After+the+fire

Almost everyone in Boyertown had lost a loved one. The entire town was affected by this fire. Boyertown had learned a tragic lesson.









The next day people gathered around the opera house. The young coroner Robert Strasser had never experienced a disaster like this. He was unsure of how to get the bodies out and identify them. He developed a plan using the same method as used in the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. They would recover the bodies, describe each one, assign a number, and place all clothing and jewelry in a pouch with the corresponding number. Many men in the town volunteered to help Strasser remove the bodies. They wrapped the bodies in blankets and tied them with twine. They placed them on boards and lowered them down the front stairway on firemen's ladders.
 * The Next Day:**

The bodies were dispersed to the three undertakers in town: James Brown, James Brumbach, and Harrison Houck. After the three filled up they turned a schoolhouse into the fourth morgue. Family members of missing people were not permitted in the morgues until all bodies were found. After all bodies were found in the rubble, 55 undertakers from around the area came to prepare the bodies for identification.


 * Activity**:Have students pick two of the five pictures to examine. Students will use NARA worksheets for photographs. Students will work in pairs. After everyone is finished, place students into groups of six to share their findings. Allow time if students want to add anything to their own worksheets. As a class, discuss what we can infer from these photographs and what questions do they raise that we have not answered yet. Ask students to revisit their KWL chart created at the beginning and start to add things they learned and questions that were answered.

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