HARDING POSTPONES OHIO SOCIETY RECEPTION DUE TO 'SO MUCH GRIEF IN WASHINGTON TODAY'
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 30, 1922, President Warren G. Harding announced that the scheduled reception to be held at the White House that evening would be postponed.
The President said...
"There is so much grief in Washington today, so much sorrow attending the Knickerbocker Theater disaster, that I should prefer to omit a social affair while Washington is suffering from the great shock."
The reception, sponsored by the Ohio Society, was an "observance of the birthday anniversary of President (William) McKinley." Two former Ohio residents, Dr. Clyde M. Gearhart and Louis W. Strayer*, were victims of the Knickerbocker tragedy.
Rescue work at the theater ended at daybreak as authorities determined that all living and dead had been found.
In a haunting description of the scene, The Evening Star states...
"Stark and grim as any ruin in the war-swept area of France or Belgium stood the walls of the Knickerbocker Theater today."
JFK+50 NOTE
At 9 p.m. January 28, 1922, the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater in Washington, D.C. collapsed due to the weight of heavy snow over a two day period.
The incident occurred during an intermission in the showing of a silent movie. 98 perished with 133 sustaining injury. It was the worst single-day disaster in the city's history.
*Louis
W. Strayer, a correspondent for the Pittsburgh Dispatch, was in the pit
at the time of the roof collapse. He most likely died instantly. His
daughter was seriously injured but expected to recover.
SOURCES
"Louis W. Strayer, Pittsburgh Writer, Among Dead," The Daily Courier, Connellsville, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1922, www.newspapers.com/
"President Gives Up Reception Plans," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., January 30, 1922, www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
