EP 54 | The Lasting Legacy Of The Coconut Grove Fire, Boston, Massachusetts

Crime is history and sometimes history is crime. One single event changed the course of history. In 1942, the world was in the throes of the Second World War. The Great Depression created a kind of desperation Americans hadn’t seen and men and boys were shipping out by the droves.

Two historic events intersected on Saturday, November 28, 1942, Holy Cross and Boston College played before 41,000 college football fans at Fenway Park. Underdogs Holy Cross destroyed any hopes of The Eagles going to the Sugar Bowl or any other bowl, taking the undefeated team down, 55-12. BC staff and players were so dazed by what happened, they canceled their planned celebration at the famed Cocoanut Grove. They would not know what hand fate dealt them that night. 

That night, the nightclub - almost double its legal capacity - went up in flames. The Cocoanut Grove was a tinderbox, given the flagrant negligence of its owner, Barnett “Barney” Welansky, self-proclaimed pal of the mob and local politicians, including Mayor Maurice J. Tobin, cut corners and ignored common sense public safety. Four hundred and ninety-two* people died as a result of the Cocoanut Grove Fire. It was due to absolute negligence by the club owner but, today, 81 years later, the actual cause of the fire remains undetermined. Boston hospitals were overwhelmed by the rate at which the injured were arriving. Doctors and nurses and medical professions were pushed to the brink on how to effectively care for the gravely injured. There is a sliver of a silver lining, a quote from Professor Barbara Poremba’s recent article in The Salem (Mass) News and a member of the Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee.

We say let no one die in vain. That’s difficult given that so many of the casualties were young people just beginning their adult lives, but what emerged from the ashes of the Coconut Grove Fire revolutionized medical treatments for treating burn victims and people affected by this kind of trauma. Sweeping changes to building codes and safety regulations came as a direct result of the massive loss of life at Cocoanut Grove. 

The 2021 documentary, Six Locked Doors, takes us inside the events of that night, accounts from survivors, and the people who played a role in the worst nightclub fire in US history.

*according to the The Cocoanut Grove Memorial Committee, 490 people died in the fire.

Crime of the Truest Kind
Created, written and hosted by Anngelle Wood

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