Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-287, 289-306) and index.

On the day after Christmas in 1811, the state of Virginia lost its governor and almost one hundred citizens in a devastating nighttime fire that consumed a Richmond playhouse. The gruesome fire amplified the capital's reputation for vice and led to an upsurge in anti-theater criticism that spread throughout the country and across the Atlantic. In "The Richmond Theater Fire," the first book about the event and its aftermath, Meredith Henne Baker explores a forgotten catastrophe and its wide societal impact. The story of transformation comes alive through survivor accounts of slaves, actresses, ministers, and statesmen. Investigating private letters, diaries, and sermons, among other rare or unpublished documents, Baker views the event and its outcomes through the fascinating lenses of early nineteenth-century theater, architecture, and faith, and reveals a rich and vital untold story from America's past.

SACFinal081324