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The Brooklyn Theatre Fire was a catastrophic theatre fire that broke out on the evening of December 5, 1876, in the then-city of Brooklyn, now a borough of New York City, New York, United States. The conflagration killed at least 278 individuals, with some accounts reporting more than 300 dead. One hundred and three unidentified victims were interred in a common grave at Green-Wood Cemetery. An obelisk near the main entrance at Fifth Avenue and 25th Street marks the burial site. More than two dozen identified victims were interred individually in separate sections at the Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Theatre Fire ranks third in fatalities among fires occurring in theatres and other public assembly buildings in the United States, falling behind the 1942 Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire and the 1903 Iroquois Theatre fire.〔See National Fire Protection Association, ''Public assembly and nightclub fires.〕 Fatalities mainly arose in the family circle, typically the highest tier of seats in a theatre and offering the least expensive seating. Only one stairway served this gallery, which sustained extreme temperatures and dense, suffocating smoke early in the conflagration. The stairway jammed with people, cutting off the escape of more than half of the gallery's occupants, who quickly succumbed to smoke inhalation.〔"Verdict of Inquest" ''British House of Commons'' (page 159 )〕 == The theatre == The Brooklyn Theatre opened on October 2, 1871, and stood near the southeast corner of Washington and Johnson streets,〔 one block north of what was then Brooklyn's City Hall.〔"New Theater", ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1871-09-06'', (page 2, column 3 )〕 It was owned by The Brooklyn Building Association, a partnership of affluent Brooklyn residents including Abner C. Keeney, William Kingsley, and Judge Alexander McCue.〔"Brooklyn Theatre" ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1871-10-03'', (page 2 column 8 )〕 After its destruction, the ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' called it Brooklyn's "principal theatre."〔'Resume of the Chief Features' "The Fire" ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1876-12-07'' (page 2, column 6 )〕 Up until the last twenty months of its existence, the theatre had been managed by Sara and Frederick B. Conway, a couple long involved in New York and Brooklyn theatre and who had managed Brooklyn's Park Theatre from 1864 to 1871.〔 Sara Conway died in April 1875,〔"Death of Mrs. F. B. Conway Last Night ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1875-04-29'' (page 2 column 3 )〕 about a half a year after her husband. Following an unsuccessful management stint by their children, Minnie, Lillian and Frederick Jr.,〔 Albert M. Palmer〔See Wayne S. Turney's biographical sketch ''A. M. Palmer''〕 and Sheridan Shook, respectively, manager and proprietor of New York's Union Square Theatre, assumed a new lease on the Brooklyn Theatre in August 1875 and managed it until the catastrophe took place. The Brooklyn Theatre stood a block from Fulton Street, the main thoroughfare to the Manhattan ferries and readily accessible to both New York and Brooklyn residents. It seated about 1,600 patrons.〔"Special Report of the Fire Marshall" ''British House of Commons'' (page 14 )〕 Both Conway and Shook and Palmer sought out upscale productions with well-known actors and actresses. The Brooklyn Theatre became a well-respected house in Brooklyn's nascent theatre district, which included the smaller and older Park, Olympic, and Globe theatres.〔"Theatres in Brooklyn" ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac – 1890 (page 34 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brooklyn Theatre fire」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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