March 25, 2012, marks the 101st anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, a horrific fire that killed 146 workers, mostly young women, employed by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, New York City, New York.
I learned about the fire when I took my first Industrial and Labor Relations history class as a high school summer student at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR). If you’ve read my personal labor journal, you’ll recall that the ILR school at Cornell was really the only place I wanted to go to college. Once I studied labor history that hot summer, I was hooked.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory located on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the Asch Building, had only one fire escape, which collapsed during the fire. The factory owners locked doors so that the workers could not “steal” material. Large tables and machinery trapped workers. Panicked workers rushing to leave the building trampled other workers. Minimal water was available to put out fires. Fire ladders were too short to reach the workers on those high floors and safety netting was ineffective to safely catch workers.
The Triangle Factory fire intrigued me. All the elements drew me in – very young immigrant workers in NYC, many of them Jewish, working long days, locked into the factory by untrusting and greedy owners; the developing union movement and how the Triangle fire impacted union growth and safety rules. I’ve always felt a strong connection to this story, maybe because I remember hearing about my great aunt who worked in a sweat shop in NYC or because my grandfather and his brothers owned a blouse factory and business in NY.
In memory of the 100th anniversary of the fire, the ILR school created a fantastic website about the fire: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/. Department of Labor’s OSHA website also has some great info: http://www.osha.gov/oas/trianglefactoryfire.html.
Today, in looking at these websites to write my blog, I learned from OSHA’s website that the Triangle fire remained the most deadliest workplace tragedy in New York City’s history until the 9-11 World Trade Center attacks, 90 years later. The early labor unions and organizations and the subsequent laws governing labor worked to protect the American labor force.
Julie, thanks for continuing to remember this; these women and other workers essentially gave their lives so that we could have fair working conditions. American workers have much to thank labor unions for, and just imagine how many tragedies have been avoided by putting workers first.
ReplyDeleteGreat post mom! I love reading about the Triangle Factory Fire. I am amazed that it was the worst workplace tragedy until 9-11. That really says something about workplace safety. And even so, 9-11 wasn't anyone in the work place's fault.
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