Connecticut Disasters: True Stories Of Tragedy And Survival (Disasters Series) - Softcover

Grant, Ellsworth S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 076273972X ISBN 13: 9780762739721

Publisher: Globe Pequot Publishing, 2006

Synopsis

Dramatic retellings of twenty true events, including the Moodus earthquake of 1791, the Norwalk train wreck of 1853, the Great Hurricane of 1938, the Great Hartford Circus Fire of 1944, the Mianus Bridge collapse of 1983, and many others.

About this title

About the Author

Lifelong Connecticut resident Ellsworth S. Grant has been a manufacturer, mayor of West Hartford (1969–1973), personnel director, educational film producer, president of the Connecticut Historical Society, and brother-in-law to the legendary Katharine Hepburn. Born in Wethersfield, he attended Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford and graduated from Harvard in 1939. The son of the president of Allen Manufacturer Company (which made various kinds of fasteners, including the “Allen wrench”), Ellsworth went into a career in manufacturing. In his second career as a writer, much of his work has covered Connecticut’s history of manufacturing, such as in The Colt Armory. Two of his best-known books are Yankee Dreamers and Doers, published by Pequot Press in 1974, and The Miracle of Connecticut, the second edition of which was published by Connecticut Historical Society and Fenwick Productions. In collaboration with his first wife, Marion Hepburn, he wrote The City of Hartford (1986), a pictorial history. Before Connecticut Disasters, his most recent book was his 2004 autobiography A Connecticut Journey (Wood Pond Press). He is a lifelong sailing enthusiast on the Long Island Sound and a contributor to various magazines, including American Heritage, Northeast, Hartford, and Cruising World.

From the Back Cover

It's only human to be fascinated by disasters--and uplifted by reports of survival in the face of overwhelming circumstances. History writer Ellsworth S. Grant takes you back to Connecticut's most catastrophic events, vividly re-creating the moments that changed the Nutmeg State forever. The twenty-two true stories in Connecticut Disasters are a chilling reminder to expect the unexpected and to respect the powerful, often deadly forces of nature. Experience the drama of: Benedict Arnold's traitorous burning of New London in 1781 The fight for survival and liberty waged by enslaved Africans aboard the AmistadThe blizzard of 1888--New England's benchmark winter stormThe great 1938 hurricane that tore apart more than 700 shoreline homesThe 1944 Hartford fire that engulfed a circus tent, killing 168The 1978 collapse of the Hartford Civic Center--just hours after an event

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

It was the worst human-caused disaster in Connecticut, occurring at the height of World War II in Hartford. The death toll was 168, mostly women and children who perished in its first ten minutes.

 

By Thursday, July 6, 1944, the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus had arrived in the city to set up its large tent on Barbour Street for its annual spectacular. It was a warm day, with a strong southwesterly breeze, perfect for mothers and fathers to take excited youngsters to enjoy an afternoon of fun.

 

Under the oil-impregnated canvas, 6,000 fans applauded an animal act. Just as the lions were herded back into the runway cages and the Flying Wallendas ascended to a high wire, it happened. Fifty feet from the main entrance was a four-sided canvas screen for the men's toilet. A man inside carelessly tossed his cigarette butt onto the ground. In seconds a flame crept up one side of the partition and licked at the guy ropes. One of the Wallendas pointed to the blaze from his perch above and yelled, "The tent's on fire!"

Edition details

• Publisher: Globe Pequot Publishing
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 076273972X
• ISBN 13: 9780762739721
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208