The collection contains correspondence, newspapers and clippings, photos, and notes about the Katie Jane Memorial Home fire that occurred on Sunday, February 17, 1957, in Warrenton, Missouri. Rev. Walter Schwane was conducting a worship service when the fire occurred and saved several bed-ridden and trapped residents. The collection is arranged alphabetically by topic and/or type of document. It dates from 1955 to 2021 with large gaps: 1960-1967, 1969-1996, 1998-2013, and 2015-2020. The bulk of the collection dates from February through March 1957. From 1954 to 1960, Rev. Schwane conducted a monthly worship service at the Katie Jane Memorial Home. He kept notes about residents to whom he ministered (October 1954) and a St. John’s Lutheran Church program (1958) in which the service is listed on the calendar. Staff at the home sent Rev. Schwane letters, which date from 1955 to 1959, thanking him for his attention to the residents during his monthly visits. Most of the correspondence in the collection relates to the fire at the Katie Jane Home on February 17, 1957. News of the fire was reported nationally in newspapers and on television. Family, friends, relatives of Katie Jane Home residents, and strangers wrote to Rev. Schwane commending him for his actions, expressing sympathy for the loss of life, and offering money and donations for the survivors. On February 18th, friends from Immanuel Lutheran Church (Osman, Ill.), Channing and Millie, wrote about Rev. Schwane’s traumatic experience, noting that “…it was a relief and sort of a nightmare to see him and hear him on Coast to Coast Television over Walter Cronkite’s Program at noon today.” One letter to note that is not related to the fire was written on March 19th. Mildred Ledbetter of Inglewood, California, asked Rev. Schwane for assistance in finding someone to help with her family history in Warrenton. She provided her parents’ names and occupations and enclosed two photos relating to her mother’s millinery shop. The newspaper clippings were photocopied for preservation. A few original issues of newspapers, which contain photographs of the fire and its aftermath, have been saved but were also photocopied. The clippings either relate directly to the fire and its residents or to state and national nursing home fire safety standards and reform. On February 26th, the community held a memorial service at the Warrenton Cemetery for 18 fire victims, 14 of whom were unidentified and buried in a common grave (f.6, 9). Along with other local clergymen, Rev. Schwane spoke at the service. He saved his service notes and photographs taken at the mass grave monument. Clippings from 1968, 1997, and 2014 recalled the tragedy upon its anniversary. The 1997 Warrenton Journal article includes an account of events from Grace Schwane Poertner, who was at the Katie Jane Memorial Home with her father on the day of the tragedy. She included notes on the tragedy and a list of Schwane family members.