Man has been subjected to many devastating conditions such as the crash of the Hindenburg, the sinking of the Titanic, the earth quake in Haiti and even more currently, school shootings. Each reserved time in the headlines and each was viewed as a tragic happening but some disasters go unnoticed by the general public for various reasons. The world knows within minutes of a bomb exploding at the end of the Boston Marathon and all of the horrifying details are shown over and over as the news reports keep the story alive for weeks or until another gruesome event takes over the headlines again. Such is the disaster which took 209 people and severely injured many others in Natchez, Mississippi on April 23, 1940.
The Natchez Fire.
The following is an account taken from a interesting document written by Mr. Vincent Joos. To fully understand not only the fire but also the conditions the Black community endured in Natchez at the time of the fire, I strongly suggest that you read his complete document for Mr. Joos has captured not only the history of this gruesome tragedy but he has also documented the emotions of the people who were there and the feelings of those who were impacted by that evening. My condensed information below was taken from dozens of different sources in order to quickly get you up-to-speed on the basic information but I encourage you to read Mr. Joos complete documentation of the fire as well as visiting the actual site of the fire and listening to the heart filled explanation of that evening given by the curator of the museum erected on the original site at #5 St. Catherine St. in Natchez, Mississippi.
The Rhythm Club fire aka The Natchez Dance Hall Holocaust was a fire in Natchez, Mississippi, United States on the night of April 23, 1940 that killed 209 people and severely injured many others. Hundreds of people became trapped inside the one-story steel-clad wooden building. The victims were mostly African Americans.
The dance hall, which was once a church and converted blacksmith shop, was located in a one-story framed building at 1 St. Catherine Street, blocks from the city’s business district. At the time, this was the second most deadly building fire in the history of the nation. It is now ranked as the fourth deadliest assembly and club fire in U.S. history.
The 11:30 p.m. inferno began as members of the local Moneywasters Social Club were enjoying the song “Clarinet Lullaby”, performed by Walter Barnes and His Royal Creolians orchestra from Chicago. Starting near the main entrance door, the fire quickly engulfed the structure due to Spanish moss that had been draped over interior’s rafters as a decoration. In order to ensure there were no bugs in the decorative moss, it had been sprayed with petroleum-based Flit insecticide. Due to the dry conditions, flammable methane gas was generated from the moss and resulted in the destruction of the building within an hour.
As windows had been boarded up to prevent outsiders from viewing or listening to the music, the crowd was trapped. More than 300 people struggled to get out after the blaze began. A handful of people were able to get out the front door or through the ticket booth, while the remainder tried to press their way to the back door which was padlocked and boarded shut.
Blinding smoke made movement difficult. Many people died from smoke inhalation or by being crushed by the crowd trying to escape. Bandleader Barnes and nine members of his band were among the victims. One of the group’s two survivors, drummer Walter Brown, vowed never to play again; the other survivor was bassist Arthur Edward. Barnes was well regarded as a strong contemporary of both Duke Ellington and Woody Herman.
Afterwards
People believed the fire to be accidental, started by the careless discarding of a match. The day after the blaze five African Americans were arrested after reports they had drunkenly threatened in an argument to burn the building down. Charges against them were later dropped.
The three local funeral homes had too many bodies to handle. Many of the victims were eventually buried in mass graves. In the aftermath of the fire, citizens of Natchez raised more than $5,000 to help the local Red Cross. The city passed new fire laws to prevent the overcrowding of buildings.
The disaster was memorialized in songs such as “Mississippi Fire Blues” and “Natchez Mississippi Blues” by the Lewis Bronzeville Five; “The Natchez Fire” by Gene Gilmore; “We The Cats Shall Hep You” by Cab Calloway; “For You” by Slim Gaillard; “You’re A Heavenly Thing” by Cleo Brown; “The Death Of Walter Barnes” by Leonard Caston; “The Natchez Burnin” by Howlin’ Wolf; “That Night” by Stompy Jones; and “Natchez Fire” by John Lee Hooker.[3]
The documentary film The Rhythm Club Fire was completed in December 2012 according to the official website for the film.
Part 2 of this series will focus on the band and it’s leader who are now considered heroes for their actions during this tragic accident.
