Hartford and The Circus Today
While the circus was banned from Hartford and other parts of Connecticut for years after the Hartford fire, it began to make a comeback in the 1970s. Laws passed in Connecticut shortly after the fire made it illegal for big tops to be used (though at the time of the fire big tops were being phased out anyway), so the Ringling Bros. circus has traditionally been held in the XL Center when it visits the city.
Many of those present at the fire have not returned to circuses since then. Others have returned. In May 2004, Dorothy Carvey and her son, Tighe, were given free passes for their family by Ringling Bros. to attend a show at the XL Center. For Dorothy Carvey, this was her first time attending a circus since the fire occurred. The story of their visit, as well as what happened to them in 1944, was written about in The Hartford Courant.
In 2002, the Hartford Circus Fire Memorial Foundation was established to erect a permanent memorial to the people killed in the fire. Ground was broken for the monument on July 6, 2004, at the site where the fire occurred.. This memorial is located behind the Wish School at 350 Barbour Street, at 41°47′42″N 72°40′28″W / 41.795°N 72.67444°W / 41.795; -72.67444Coordinates: 41°47′42″N 72°40′28″W / 41.795°N 72.67444°W / 41.795; -72.67444.
After the fire, Ringling Brothers continued to perform in a building, or some kind of arena that could accommodate the size of their circus as well as under the tent. On July 16, 1956 the big top was struck for the last time after the evening performance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
In recent years, the Hartford circus fire has been covered in detail in several works of non-fiction, including an episode of The History Channel show The Wrath of God and a book Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan.
The Greatest Show, by Michael Downs published in 2012 by Louisiana State University Press, is a collection of fictional short stories that imagines the intertwining lives of people directly and tangentially connected to the Hartford circus fire.
Read more about this topic: Hartford Circus Fire
Famous quotes containing the words circus and/or today:
“One key, one solution to the mysteries of the human condition, one solution to the old knots of fate, freedom, and foreknowledge, exists, the propounding, namely, of the double consciousness. A man must ride alternately on the horses of his private and public nature, as the equestrians in the circus throw themselves nimbly from horse to horse, or plant one foot on the back of one, and the other foot on the back of the other.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Whoever today speaks of human existence in terms of power, efficiency, and “historical tasks” ... is an actual or potential assassin.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)