April 23, 1940: The Rhythm Club Fire

April 23, 1940: The Rhythm Club, a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, catches fire, killing 209 people. At the time, it was the 2nd-deadliest building fire in American history, and it remains the deadliest ever in the South.

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 had 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. It 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.

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 by Walter Barnes and His Royal Creolians, an orchestra from Chicago. Money Wasters member Ed Frazier was in charge of the club on the night of the fire.

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. Being that this was 1940 Mississippi, they were all black.

The Royal Creolians was performing when the fire started near the main entrance door around 11:00 PM. It is believed that a discarded cigarette started it, and, fed by Spanish moss that had been draped over interior's rafters as a decoration, flames quickly engulfed the structure. 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.

To make matters worse, 21 of the 24 existing windows had been boarded up to prevent outsiders from viewing or listening to the music, and as a result the crowd was trapped.

The Natchez Fire Department did not yet exist, but two volunteer companies provided one full-time firefighter. The fire was put out around half an hour after it broke out. Bandleader Walter Barnes and 9 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.

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. One of the group's two survivors, the drummer Walter Brown, vowed never to play again. The other survivor was the bassist, Arthur Edward. Ed Frazier of the Money Wasters also died in the fire.

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.

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.

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. Calls for stricter fire laws and addressing overcrowding in buildings and schools.

On November 6, 2010, the Rhythm Club Museum, commemorating the tragedy, opened in Natchez.

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April 23, 1940 was a Tuesday. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. The NHL season had ended 10 days earlier, when the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.

And these baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Philadelphia Athletics, 3-0 at Yankee Stadium. Alfred "Chubby" Dean, no relation to Dizzy and Daffy, pitched a 4-hit shutout, to beat Irving "Bump" Hadley. Joe DiMaggio was injured, and did not play.

* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Harry Gumbert pitched a 4-hit shutout. Mel Ott went 0-for-2, but drew 3 walks, including 1 in the top of the 7th inning, with the bases loaded, for the game's only run.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Boston Bees, 8-3 at Ebbets Field. Herman Franks, later to be part of the the scheme by the Dodgers' rivals, the Giants, to steal the 1951 National League Pennant, went 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs for the Dodgers. This was the last of 5 seasons that the Braves called themselves the Bees.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 7-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams and Lou Finney hit home runs for the BoSox.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Paul Waner singled home the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the 9th.

* The Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The game was made up on May 13, and it still didn't find a winner: It was called due to darkness after 14 innings, with the score tied, 8-8.

* The Cleveland Indians and the St. Louis Browns were rained out at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 8. The Indians won the opener, 7-4. Bob Feller was the winning pitcher. The Browns won the nightcap, 2-1.

* And the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The game was made up on September 3. The White Sox scored 7 runs in the 1st inning, and won, 10-2. Luke Appling went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Hank Greenberg went 2-for-4 for the Tigers.