Oklahoma Journeys
Week of December 23, 2007
Fire at the Babb’s Switch schoolhouse Dec. 25, 1924
As we get together with friends and family from across the state and around the country during this holiday season, it’s traditional to give thanks for what you have and to appreciate the friendship and goodness in your life. For some Oklahomans in 1924 Christmas provided a true test of their faith and optimism. The story of the Babb’s Switch schoolhouse, this week on Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma Historical Society.
From the Oklahoma Historical Society, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.
While the rest of the country supposedly frolicked through the roaring ‘20s, farmers in Oklahoma as well as the rest of the mid-western plains states were experience numerous hardships brought on by drought and low farm prices. Christmas for these rural Oklahomans was celebrated in a fashion similar to other isolated farm communities around the country. Special dinners and once a year food treats were brought out, and everyone hoped for something from Santa Claus. Another almost universal trait of the country Christmas was the annual Christmas program usually held at an area school or church. As these events plays and presentations were put on by the children, a tree, usually decorated, sometimes dinner or treats were served but almost always Santa Claus was there to hand out presents.
The Christmas of 1924 was no different than others and for the Oklahoma children that attended the school near Hobart known as the Babb’s Switch Schoolhouse, they were looking forward to their special program to be held on Christmas Day. According to the local press the event started out as anticipated. Several bed sheets strung on a rope across the one room school served as a curtain for the stage, and the various programs presented went off without much trouble. A tree in the rear corner of the room was decorated with paper cut outs and candles, while wall mounted kerosene lamps provided the main source of light. As the program was winding down and Santa was passing out his gifts to the kids, tragedy struck. No exact recollection of what happened has yet been offered, but witnesses all reported the same scene. The paper decorations on the tree caught fire from the candles, and the entire tree, a dry cedar, burst into flame. From there the fire spread to the makeshift curtain and frantic attempts to smother the blaze only made it worse. People near the door hurriedly ran outside to open windows trying to provide another means of escape, but heavy security screens were bolted on and locked from the inside. As the fire spread, the kerosene lamps exploded engulfing the entire structure in flames. The entire process took only seconds to unfold, and before it was over 36 people mostly children, lost their lives. The fire at Babb’s Switch was an event of horrific proportions that made headlines across the country. For the families who lost loved ones in that fire - the Christmas of 1924 - probably always remained a sad recollection. Despite the tragedy, it’s possible to find a silver lining in all of this. Perhaps by thinking of the 1924 Babb’s Switch Christmas fire it might remind us all of how lucky we are and how thankful we really should be.
You can learn more about the fire at Babb’s Switch as well as almost any other event in Oklahoma history by visiting the newspaper collection in the research library at the Oklahoma History Center, located in Oklahoma City on NE 23rd Street just east of the state capitol. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma Historical Society dedicated to the collection, preservation, and sharing of our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.