ABSTRACT
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 contained all the elements of a “great news story.” Before the fire, Chicago received little mention in the national press; with the fire, Chicago launched a reputation for danger and intrigue that took nearly a century to overcome. The urban disaster inspired the imaginations of those who put pen to paper about it, leading them to speculate broadly about the character of Chicago in their musings concerning the fire. Prepared to view cities as threatening to American culture, the national audience found that the writings on the disastrous fire, which essentially leveled the fast growing Midwestern urban center, resonated with their world views. Given the event’s rich potential for meaningful symbolism, the fire would have riveted the nation’s attention even if it had broken out in more modern times. The Great Chicago Fire, which destroyed thousands of acres in central Chicago, became a spectacular media event and thrust the city into the nation’s vision. As we shall see, the story had elements of nearly unfathomable disaster, class conflict, business upheaval, urban rivalry, and sexuality. The fire symbolized what was wrong with the rapid development now becoming commonplace in American cities, and provided a seemingly unprecedented opportunity for revision to, and possibly repentance for, the questionable culture of the Midwestern commercial center.
