The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, NYC 1911, 146 Workers Died

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Sun Dec 8, 2019, 08:07 PM - Edit history (1)

Saturday, March 25, 1911 in New York City. 'A Factory Fire & Frances Perkins,' March 25, 2011. Today marks 100 years since the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—a blaze that lasted 18 minutes and left 146 workers dead. Among the many in New York City who witnessed the tragedy was Frances Perkins, who would later become FDR’s Secretary of Labor, making her the first woman to serve in a Presidential cabinet.

As Secretary of Labor, Perkins was instrumental in creating and implementing the Social Security Act—but she was also intensely interested in the safety and rights of workers. “I came to Washington to work for God, FDR, and the millions of forgotten, plain common workingmen,” she said.

Perkins had a degree from Mount Holyoke College, where her coursework included touring factories. She later earned a master’s degree in in social economics from Columbia University. She had been working as factory inspector in New York at the time of the fire. The fire started in a wastebasket on the eighth floor, and the flames jumped up onto the paper patterns that were hanging from the ceiling...
https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2011/03/25/a-factory-fire-and-francis-perkins/



The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in U.S. history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers – 123 women and girls and 23 men – who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling or jumping to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent Italian and Jewish immigrant women and girls aged 14 to 23; of the victims whose ages are known, the oldest victim was 43-year-old Providenza Panno, and the youngest were 14-year-olds Kate Leone and Rosaria "Sara" Maltese.

The factory was located on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the Asch Building, at 23–29 Washington Place, near Washington Square Park. The 1901 building still stands today and is known as the Brown Building. It is part of and owned by New York University.

Because the doors to the stairwells and exits were locked (a then-common practice to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft), many of the workers who could not escape from the burning building jumped from the high windows. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire



62 people jumped or fell out windows to the street pavement below.

[area51]

1. PBS American Experience video on Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (about 1 hr)

[appalachiablue]

4. Very good film, thanks for posting.

[smirkymonkey]

2. This story has always haunted me.

I used to walk by this building when I lived in Greenwich Village and worked in Soho. For some reason, the story has always depressed and captivated me. Those poor young, immigrant girls who lost their lives because of the neglect of their greedy managers. It was so wrong. I am amazed that the factory owners got away with this. They should have been jailed for murder.

[appalachiablue]

3. The PBS Amer. Experience Video posted here is excellent

and here's a couple more articles. I was esp. curious about the owners, nothing bad happened, one later moved to CA.

After the disaster some work safety regulations were adopted, but what a loss. And earlier in 1909, many of the shirtwaist women had participated in a large strike in NY for better wages and work conditions. At the fire/accident scene some policemen remembered them from the strike.

The horrible sweatshop fire yesterday in India with DOORS LOCKED!! was an awful reminder of human oppression.

I worked at Lord & Taylor for a while, ugh. Inefficient, mean boss and I hated having to leave my purse at home and carry a tiny, clear plastic little 'purse,' like a doll accessory because they assumed we workers were thieves.

Many times I visited NYC, was in Soho and the Village and nobody ever mentioned the bldg. My brother's last place in the early 90s was close-- right near Greene St., Spring St., Dean & Deluca's in Soho. What a shame.

https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/what-became-of-the-triangle-factory-owners/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/shirtwaist-kings/

[smirkymonkey]

5. The thing that makes me so angry is that the owners and people who locked them

in that death trap were never held accountable. It was like the lives of these young, immigrant women didn't matter to the courts. One good thing did come out of it and that was better factory safety standards, but it was still to late for those who had perished.

I have a subscription to PBS, so I think I would like to watch the documentary. Thanks for suggesting it!

[appalachiablue]

6. Two years after the fire and their aquittal, the owners

locked the doors again at another factory- and were fined $20!