Rhythm Club fire

1940 dance hall fire in Mississippi that killed 209

Rhythm Club fire

Plaque listing those who perished in the fire

Location of Rhythm Club

Date| April 23, 1940 (1940-04-23)
Time| 11:30 p.m.
Venue| Rhythm Club
Location| Natchez, Mississippi, United States
Coordinates| 31°33′33″N 91°23′51″W﻿ / ﻿31.55917°N 91.39750°W﻿ / 31.55917; -91.39750
Type| Fire
Deaths| 209

The Rhythm Club fire (or The Natchez Dance Hall Holocaust) was a fire in a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi on the night of April 23, 1940, which killed 209 people and severely injured many others.[1][2] Hundreds of people were trapped inside the building. At the time, it was the second deadliest building fire in the history of the nation. It is now ranked as the fourth deadliest assembly and club fire in U.S. history.[1]

## Club

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The dance hall, a converted blacksmith shop once used as a church, was in a one-story steel-clad wood-frame building at 1 St. Catherine Street, 18 blocks from the city's business district. The building was owned by the Byrnes family and was leased by a social group called the Money Wasters. The group hosted events and dances and brought in a live band to perform.[3] The original band that was scheduled to perform was Tiny Bradshaw and his orchestra, but due to a scheduling conflict the band canceled and was replaced[4] by Walter Barnes and His Royal Creolians, an orchestra from Chicago.[5] Money Wasters member Ed Frazier ran the club on the night of the fire.[3]

The premises was a single-story, wood building with corrugated steel siding that was 120 ft (36.6m) x 38 ft (11.6 m) with 24 windows that were mostly shuttered or nailed shut at the time of the fire. There was only one exit, with an inward opening door, that opened into a main entrance foyer that had another set of doors that also opened inward.[6]

## Fire

[edit]

On the night of the fire, the club recorded 577 paid admissions and 150 passes, and the orchestra had 14 members and 5 attendants, bringing a likely final total number of people at the club to 746.[6] Advance tickets for admission cost $0.50, tickets at the door cost $0.65, and the average age of attendees was between 15 and 25 years old.[5] Many attendees were members of the Money Wasters club and their friends.[7] Walter Barnes and His Royal Creolians was performing when the fire started near the main entrance door around 11:00 pm[8] and, fed by Spanish moss that had been draped over interior's rafters as a decoration, quickly engulfed the structure.[9] To ensure there were no bugs in the decorative moss, it had been sprayed with FLIT, a petroleum-based insecticide. Under the dry conditions, flammable methane gas was generated from the moss.[10]

The Natchez Fire Department did not yet exist, but two volunteer companies provided one full-time firefighter. One of the men lived and worked from the Phoenix Fire Station, about four blocks from the Rhythm Night Club. The fire station received its first telephone call about the club fire at around 11:15 p.m. The first fire engine arrived within minutes, and the first hose was targeted at the front entrance and upper ceiling of the lobby and the second was sent into a small open window at the rear of the club.[5] The sound of the victims screaming could be heard through the town.[11] The fire was put out after around ten[12] to thirty minutes.[13]

21 of the 24 existing windows had been boarded[5] up to prevent outsiders from viewing or listening to the music, and as a result the crowd was trapped. Some survivors were able to get out the front door or through the ticket booth, while others tried to press their way to the back door, which was padlocked and boarded shut.[10] Upon realizing their limited options to escape the fire, many victims attempted to break through the corrugated steel walls of the building, but were unsuccessful.[14] People broke through windows using their hands and chairs, but the windows became jammed.[15] Blinding smoke made movement difficult. Survivors remembered the burning moss falling from the ceiling and forming a barrier between the dance floor and the exit, with the moss igniting clothing and hair of victims and survivors.[16] The front door was the only exit, and the doors swung inward.[6] Escape from the main entrance was made almost impossible as flames blocked the entrance, pushing the crowd towards the back of the club.[17] Due to the walls being made of metal, and little ventilation for the heat or the smoke, the walls held the heat in the club like an oven.[14] When water from the fire hoses hit the metal siding, it created steam that scalded many victims.[18] Doctors later found that most of the dead had been suffocated by smoke inhalation or crushed as the crowd was pushed to the rear of the building.[19] Most of the bodies were found piled near the rear of the building by the bandstand,[20] the stacked bodies reaching shoulder height.[19]

Ambulances took the victims and survivors to hospitals in the city, and despite strict segregation laws, the white medical establishment treated survivors over the following weeks and months. Throughout the night of the disaster, firemen, medical professionals, and civilian volunteers worked to remove bodies and search for signs of life in the club. Floodlights were brought in to help in the search. Even after the bodies were removed and the site cleared, the smell of burned bodies hovered over Natchez for months.[5]

Bandleader Walter Barnes and nine members of his band were among the victims. The band was credited with attempting to calm the crowd and Barnes was praised as a hero for leading the song "Marie" by Irving Berlin as the fire raged.[21] The bandmates who died were John Reed, Jr., James Coles, Clarence Porter, Henry Walker, Paul Scott, Calvin Roberts, Jesse Washington, and his vocalist Juanita Avery.[17] One of the group's two survivors, the drummer Walter Brown, vowed never to play again; the other survivor was the bassist Arthur Edward. Barnes was well regarded as a strong competitor with his contemporaries Duke Ellington and Woody Herman.[10] Ed Frazier of the Money Wasters also died in the fire.[7]

Most of the dead were identified, but there were a number of bodies that were burned beyond recognition. These unidentifiable bodies were buried in a mass grave.[5] Due to the time of the fire, there were issues dealing with the number of the dead, with segregation affecting the time that the bodies were properly seen to. Under segregation, only African American morticians were allowed to handle African American dead, and the three local black funeral homes had too many bodies to handle.[18] Some victims had insurance policies and burial contracts, but there were some who did not leave behind a means of paying for burial expenses. Natchez undertakers and burial associations turned to the Natchez Chamber of Commerce for financial support. The Central Burial Association branch manager branch manager J. L. Poindexter spoke to the Natchez Chamber of Commerce and assured the city that the association was capable of fully covering its members' burials.[22] Local victims were buried at the Watkins Street Cemetery.[11] In the aftermath of the fire, citizens of Natchez raised more than $5,000 to help the local Red Cross.[citation needed]

## Aftermath

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People believed the fire to be accidental, started by a carelessly discarded match or cigarette that then ignited the decorative Spanish moss.[23] Other sources claim a fire from a hamburger stand located near the exit spread to the Spanish moss and grew rapidly.[6] A large fan at the front of the entrance was also thought by some to have strengthened the fire.[24] The day after the blaze, five men were arrested following reports they had drunkenly threatened in an argument to burn the building down. Charges against them were later dropped. Hotel employee Ernest Wright stood by the entrance on the night of the fire and later reported that he heard two women arguing, with one accusing the other of setting the club on fire. All indications in later investigations pointed to an accidental cause of the fire.[7]

Photos donated to the Rhythm Nightclub Fire Museum in 2015 show the coffins of the band members who died in the fire being escorted by African-American boy scouts on a train.[25] More than 15,000 mourners attended the funeral of Walter Barnes, and the Natchez Social and Civic Club of Chicago raised money for the victims' families and for the memorial.[18] The Natchez Social and Civic Club of Chicago brought the memorial tablet, which cost $350.00 to create, to Natchez in September, 1940. The dedication service was held at the Zion Chapel AME church and a local park, and around 5,000 people attended the services.[26]

There were no building occupancy restrictions at the time of the fire. Future laws and codes would limit the number of people allowed in a structure and require doors to open outward to prevent people from being trapped.[11]

The fire helped bring forward building requirements that were aimed at making night clubs safer in the event of a fire. Requirements for nightclubs now include the installation of fire protection systems, provisions for safer building finishes and decorations, provisions for better exiting systems, and for clubs to have trained crowd managers on duty.[16] Calls for stricter fire laws and addressing overcrowding in buildings and schools.[27]

On November 6, 2010, the Rhythm Club Museum, commemorating the tragedy, opened in Natchez.[28] The site where the fire happened remains empty and exists today as an empty grassy plot of land with a memorial sign inside informing passersby of the tragedy.

## Depiction in media

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A documentary film, The Rhythm Club Fire, was completed in December 2012.[28] The documentary is now available on Youtube. Atlanta playwright Danese Frazier Turner, granddaughter of Ed Frazier, wrote, produced and co-directed a play titled “Death by Dancing”[29] commemorating the disaster. Purpose and Power Connection, a worship arts ministry, presented the production.[30]

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; "The Death of Walter Barnes", by Leonard Caston; "The Natchez Burnin", by Howlin' Wolf; and "Natchez Fire", by John Lee Hooker.[10] A memorial marker was erected in Bluff Park in Natchez.[31] A historical marker has been placed at the site of the club, which contains a museum to the club and the fire as of 2016.

## See also

[edit]

Portal:

* Mississippi

* List of nightclub fires
* Study Club fire, night club fire that killed 22 and injured 50 people

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Deadliest Public Assembly and Nightclub Fires". National Fire Protection Agency. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
2. ^ "'Complete Panic' as 233 Killed in Brazil Nightclub Fire". USA Today. 27 January 2013. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
3. ^ a b "Fact #2". RhythmClubFire.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2015.
4. ^ "Fact #3". RhythmClubFire.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014.
5. ^ a b c d e f "A Nightclub, A Fire...And a Generation Vanishes". Firehouse. Oct 27, 2010.
6. ^ a b c d Duval, Robert F (2006). "NFPA Case Study: Nightclub Fires" (PDF). NFPA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
7. ^ a b c "Arrest Five Negro Suspects in Dance Hall Inquiry". Daily Illini. April 25, 1940.
8. ^ Monge, Luigi. "Natchez Rhythm Club Fire". Mississippi Encyclopedia.
9. ^ Michael, Rugel (23 April 2011). "Natchez Burning: Anniversary of The Rhythm Club Fire". Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
10. ^ a b c d Monge, Luigi (2007). "Death by Fire: African American Music on the Natchez Rhythm Club Fire". In Robert Springer, Robert (ed.). Nobody Knows Where the Blues Come from: Lyrics and History. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 76–107\. ISBN 978-1-934110-29-4. Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2016.76-107&rft.pub=University+Press+of+Mississippi&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-1-934110-29-4&rft.aulast=Monge&rft.aufirst=Luigi&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=sgwBhIm3sC4C&pg;=76&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Rhythm+Club+fire" class="Z3988">
11. ^ a b c Anderson, Roslyn (February 12, 2019). "'Screams you could hear all over town'; Remembering the Natchez Rhythm Night Club Fire". WLBT 3.
12. ^ Beitler, Stu. "Natchez, MS Rhythm Night Club Fire, Apr 1940". GenDisasters.
13. ^ "Fact #1". RhythmClubFire.com.
14. ^ a b Tubbs, Jeffrey; Meacham, Brian (2007). Egress Design Solutions: A Guide to Evacuation and Crowd Management Planning. Hoboken, NJ: Jon Wiley & Sons. pp. 62–63\. ISBN 978-0-471-71956-4.62-63&rft.pub=Jon+Wiley+&+Sons&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-0-471-71956-4&rft.aulast=Tubbs&rft.aufirst=Jeffrey&rft.au=Meacham,+Brian&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Rhythm+Club+fire" class="Z3988">
15. ^ "Tragic Fire". The Detroit tribune. April 27, 1940.
16. ^ a b Schwartz, Heidi (2010-04-23). "Remembering The Rhythm Night Club Fire". Facility Executive – Creating Intelligent Buildings. Archived from the original on 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
17. ^ a b "203 Lose Lives in Fire at Natchez". The Southern advocate. April 27, 1940.
18. ^ a b c "'The Greatest Tragedy Ever to Strike the Race': The Untold Story of the Rhythm Club Fire". We're History. 2018-04-23. Archived from the original on 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
19. ^ a b "198 Negroes Die in Large Natchez Fire". The Wilmington morning star. April 25, 1940.
20. ^ "100 Negroes Die in Hall Fire". Daily Illini. 24 April 1940.
21. ^ "Home Page". rnconsitemm. Archived from the original on 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
22. ^ "Central Burial Association Equal to Natchez Fire Disaster". Afro-American courier. May 1, 1940.
23. ^ "Natchez Burning". msbluestrail.org. Archived from the original on 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
24. ^ "Scenes of Natchez Fire Disaster". Afro-American courier. May 1, 1940.
25. ^ "Rhythm Nightclub Fire Memorialized Through Photos Never Seen – News Mississippi". newsms.fm. Archived from the original on 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2018-05-15.
26. ^ "Disaster Victims in Natchez Fire Memorialized in Tablets". The Phoenix index. October 5, 1940.
27. ^ Mackay, Cliff (May 11, 1940). "Heed This Warning". The Phoenix index.
28. ^ a b Lane, Emily (15 March 2011). "Natchez Remembers Rhythm Club Fire". Natchez Democrat. Archived from the original on 26 April 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
29. ^ "Death by Dancing". Interrupted Blogs. October 15, 2015.
30. ^ "Granddaughter of nightclub owner tells story of tragedy in dance, music". The Natchez Democrat. November 8, 2015.
31. ^ Lane, Emily (21 April 2011). "Memorial Staying Put Despite Talks". Natchez Democrat. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2011.

* v
* t
* e

Nightclub fires, disasters, and attacks

Fires (accidental)|

* 1929 Study Club fire
* 1940 Rhythm Club fire
* 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire
* 1947 Karlslust dance hall fire
* 1961 Top Storey Club fire
* 1970 Club Cinq-Sept fire
* 1972 Play Town Club fire
* 1973 Summerland disaster
* 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club fire
* 1981 Stardust fire
* 1983 Alcalá 20 nightclub fire
* 1993 Kheyvis fire
* 1996 Ozone Disco fire
* 2000 Luoyang Christmas fire
* 2001 Volendam New Year's fire
* 2001 Canecão Mineiro nightclub fire
* 2002 Utopía nightclub fire
* 2003 The Station nightclub fire
* 2004 República Cromañón nightclub fire
* 2008 Wuwang Club fire
* 2009 Santika Club fire
* 2009 Lame Horse fire
* 2013 Kiss nightclub fire
* 2015 New Taipei water park fire
* 2015 Colectiv nightclub fire
* 2016 Ghost Ship warehouse fire
* 2022 Yaoundé nightclub fire
* 2022 Mountain B nightclub fire
* 2022 Binh Duong karaoke bar fire
* 2022 Kostroma café fire
* 2022 Poipet casino hotel fire
* 2023 Fonda Milagros nightclub fire
* 2024 Gayrettepe nightclub fire

Crowd crushes|

* 2000 Throb nightclub disaster
* 2003 E2 nightclub crush
* 2018 El Paraíso stampede
* 2018 Corinaldo stampede
* 2020 Los Olivos stampede

Attacks|

* 1972 Blue Bird Café fire
* 1973 Whiskey Au Go Go fire
* 1973 UpStairs Lounge arson attack
* 1974 Gulliver's nightclub fire
* 1975 Gargantua bar attack
* 1976 Puerto Rican Social Club fire
* 1980 Denmark Place fire
* 1982 Droppin Well bombing
* 1984 Dallas nightclub shooting
* 1986 West Berlin discotheque bombing
* 1990 Happy Land fire
* 1997 Otherside Lounge bombing
* 1998 Gothenburg discothèque fire
* 1998 Panda Bar massacre
* 2001 Dolphinarium discotheque massacre
* 2001 Myojo 56 building fire
* 2002 Bali bombings
* 2004 Columbus nightclub shooting
* 2005 Stage Club bombing
* 2006 Arua nightclub shooting
* 2007 London car bombs
* 2011 Tel Aviv nightclub attack
* 2015 Cairo restaurant fire
* 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting
* 2017 Istanbul nightclub shooting
* 2017 Little Rock nightclub shooting
* 2018 Thousand Oaks shooting
* 2019 Salamanca nightclub shooting
* 2019 Coatzacoalcos nightclub fire
* 2022 Oslo shootings
* 2022 Colorado Springs nightclub shooting

Other|

* 1925 Pickwick Club collapse
* 2022 Enyobeni Tavern disaster (cause of death unknown)

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