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Harriet Earhart Monroe, a resident of Washington, D.C., was a traveling producer of religious stage plays. She was also well known for her work in Christian psychology and theology. One of her plays was being performed in during the tragic Rhoads Opera House Fire.
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Rhoads Opera House Fire
The play being performed on this Monday night,"The Scottish Reformation" was authored by Mrs. Harriet Earhart Monroe. She provided the scripts, the stage props and the costumes used in her plays. The sponsor, in this case St. John's Lutheran Church, supplied the performance venue, the actors and the stage hands. Mrs Monroe and her sister, Mrs. Della Mayers, reheased the production's singers and actors, and directed the play. The profits from the ticket sales were divided between Mrs. Monroe and the sponsor. A slide (magic lantern) show and accompanying lecture was included at the intermission periods to provide historical background for the stage play. Mrs. Monroe had authored the "The Scottish Reformation" sometime prior to 1894. It had been performed a few dozen times at venues in the northeastern states before its final, tragic 1908 performance in Boyertown.
Approximately sixty persons were involved in the performance of the "The Scottish Reformation", some of these served non-acting support functions. All actors were either St John's parishioners or Boyertown residents. There were no professional actors in the performance. The play was to be performed twice in Boyertown, once on Monday night and again on Tuesday night. 312 seat tickets were sold for the Monday night performance. The exact number of audience members is unknown because no official entry count was taken. According to a number of written accounts there were also a large number of standing patrons. However, the figure of 312 is generally used as an approximation of patron attendance in the various renditions of the events of that Monday night. Mrs. Monroe was not present for the fateful Monday night performance. Her sister Della perished in the catastrophe.
Mrs. Monroe was subpoenaed to appear before an official inquest which was held a few weeks after the fire to determine its cause and assess blame. She refused to appear. Although accused of employing an inadequately trained young man to operate the steriopticon slide projector, the inquest's jury found her innocent of any wrongdoing. Private lawsuits were brought against Mrs. Monroe by the families of several victims. The result of these lawsuits is unclear from the surviving historical records.
Philanthropy
Mrs. Monroe spent twelve years in Philadelphia, PA speaking and volunteering at Sunday Breakfast Association. She wrote "Twice Born Men in America" which is an article about the psychological impacts of rescue missions and homelessness in the United States.
Death
Mrs Monroe's, and her sister Della's, maiden name was Earhart. They were the paternal aunts of famed aviator Amelia Earhart. Della Earhart Mayers is buried in Boyertown's Fairview Cemetery. Mrs. Monroe died on 16 July 1927 in Washington, DC and is buried in the Mount Vernon Cemetery, Atchison, Kansas.