Look Back: Fire Chief Joseph W. Morgan, 1943 | Buy historic photos & newspaper pages

Home |
My Album |
My Cart |
FAQ |
Registration/Login |
Order Status
| Search

| Bookmarks:

Home > Buy historic photos & newspaper pages

Look Back: Fire Chief Joseph W. Morgan, 1943

Date: 3/19/2012 Album ID: 1431607

Photos by Post-Dispatch staff photographers

by Tim O'Neil --- The fire began in a waste-paper shredding machine. It flashed quickly through old clothing, furniture and other goods stacked inside the Goodwill Industries building at 713 Howard Street. As Fire Chief Joseph W. Morgan stepped along on the second-floor escape platform, the wall collapsed into a jumble of brick, heavy timber and billowing mortar dust. Morgan was, and is, the only St. Louis fire chief to be killed in action since the department was established in 1857.

Joseph W. Morgan on July. 15, 1941, the day Mayor William Dee Becker appointed him St. Louis fire chief. Morgan, then 50, had been with the fire department since 1913, except for two years in the Army during World War I. Becker made the appointment permanent effective Aug. 1. Morgan died in the collapse of a burning building north of downtown on March 20, 1943. He is the only St. Louis fire chief to have been killed in action. (Post-Dispatch)

Fire Chief Joseph W. Morgan tries on a sample of a plastic fire helmet in April 1942. Because metal was restricted for defense production during World War II, the department couldn't buy any more helmets made of aluminum. (Post-Dispatch)

Firefighters, reporters and a police officer flee the collapse of the Goodwill Industries building, 713 Howard Street, during a fire on the morning of March 20, 1943. Fire Chief Joseph W. Morgan was standing on the second floor of the building's exterior fire escape when it collapsed, burying him in rubble and killing him. Morgan had gone up the escape to order firefighters to leave the building. (Athur Witman/Post-Dispatch)

St. Louis Fire Department battalion chiefs serve as pall bearers for the casket of Chief Joseph W. Morgan for his funeral on March 23, 1943. The service was held in the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 3633 Lindell Boulevard. The scene is looking west on Lindell. The Hotel Melbourne at far left is now Jesuit Hall, part of St. Louis University. The steeple is of St. Francis Xavier (College) Church. (Post-Dispatch)

St. Louis Mayor William Dee Becker, a Republican, who was elected in April 1941 by defeating Mayor Bernard F. Dickmann, a Democrat who was seeking a third term. Becker soon made Morgan chief. Becker died on Aug. 1, 1943, in the crash of an Army glider during an exhibition at Lambert Field. A wing to the St. Louis-built glider collapsed in flight. Becker and all nine others on board were killed. (Post-Dispatch)

MyCapture, Inc. - A Second Street Media, Inc. Solution

Categories