Essay

“The ‘Triangle’ company, “With blood this name will be written in the history of the American workers’ movement, and with feeling will this history recall the names of the strikers of this shop- of the crusaders” (Von Drehle 86). Even before it happen, the Forward predicted the terrible disaster of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory that occurred one year, one month, and seventeen days later (86). Triangle: The Fire that Changed America, by David Von Drehle tells the story of the horrible fire.

The 146 deaths caused by the Triangle fire were not looked over. This fire is said to be one that changed America because that is exactly what it did. The work done the following year created a series of new laws in the 1913 legislation that was “unmatched to that time in American history.” (Von Drehle 215) The Tammany Twins, Robert Wagner in Senate and Al Smith in the Assembly, completely recast the labor law of the nation’s largest state by pushing through twenty-five bills. Laws such as mandatory fire drills in large shops, unlocked doors that swing outwards, and automatic sprinklers in high rise buildings, were enforced by the Factory Commissions push through of a “complete reorganization of the state Department of Labor.” (Von Drehle 215)

This was done as a security precaution to ensure none of the workers were stealing scraps of fabric or shirtwaists (Class Lecture: Progressive Era). Additionally, the workers’ privacy was invaded daily when their purses and bags were searched to prevent thievery. The workers felt as if they were being “searched like thieves” by the Blanck and Harris (Argersinger 11). Subsequently, mistreatment continued as the workers would often get stabbed by the needle of the sew machines, causing severe bleeding and in some cases the loss of a finger, all while the workers were expected to keep sewing (Argersinger 54). Furthermore, Clara Lemlich, a Jewish Russian immigrant, recalled that the bosses would “swear at [them] and sometimes do worse- they [would] call [them] names that are not pretty to hear” (Argersinger 57). These poor working conditions seemed to never end, and day after day workers would dread coming into work.

However, after the deadly fire, which was not related to the strike, things changed. Without anywhere else to lay the blame, the D.A. and newspapers at the time began placing blame on the factory owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris. Drehle points out that the D.A. of the time Charles Whitman, “was no longer focused on improving factory safety laws. His priority was to indict Isaac Harris and Max Blanck on charges of manslaughter (pg. 188).” They were tried and acquitted, but their trial showed that management was becoming less powerful than it had been. In the past management mistreated workers with impunity, but the public outcry after the Triangle fire changed that. The incident showed that now owners could be held accountable for any harm that might come to their workers as a result of their negligence. Tammany Hall, and Murphy himself, faced their own difficulties brought about by the fire. Having just lost the election for mayor of New York City, Murphy realized his power, and that of Tammany Hall, was waning. William Randolph Hearst was very outspoken against Tammany Hall, workers feared its power less and less, and the new wave of immigrants coming into the US had no respect for its influence. Murphy realized that he had to win over the workers and progressives if he wanted to keep power. “The Triangle fire struck directly at those people who Tammany needed most (pg. 211).” Realizing that he needed the growing influence of

On the afternoon of March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in the 10-floor Asch Building, a block east of Manhattan's Washington Square. This is where 500 mostly young immigrant girls were producing shirts for the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Within minutes, it spread to consume the building's upper three stories. Firemen at the scene were unable to rescue those trapped inside: their ladders weren't tall enough. Exits were locked, and the narrow fire escapes were inadequate. Panicked, many jumped from the windows to their deaths. People on the street watched in horror. The flames were under control in less than a half hour, but 146 people perished, 123 of them women. It was the worst disaster in the city's history.

On October 15, 1910 the factory has a mandatory fire inspection and they pass. A month later, a fire in Newark kills twenty-five workers. This stimulates fire prevention efforts in buildings but again, this warning is ignored. January 15, 1911 is the last time prior to the fire that garbage is taken from the factory. On March 16, another report warning of improper safety standards in New York buildings is published. However, like previous warnings, it is again ignored. Nine days later, at 4:45 PM, just before workers would be released, a fire breaks out on the eighth floor. This fire will take the lives of a 146 unfortunate victims. Most of these victims are those of young woman. Six minutes later, the New York Fire Department (NYFD) arrives on site. By this time, the fire is spreading up to the ninth and tenth floors, which also belong to the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. Those on the eighth floor quickly head down and those on the tenth floor flee to the roof. However, most workers who were on the ninth floor are stranded, unable to move up or down. By 4:47 PM, the last of the bodies from the ninth floor land on the sidewalk, falling from the ninth floor ledge. It is not until 5:05 PM, that the fire is finally taken under control and ten minutes later is described as “all over.” (Stein. Triangle Fire) NYFD fighters head to all the top floors of the building finding many severely burned bodies. Mobs of

Rose Freedman was the last survivor from the Triangle Factory Fire. Rose Freedman was born on March 27, 1893, in a small town north of Vienna. Her family ran a profitable business importing and exporting dried foods. After her father visited New York and fell in love with it, the family began spending more time in the United States. She was given the job of operating a large machine to attach buttons to the blouses, at the factory.

On March 25, 1911 in the New York City’s West village 146 people mainly young women immigrants of Italian and Jewish background perished. The women, some just teenagers would work long hours in the factory sewing shirtwaist high necked cottons blouses which were the fashion staple of the time for young women. The owners of the Triangle Shirt waist factory would lock the doors while the women worked, said to prevent “theft” and the visit of union reps to the location. What lead to the fire was the unsanitary factory floor. This was the exact reason to why before the actual fire, 400 of the factories employees went on strike. During this strike the women fought for better wages and safer working conditions. Unfortunately they only won some of their concessions on pay, but little was actually done by the factories owner who continued to keep the workplace in shambles. As well as the doors still locked.

The patrolman put spurs to his horse. Dr. Winterbottom saw people in the park running toward Washington Place. A few seconds later he dashed down the stoop carrying his black medical bag and cut across the Square toward Washington Place. Dominick Cardiane, pushing a wheelbarrow, had stopped for a moment in front of the doors of the Asch building freight elevator in the middle of the Greene Street block. He heard a sound "like a big puff," followed at once by the noise of crashing glass. Reporter Shepherd, about to cross from the park into Washington Place, also heard the sound. He saw smoke issuing from an eighth-floor window of the Asch building and began to

On March 25, 1911 the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory caught fire. There is a couple of reasons why the factory caught fire like for instance, there where no strict fire prevention law and businesses were corrupted for example, the owners Blanck and Harris are know to have torched their business before workplace hours in order to collect on their fire insurance policies, this was a common practice in the early 20s, History.com staff (2009) Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire http://www.history.com/topics/triangle-shirtwaist-fire, at the time making it easy for company and corruptions to get away hazardous workplaces environments. With no automatic sprinkler installed, 10 story tall building not being fire resistant and many other fire hazards it was

Clotilde Terranova was one of the 146 victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was a fire on the top three floors of the Asch Building in Brooklyn, New York. No one knows the real cause of the fire. Most believe it started when someone tossed a burning cigarette bud into the scrap bin on the eighth floor. The building itself was fireproof, but there was so many flammable things inside the building that caused the fire to spread so rapidly. Terranova was on the tenth floor during the fire. She was the only death among the approximately seventy workers on the tenth floor.

Fire! Fire! Fire! Only it took 18 minutes to destroy 146 lives. A normal day that soon was about to become the deadliest in one’s life, it went through the top floors in the blink of an eye. The lives lost in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire were tremendously tragic, but worth it because they changed America by bringing up many laws that will impact the wages gained and working conditions that would later prevent this from happening again.

They do not not care, but simply are unable to relate to it. However, the girls who were killed in the fire have many similarities with teenagers today. Anna Altman was only 16 when her life was taken from her. She moved to the United States from Russia and was only working in the factories to make a better life for herself and for her family. Josephine Cammarata was a 17 year old Catholic girl who had lived in the United States for only 2 years. Josephine was supposed to be married the following Sunday to the love of her life, but their love was stolen prematurely. Jennie Franco was born in America exactly 16 years before the fire. She was killed on her 16th birthday. Provindenza Panno was the oldest worker in the factory at age 43. She moved to the U.S. 6 years before her death and left behind a husband and two

The Triangle tragedy opened many people’s eyes. The realities of a disaster happening anywhere, at anytime, were real and people needed to prepare. Many investigations were launched surrounding the Triangle fire. Commissions formed that later gave out rulings and findings. Even the Ladies Garment Workers Union became involved, trying to get standards and codes passed that would ensure the safety of workers in the workplace.

Workers had simple demands, such as a 52-hour workweek, a 20% pay raise, and the right to organize (von Drehle, 59). The strikers dealt with many problems, such as fierce strikebreakers, and when brought to the attention of the police, strikers tended to be the ones arrested (von Drehle, 64). This strike brought the support of many wealthy people including Anne Morgan (Von Drehle, 71), Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont (Von Drehle, 66), just to name a few, who helped bring attention to the strikers cause. This helped in bringing attention, but was not enough to keep the strike going and formally ended in winter 1909. The strike did not lead to very many gains, and it would take the death of 146 workers (Von Drehle, 265) for any actual change to be brought about. The biggest benefit to labor that came out of the fire was the Factory Investigating Commission, which was born officially in June 1911 (Von Drehle, 212). The commission had virtual self-governance, and had investigators that would personally check the conditions of New York factories (Von Drehle, 213). The commission had a small set of cities it investigated, but was later expanded throughout the state of New York (Von Drehle, 214). The commission was the product of Wagner and Smith, the so-called “Tammany Twins”, and also brought in Frances Perkins, who would later become the Secretary of Labor