and its historical significance. Dabney: Fire "shook Virginia and the nation."

Background
Very brief summary of the early theater in Richmond, and some facts about this particular theater. Mention the fact that Edgar Allen Poe's mother played here just weeks before the fire.

Manager: Alexander Placide, patriarch of a famous theater family. (theater history web page)

The Fire
On the evening of December 26, 1811, about 600 patrons, including Virginia Governor George W. Smith and U.S. Senator Abraham B. Venable, gathered at the Shockoe Hill Theater for a holiday performance. The evening was a benefit for Alexander Placide and his daughter, and the program was a double billing: first, a play entitled The Father, or Family Feuds, and after it, a pantomime entitled Raymond and Agness, or The Bleeding Nun. The benefit had originally been scheduled for December 23, but was postponed due to the death of Mrs. Poe, Placide's own illness, and foul weather.

The Memorial
This might be a subsection under "Aftermath". Brief information about the building of Memorial Church, linking to main Wikipedia article. Include information that church was desanctified in 1965 and now belongs to ___________?

Wikipedia articles
Weems-Botts Museum

Abraham B. Venable

George William Smith (politician)

December 26

John G. Jackson (politician)

List of historic fires

List of accidents and disasters by death toll
 * Not mentioned here; add link

Eliza Poe
 * Did Edgar Allen Poe's mother play in this theater before her death?

Peyton Randolph (governor)

External Web Pages

 * Richmond Then and Now
 * Looks like this came from the T-D in 1937; need a more specific reference
 * Where did the picture of the fire come from? Is the source in public domain?


 * Gynger Cook, 2002
 * Hard copy source citations (general)


 * Richard Channing Moore bio (former rector of Monumental Church)
 * Contains first person accounts of fire


 * Karen Resendes
 * Religious impact of the fire (backlash against theater, etc.)


 * Virginia Memory (online classroom/LVa) - Gilbert Hunt and the Richmond Theater Fire
 * Lesson plans for lesson about Gilbert Hunt, hero of the fire. Only a bare outline, but can the picture of Hunt be used?


 * The Edgar A. Poe Calendar


 * Play: Volume of Smoke


 * Brief history of theater in early Virginia
 * Would be good information for background section, if Dabney doesn't provide it.