It was a chilly Wednesday, December 30, 1903, when a death-dealing blast of flame hurtled through the packed auditorium of Chicago’s newly-opened Iroquois Theatre, claiming the lives of 600 people, mostly women and children. With a death toll twice that of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, it remains the worst theater fire in the United States, and was the deadliest single-building disaster in the country prior to 9/11.

During the second act of a holiday matinee performance of Mr. Blue Beard, a fire broke out backstage, igniting draperies and sets, and spreading quickly. Chaos erupted, and within fifteen minutes, more than one-third of the patrons were dead, many trampled to death.

Despite being billed as “absolutely fireproof,” the theatre exhibited numerous deficiencies regarding public and fire safety. The tragedy led to significant changes in building safety codes and code enforcement across the country.

The presentation will be given by Caron Primas Brennan, a teacher at the Newberry Library and a founder of the Iroquois Theatre Fire Historical Society.

In 1961, ownership of William Morris’s beloved country house, Kelmscott Manor, in rural west Oxfordshire, devolved upon the Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL). Used by the Victorian polymath and his family over a 67-year period it had, during that time, assumed an unforeseen significance in relation to the thinking and creativity of both Morris and his daughter, May, who died in 1938 and bequeathed it to Oxford University. It was a property of international importance, therefore, though in a perilous state of repair by the time the University sought to surrender ownership; SAL then embarked on a five-year programme of renovation and conservation. Sixty years further on, the £6 million Kelmscott and Morris: Past, Present and Future project, encompassing all aspects of the site, has enabled SAL to safeguard the estate’s future and re-shape visitors’ engagement with this most atmospheric of places.

Whilst considering both the external and internal KMPPF project works, this talk places a particular emphasis on the materiality, decoration, furnishing and interpretation of the Manor’s period spaces. Using case studies of individual objects and architectural features, it will look at how evidential sources have informed decision-making in relation to these modest yet complex interiors in order to create spaces reflecting not the actuality of the Manor as any member of the Morris family would necessarily have known it, but rather the intentionality of May Morris and her vision for the house as expressed through her curatorial interventions in the later years of her life, and the provision she made for it in her will.

The Joseph Jacob Walser house was built in 1903 at 42 N. Central Avenue in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. Set on a narrow lot, the house is among the best of Wright’s design experiments with inexpensive residences. It displays all the features of his mature Prairie style: a horizontal emphasis resulting from deep roof eaves and bands of windows, a straightforward use of simple materials, and a spacious but efficient open interior plan. The house is one of only five extant Wright-designed Prairie-period structures in the city of Chicago and was designated a landmark in 1984.

The house is currently going through the foreclosure process since the death of the long-time owner in 2019. Its condition is rapidly declining due to deferred maintenance with stucco and exterior wood trim crumbling and separating from the building, and gaping holes at the foundation level.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, Austin Coming Together, Preservation Chicago, and Landmarks Illinois are working together to put pressure on the mortgage company and the City of Chicago to place the house into the hands of a steward who will stabilize it and work toward a long-term plan for its restoration and reuse.

The presentation will be given by John H. Waters, AIA, Preservation Programs Director for the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.