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Thirteen-year-old Ethel Barker (b.1890) and a friend,
eighteen-year-old Florence T. Harris (1884–), were
said to be neighborhood playmates. It was
common in 1903 for young teenagers to be
referred to as though small children but
in this case newspapers did not know
Florence's given name so probably not
her age, and perhaps assumed she was
around thirteen like Ethel.
The girls went to an afternoon matinee
of Mr. Bluebeard at Chicago's
new playhouse, the Iroquois Theater on
Randolph Street. During the second
act a stage fire spread to the
auditorium, trapping hundreds of
audience members in the balconies.
Florence Harris came home that day;
Ethel Barker became a casualty of
America's worst theater disaster.
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Ethel M. Barker was the daughter of an
English immigrant Harry J. Barker (b.1850) and a
Maryland native, Agnes Barker. Ethel attended the
George W. Tilton Elementary school in Chicago.
Besides her parents Ethel left behind an older
brother, Herbert Barker (b.1883) and a grandmother, Harry's widowed mother, Alice Barker (b.1836
England), who lived with the family at 1925
Washington Blvd. in Chicago. Ethel's father worked
as a supervisor at Plamondon Manufacturing.*
Charlotte Plamondon, the daughter of Harry Barker's
employer, Charles A. Plamondon, was also at the
Iroquois with nine friends but there were no reports
tying Ethel and Florence to the
Plamondon theater party.
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Florence Harris's father, William C. Harris (1858–),
also worked at Plamondon, as a foreman. The
Harris family lived at 1910 Washington Blvd.
Florence was one of two children born to William and
Clara D'Ailman Harris (1862–1940), the other having
died sometime prior to 1900.
Ethel Barker's funeral was held on Saturday, Jan 2, 1904
and burial was at Forest Home Cemetery.
In the years after the fire
Ethel's mother died during the seven years after the
fire, and her brother married.
Florence's mother moved to San Francisco.
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Discrepancies and addendum
One newspaper story the day after the fire reversed
their names but a burial permit was issued for Ethel
M. Barker and none was issued for Florence.
In addition to the newspaper error noted above, the
Marshall Everett book incorrectly reported Ethel's
age as twenty-seven.
The Harris girl may have been Dosia Harris (1890–),
daughter of William Harris who lived at 346 23rd
street, four miles from the Barker home.
A Bertha Harris escaped from the second floor balcony.
She was a native of Lena, Illinois and probably
not this Harris.
* Three years before the Iroquois fire, Harry's
brother John went missing and they searched everywhere
for him. Seven weeks later his body was found with a
suicide note confirming the family's suspicion that
he could no longer endure the pain of a chronic stomach
ailment.
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