Lecture on Year of Frightful Calamities Scheduled at Thomas Balch Library

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Lecture on Year of Frightful Calamities Scheduled at Thomas Balch Library

Historic Richmond DisasterLeesburg, VA (October 19, 2022) – Alyssa Fahringer will present her lecture, “A Year of Frightful Calamities: Disasters and Reconstruction in Richmond, 1870” on Sunday, October 23, beginning at 2 p.m. EDT.

In 1870, Richmond, former capital of the Confederacy, endured three disasters. On April 27, over sixty people died when the Capitol courtroom gallery and floor collapsed; the James River flooded on September 30, resulting in thousands of dollars of damage; and eight people perished when Spotswood Hotel caught fire December 25.

This presentation will discuss how Richmonders experienced, responded to, and remembered the 1870 calamities, as well as how the disasters affected a community in a time of extreme political and racial upheaval.