(#45) / The Great Fire / by Jim Murphy / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

The Great Fire / by Jim Murphy

ISBN-10: 0590472674 / Scholastic, Inc.

p. 144/ $9.35 (Amazon)

1995

Body of Content

Summary: Murphy recounts the Great Fire of 1871 – infamously burned into the memories of Chicagoans.  The book provides photos to provide a historical context to the narrative events of the great disaster.  The book recounts the circumstances that led to the Fire – the problems occurring which prevented the Fire from easily being quenched – and the aftermath (both personally for families and societally for structures) of the awful event.  The book contains a nice bibliography at the end – which provides a nice source of information for further research – if the reader contains interest.  Further, a chapter deals with popular misconceptions – in a chapter titled “Myth and Reality”.  

Critique: As is so often the case, history gets muddied by the time people receive it.   In the last chapter of the book, Murphy sets out to right the inaccuracies and folklore that surround the Fire – and provide the correct historical information.  The Fire – long accused as the result of a milking “cow kicking over a lamp” – according to Murphy – is “nothing more than gossip”.  The Fire did originate from a barn – in the North Division – but Murphy points out that bad journalism contributed to the cow rumor becoming part of the early folklore – and staying in the public imagination even to this day (p. 124-125).  

With the lack of clear reasons to explain the fast spread of the Fire, Murphy also takes note that in early traditions, the firefighters were often scapegoated for the Fire’s destructive power – that the firefighters were inept, drunk, or lazy when called into action.  Murphy offers more realistic information about the firefighters – including the overwork and exhaustion faced by the firefighters in dire circumstances (p. 130-131).

As any good historian, Murphy sets out – as a theme – to separate common, perceived knowledge from actual, verifiable history.

Teaser: A small fire quickly endangers the residents of one of America’s largest Midwestern cities.

Information about the Author: Jim Murphy is an award-winning writer – having won the Newbery Book Award twice – along with a long list of other accolades.  He has written some 30-odd titles – mostly regarding issues related to American history.  His education includes enrollment at Rutgers University – and further work at Radcliffe College for graduate work.  Murphy grew up in New Jersey and is an avid fan of baseball.  Now in Maplewood, Murphy is married to Alison Blank, who is a TV producer and children’s author and editor herself.  The couple also has two sons (Murphy, 2011).

Supplemental Material

Genre: Historical Nonfiction

Curriculum Ties:  History – maps, geography, local history, Chicago

Booktalking Ideas: 1) “If a fire endangered your household, and you had 5 minutes before it reached your house, what would you try and save?”

Reading Level: This book fits well across teen age demographics – (15-18).  

Challenge Issues and Defense: The book seems pretty safe and standard – from a historical perspective – and nothing garnishes a challenge.

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I have flown through the Chicago O’Hara airport on many occasions – and I enjoyed reading about their local history.  

Last Thoughts

References:

Murphy, J. (2011). About the author [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://www.jimmurphybooks.com/about.htm

Listening to (Music):

Artist – The Afters / Album – “Never Going Back to OK”