The Burning of the Theatre in Richmond, Virginia, on the Night of the 26th December 1811

In this hand-colored contemporary print, men, women, and children attempt to escape from a fire raging in the Richmond Theatre on the night of December 26, 1811. The prints subtitle states that more than 100 of Richmonds most valuable Citizens lost their lives that night. The scholar Meredith Henne Baker has estimated the death toll to be at least 76, probably more. Most of the victims were upper-class women and girls. Among the prominent citizens killed was George William Smith, the newly elected governor of Virginia.