Iroquois Theater by the numbers

Built at a cost of $1.1 million to host theatrical extravaganzas produced by Klaw & Erlanger. Site of the deadliest theater fire and single-building fire in U.S. history. Death toll: at least 605 including those who died from their injuries in weeks after fire.  To put the scope of the disaster in perspective consider that there were only forty deaths from fire in Chicago in 1903 not related to the Iroquois Theater.

Opened: November 23, 1903

Location: 24-28 West Randolph St. Chicago, IL

Incorporation: New Jersey 1/1/1903

Construction: George A. Fuller Company

Architectural design: Benjamin H. Marshall

President & co-owner: Will J. Davis

Corporate Treasurer & co-owner: Harry J. Powers

Secretary and co-owner: Marc Klaw

Co-owner: Abe Erlanger (Marc Klaw's partner)

Co-owner: Fred Zimmerman (Samuel Nixon's partner)

Co-owner: Samuel F. Nixon Nirdlinger (Fred Zimmerman's partner)

Business Mgr/Theater Treasurer: Thomas J. Noonan

Number of Iroquois Theater Victims:

Short answer: nearly six hundred, including those who died in the weeks immediately following the fire.

Longer answer: With one 1907 exception that referenced 596 fatalities, until the 1950s, Chicago newspapers referred to 575 Iroquois Theater fire fatalities.  In the 1960s that number jumped to 588 and by 1974 to 602.  I suspect the goal posts were changed as to what constituted an Iroquois-caused death.  In the mid seventies, perhaps to secure ours-was-the-biggest-baddest-worstest-ever-fire boasting rights, some folks chose to begin applying a looser definition to include any Iroquois survivor whose family attributed their death to the Iroquois fire.  I've examined dozens of Iroquois survivors who died five to twenty-five years after the fire of tuberculosis, heart disease, cancer, etc., but in their obituary their relatives attributed their death, in part, to "nervousness" or generalized poor health since their Iroquois experience.  While PTSD and lung damage might have been contributory, such cases are not the same as people who died in excruciating pain at the scene or after weeks as burn patients.  Family sentiment to the contrary is not science.  Nor is a participant in a theater fire in the same category as a military veteran buried in a special section of a cemetery to honor their service, regardless of cause or date of death.  The fatality count of a disaster is a measurement of severity.  Inflation devalues the measurement.  My party, my definition.  As of 2024, I feel confidant of 563 Iroquois Theater fire victims and would not be surprised to find a couple more, but it's unlikely my total will ever match 602.

Size:

17,430 square feet (stage: 5,790, foyer: 5,400, auditorium ground floor: 5,790)

Seating capacity & fatalities

1,606 seats, including 40 box seats + 137 standing spaces = total occupancy of 1,743 on December 30, 1903

First floor: 698 in seats + 21 standing spaces — approximately six fatalities
First balcony (dress circle): 421 in seats + 21 standing spaces — approximately 270 fatalities and 172 survivors
3rd-floor second balcony: 447 in seats + 95 standing spaces — approximately 330 fatalities and 212 survivors
1st floor boxes: 24 seats — zero fatalities
2nd floor boxes: 16 seats — zero fatalities

On Dec 30, 1903, in addition to 1606 seated and 119 standing, 8 were admitted for free: 2 ushers from the Illinois Theater, 2 employees from Powers Theater, 3 from an unspecified theater and 1 from "The Billionaire" cast.  80 others had passes.  Also in the house, in addition to stage workers, were 30 Iroquois employees working as ushers, restroom / coat check attendants and ticket clerks.

Website Administrator/author/chief Cooke and bottle washer: Judy Cooke, Elkhart, IN.

Following careers in advertising and graphic arts, in 1997 my husband and I began selling antiques and collectibles online.  In 2005 I enjoyed the challenge of helping liquidate the estate of Iroquois Theater manager, Will J. Davis. The project involved a year researching his souvenirs and correspondence from friends and business associates.

I cleaned soot from a pair of brass door handles from the front door of the Iroquois Theater, and packaged a pair of steel hinges from one of the exterior fire escape doors for shipping. (They'd been found in a barn on his farm in Crown Point, Indiana with the remains of his lifetime detritus  I believe they'd been taken from the Iroquois at the time of the fire, perhaps connected to trial evidence, stored at his office at the Illinois Theater, then when he retired, transferred from Chicago to his farm.)  I read the letters from Davis' wife immediately after the fire, and hundreds of letters, telegrams and photos from his friends, family and performers. As I type, an oil portrait of Davis in an elaborate gilt frame looks down at me. (He doesn't talk much but has gotten an earful on occasion.)  On another wall in my home is a large photo of him on a horse. (Shipping cost would have matched the value so it lives with me until I find a more suitable home.) I've prowled through his life for twenty years.  In that full-emersion process I learned a great deal about his life but, since I did not have letters written by him, he will forever be a puzzle.

In 2010 while researching an antique stage lamp, I came across a new bit of information related to the lamp that started the Iroquois Theater fire. The discovery inspired further research and in 2012 prompted production of a website to contain and organize the results.

Fifteen years into the project, I've become bonded to the victims and 1903 citizens of Chicago. Having lived for over seventy years within a few hours of the city, excursions to it's museums, baseball parks, convention and concert halls are interwoven with a lifetime of memories.  Not once during those events did I recognize or appreciate the price paid by people in 1903 that resulted in fire and building codes that kept us safe.

Will this be published in a book?

No.   Past mixing of hobbies and income turned passion into toil.  My plan to end the project in December 2025, however, has prompted me to think about ensuring that my efforts don't simply blink out of existence.  With that in mind I've copied the website to a flash drive that can be purchased but the price is set to cover costs, not profits.

What are your academic credentials?

Nada. Prior career experiences give me a collection of relevant near-skills but the project is driven by curiosity and the time of a semi-retired person with a touch of OCD. I'm just gathering and planting seeds, hoping others will harvest the results.

Many of your images are of poor quality. Have you thought of professional restoration?

Nope.  After decades of occupational obsessing over pretty pictures and shiny things in order to take products to market, I like these period images, roughly 4,000 of them, because their warts are transparent.
An authenticity thing.

Some of the stories are really boring.

True that. Were I able to interview victims and other participants, their stories might be more entertaining, as would more information or a willingness on my part to speculate about how they might have felt, the possible circumstances of their lives, etc. I sometimes go down the Guessing Path a short distance but try to limit such excursions and flag them accordingly.  Iroquois Theater victims and their families were subjected to inaccuracy and misrepresentation in 1903/4 and for over a century thereafter.  One goal of this project is to create a foundation of information about these folks that corrects those errors.  A respectful reset.

Tribute?

I have striven to pay tribute to victims, survivors and their descendants by providing the most accurate information I can find.  Tears were shed and victims were eulogized in 1904. Those sentiments remain for perusal in period obituary captures on such online websites as Find-A-Grave and Ancestry. In the course of working on this project, I've read thousands. Many are boilerplate, the same flattering characteristics applied to everyone, like a cookie cutter: "A harder working or more honest man never lived than <insert name>". That was in keeping with sentiments of the period and I'm content to leave it there.
Where did the victim work or play? If he immigrated to America in 1880 and by 1903 owned a home, I'm interested. Did his occupation or religion give the disaster special meaning? Did she continue teaching school after marriage? Did she live in a six-thousand-square-foot-house and employ multiple live-in servants?  Those were uncommon for the period so I want to explore them. As to grandpa beating his wife and kids, I'm apt to omit that bit of ugly unless grandpa survived the fire while his wife and grandchildren died, at which point his attitude towards his family becomes part of their story.

I don't like your story about my ancestors.

In fifteen years and over five hundred theater party stories, I've heard that complaint only twice but it deserves to be addressed.  Talk to me and I'll listen.  I've worked with many descendants to produce a story that reflects history and family sentiment.  The fire and its circumstances take precedence and sometimes that means victims share the focus with other matters, as I see fit.  This is not a memorial site and I reserve the right to make all decisions regarding story format, theme, focus, etc.  You can tell your story your way, however, by creating a blog.  There are many free blogging sites that make it easy.  Describe your family's Iroquois experience and send me a link to your blog page.

Contact info: iroquoistheater@msn.com