

Tragedy
On January 28, 1922 The Knickerbocker Theatre roof collapsed under the weight of 28 inches of snow killing 98 and injuring 133 people in Adams Morgan at the corner of 18th Street and Columbia Road NW.
The 98 people that died at the Knickerbocker Theatre
Mary Ethel Atkinson, age 35
Dr. Andrew Jackson Barchfeld, age 59
Helena Meyers Barchfeld, age 35
Joseph Wade Beal, Age 26
Archie B. Bell, age 33
Frances Marie Bikle, age 16
William I. Bikle, Jr., age 50
Thomas Randolph Bourne, age unknown
Daisey Danforth Bowden, age 45
Chauncy Cory "Bud" Brainerd, age 47
Edith Rathbone Brainerd, age 37
Wilfred A "Doc" Brousseau, III, age 22
Albert G. F. Buehler, age 32
William Manduit Canby, age 32
Nellie Norris Covell, age 28
William Mortimer Crocker, age 26
Vinson W. Dauber, age 9
Thomas M. Dorsey, age 18
Helen Helms Williams Dortch, age 43
Kirkland R. Duke, age 15
Margaret Dutch, age 25
Guy Sunderlin Eldredge, age 39
Alfred George Eldridge, age 53
Harriett "Hattie" Amanda Elsom Eldridge, age 38
Frederick H. Ernst, age 33
McCarthy Farr, age 58
Virginia Bianchi Feraud, age 38
Christian Feige, age 69
John Paton Fleming, age 32
Mary Lee Fleming, age 29
Thomas Fleming, age 71
Mary Ann Forsyth, age 36
Esther Foster, age 21
George Sydney Freeman, age 25
Emma Winifred Gearhart, age 41
Douglas Hillyer, age 30
William Goldsborough Hughes, age 46
Daniel Kerfoot Jackson, age 50
Elizabeth Jeffries, age 23
John Miller Jeffries, age 27
Aulyn Kanston, age 7
Dorothy Kanston, age 12
Mabel Whistler Kanston, age 39
Oscar G. Kanston, age 40
Howard G. Kneessi, age 33
Cutler Laflin, age 16
Nannie Lee Lambert, age 24
Elizabeth Mueller Lehmer, age 30
LeRoy L. Lehmer, age 33
David Hinckley Lyman, III, age 16
Gertrude Louise O'Connor Martindale, age 25
Wyatt Coleman "Jack" McKimmie, age 19
Julian Gardner McKenney, age 45
Agnes Marie Mellon, age 19
James Murray, age 40
Genevieve Wilson Mirskey, age 25
Scott Montgomery, age 29
Veronica Murphy, age 26
Ernesto E. Natellio, age 42
Adeline B. Little O'Donnell, age 44
Dominick Francis O'Donnell, age 45
Vivian Ogdon, age 24
Caroline Campbell "Carrie" Newsom Pessou, age 56
Lois Pitcher, age 22
Hazel "Pat" Price, age 18
Marie Laskey Russell, age 51
William Bryan Sammon, age 25
William Lovick Schoolfield, age 31
Edward Henry Shaughnessey, age 39,
Dr. James F. Shea, age 28
Cora C. Sigourney, age 39
Marie Hobbs Smith, age 70
Laverne Sproul, age 17
Clarence B. Stephenson, age 25
Louis W. Strayer, age 54
Victor M. Sturges, age 19
Gertrude Elizabeth Taylor, age 28
Helen Christine Thompson, age 13
Gladys L. Tohms, age 24
William Tracy, age 38
Charles Cowles Tucker, age 52
Helen Miller Zimmerman Tucker, age 54
Carolyn Lois Upshaw, age 16
Jacob "Jack" Urdong, age 54
Rose Urdong, age 42
Louis Foote Valentine, age 56
Fannie "Fernie" E. Kinnear Valentine, age 45
Clarissa Meacham Brown Vance, age 43
Reginald Henley Conroy Vance, age 49
Mildred Carolyn Walford, age 24
Agnes Marie Henritze Walker, age 32
John L. Walker, age 34
William A. Walters, age 22
William E. R. Warner, age unknown
Isabel Wilson Warner, age 35
William Elliot Ramsden Warner, age 40
Anne Dunbar Davis Wesson, age 41
Ivan J. White, age 28
The Injured Survivors
Frank W. Alexander, age 56
Nobile Tomasso Asserto
Charles B. Bateman, age 53
Mrs. Ella Bateman, age 53
Miss June Bergman, age 21
Raymond L. Bland, age 14
Mrs. Mildred Bowen, age 26
Raymond J. Bowen, age 25
J. H. Boyden
Bernard Bresslau
Miss Sadie Bresslau
R. J. Brown
Mrs. R. J. Brown
Joseph C. Bruce, age 22
Elliott Frank Brumbaugh, age 15
Hazel Buehler
(wife of Albert Buehler-Killed)
Dr. J. R. Canine
Gilbert Caplin
Mary L. Chalmers, age 72
George E. Cole, age 37
Miss Margaret Cole
Eloise Anderson Crocker, age 26
(wife of William M. Crocker - Killed)
James A. Curtain, age 46
George Kelso Dailey, age 44
James H. Davidson
Issac B. “Bertie” Dodson, age 59
Fred W. Dodson, age 26
Hester Dodson, age 27
Joseph L. Durland, age 30
Mrs. Joseph L. Durland
Mrs. Bessie Shores
(wife of Guy Sunderlin Eldredge - Killed)
Catherine C. Dodge Kneessi
(wife of Howard G. Kneessi - Killed)
Inez Ewing
Clara Fisher
Miss Ruth Fouts, age 29
John Worthington Francis
William A. Galloway
Dr. Clyde M. Gearheart
(husband of Emma Winifred Gearheart - Killed)
Norman Gibson
Hugh Glenn
Moe Gold
Sgt. Loren M. Goldman
Paul Golbart
John W. Grissinger
Mrs. E. Hadley or Haley
Dr. Custis Lee Hall, age 34
Mrs. Custis Lee Hall
Dr. Elmer E. Hayden
Mrs. Elmer E. Hayden
Male Child Hayden
Warren Halpen
Young Boy Henley
M. Pera Hill
Capt. J. H. Hill
Mrs. J. H. Hill
Mrs. Imogene Hillyer
(wife of Douglas Hillyer – Killed)
James M. Hoffman
Miss Helen Hopkins
Grant Kanston, age 8
(Parents and two sisters were killed.)
W. Benton Keller, age 36
John E. Klenner
Joseph Klenk
Mrs. J. H. Richardson
H. P. Robertson
Mrs. H. P. Robertson
Harry T. Lacy, age 50
S. M. Lee
Harold H. Levy, age 26
Clarence W. Long, age 28
Lillian Massee
Joseph L. McCarney
John J. McEverley
Mrs. Helen C. McKinney
John T. Metzerber
Jonas Michaelis, age 54
Frances Michaelis, age 52
Vincent T. Monahan
Mrs. Vincent T. Monahan
John A. Morgan
H. B. Moses
Mrs. Frances E. Murray
(wife of George W. J. Murray - Killed)
Herbert Nash, age 14
Mildred B. Nash, age 20
Mary Passalacqua Natiello, age 40
(wife of Orchestra Leader Oreste Natiello - Killed)
Oreste Natiello
(Musician, French Horn in the orchestra)
Hugh Nesbitt
John Nesbitt
Catherine Nesbitt
Clarence Newkirk
Edward “Eddie” Nicklas, age 18
B. H. Odell
Mrs. B. H. Odell
J. I. Opriano
Henry Parson
Mrs. Guiseppe Pasquale, age 45
William J. Peters, age 41
Miss Virginia Poole, age 16
Miss Ruth Edna Postley
Henry C. Powell
Mrs. Henry S. Powell
John Prezioso, age 31
(Musician in the Orchestra)
H. E. Quinn
Miss Belle H. Rambo, age 30
Nellie Ray, age 26
Paul J. Renz
Mrs. Paul J. Renz
Miss Maria Rhea
J. H. Richardson, age 36
A. B. Rosson
Charles T. Ruby
Bessie Russell
Edward A. Sachs, age 25
Walter Urdsaey
E. B. Sarolers
Mrs. Schwab
Myrtle Scanlan Shaughnessy
(wife of Edward H. Shaughnessy - Killed)
Edward A. Sochs
Miss Martha Strayer
Albert A. Sward
Lt. Col. Taylor
Miss Mary Theunissen
Leonard “Leon” Theunissen
Herbert Crawford Thompson
Catherine B. Tracy, age 22
Etta Underwood
Nathan Urdong, age 40
Alphonso Vanpoucke, age 52
Mrs. Juliette B. Webb
Col. Charles M. Wesson
(husband of Ann Davis Wesson - Killed)
Miss Nancy Wesson, age 16
Miss Madeline R. White, age 7
Malcom H. White
Edward A. Williams, age 63
(Musician in the Orchestra)
Robert Williams
Mrs. Edelin Wilson, age 34
Henry W, Wilson, age 37
Mrs. Inez Woodruff
Miss Marie H. Young, age 10
Joseph Younger, age 27
W. I. Zalasky
Mrs. W. I. Zalasky
The Uninjured Survivors
James S. Addison
Mrs. R. J. Canine
Ida Clark
(Organist in the Orchestra)
John Dunnam
Mrs. Dunnam
(sister of John Dunnam)
Jimmy Hamilton
(Film Operater)
Dick Kracke, age 14
Paul Mister
Mrs. Paul Mister
W. H. Morris
Daughter of Edwin P. Parker
Billy Pogue, age 14
Joseph Schrobuick
Charles Stein
List compiled by Debbie K. Chambers
Photos from before and after the tragic night.
(click on image to enlarge)




















Resources
1/27/17
Washington Post article by Kevin Ambrose:
Haunting faces, scenes and stories from the Knickerbocker Theatre roof crash 95 years ago
1/28/22
Washington Post article by Paul Schwartzman:
A century later, the pain of D.C.’s deadliest disaster still resonates
1/28/22
DCist article by Jacob Fenston:
D.C.’s Biggest Disaster Struck 100 Years Ago At The Knickerbocker Theater
1/27/22
Washington Post article by Kevin Ambrose:
How the Knickerbocker snowstorm became D.C.’s deadliest disaster 100 years ago
1/29/22
Washington Post article by Katherine Shaver:
100 years later, residents call for memorial to D.C.'s Knickerbocker Theatre disaster
100 Year Commemoration
and Dedication of Memorial Sculpture
January 29, 2022

Neighbors for the Knickerbocker Memorial are hosting a centennial commemoration of those who died and were injured as well as first responders and neighbors who supported the rescue effort.
Saturday, January 29, 2022
Noon - 3pm
Adams Morgan Plaza
(18th St & Columbia Rd NW)
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An exhibit of historical photographs and news- papers documenting the first days of the disaster.
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A program of speakers highlighting the snowstorm, the roof collapse, and rescue efforts.
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A reading of the names and ages of the 98 people who died in the Knickerbocker Theatre disaster.
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Personal stories of survivors and descendants collected by a long-time researchers, and a first-hand account from an Adams Morgan resident and descendant.
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The dedication of a memorial sculpture.
Inscription on Memorial Sculpture
Dedicated to our neighbors and visitors who lost their lives, were injured, or came to the rescue when the Knickerbocker Theatre roof collapsed in the snowstorm of January 28, 1922.
The Silent Violin
Cesar Maxit, 2022
The orchestra for the silent film playing at the Knickerbocker Theatre that night was missing too many musicians who were snowed in by the storm. The conductor, determined to have the show go on, called on renowned first violinist Joseph Beal, who lived nearby but wasn't scheduled to play since he had been married just four days earlier. Joseph played his violin that night until the music of those 98 lives went silent.
Photos by Cesar Maxit - January 29, 2022
Mt. Pleasant Library Knickerbocker Display
100th Anniversary of the Knickerbocker Theatre Tragedy
Our work has been inspired by the words of Paul E. Johnson whose letter to the chairman of the District of Columbia committee was published in The Evening Star of Washington, DC on February 1, 1922.

Neighbors for the Knickerbocker Memorial is a group of Adams Morgan neighbors who have come together to honor the history of the Knickerbocker Theatre and work toward a permanent memorial at the site to honor the lives of those who died there.
Co-chairs: Sandra Reischel & Nancy Shia
Lead researcher: Debbie K. Chambers
Press outreach: Carol Miller
Press inquiries: Nancy Shia
Contact Neighbors for the Knickerbocker Memorial:
