A striking memorial to the 21 lives lost after fireworks left out in the summer heat led to an explo
Arsenal Monument
Congressional Cemetery
Washington, D.C.
A striking memorial to the 21 lives lost after fireworks left out in the summer heat led to an explosion.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/washington-arsenal-explosion-monument
On June 17, 1864, fireworks were laid out to dry by the superintendent of the Washington Arsenal. The heat of the summer day caused the fireworks to explode into the choking room where workers were filling cartridges with gunpowder. The resulting explosions and fire claimed the lives of 21 women, many of them young Irish immigrants working as the sole providers for their families. Seventeen of these victims are interred at Congressional Cemetery, 15 of them laid to rest beneath the Arsenal Monument. (Two are interred separately in family plots.)
The Arsenal was located near the intersection of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, on what is now Fort McNair at Greenleaf Point—one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in the District of Columbia. During the Civil War, the large facility was dedicated primarily to making ammunition for the Union Army.
After the tragedy, a funeral for the victims was held at the Arsenal, which was attended by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. After the ceremony, a funeral procession traveled down Pennsylvania Avenue to Congressional Cemetery. The monument, which was created by the Flannery Brothers firm, features a carved sculpture representing Grief posed atop a large stone structure. It was dedicated one year after the explosion.
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My great grandparents came from Ireland, she as a little girl with her family and he as a young man. I never met them, have only seen photos. Thanks for the post, it's an important story that we need to remember. 
