Essay On Triangle Fire

     The fire spread from the O’Learys’ barn to the yards nearby. Soon it was spreading throughout the neighborhood. William Lee, a neighbor a block away, saw the fire and ran to Bruno Goll’s drugstore to turn in the fire alarm. Bruno Goll refused to turn in the alarm because he said the fire truck had already gone past. So instead of arguing, Lee went home to his family. At the courthouse the lookout on duty saw smoke, but thought nothing of it, thinking it was just Saturday's fire and there was no reason to be alarmed. Then he looked up and noticed it was a different fire and had his assistant strike the Box 342 for the fire department. Soon fire trucks were at the scene and attempted to put out the fire. The fire department’s Chief Marshal, Robert A. Williams got the engines to circle the fire to contain it. They got as close to the fire as they could until their arm hair was being burned and their

Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle gives readers a look into one of the most significant tragedies to take place in the United States. Before writing this book, Von Drehle was an American journalist working with The Denver Post, Miami Herald, Washington Post, and Time. Von Drehle is a very accomplished writer as he has won several awards those which recognize his excellence in young journalism, among these are, the Livingston award and the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award. Triangle was written with amazing descriptions that transport you to the day in 1911 where the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire took place. The book gives its audience a chance to experience what not only that horrific day was like, but what most days were like for factory workers. Von Drehle believes that “the fire was a crucial moment in American history that forced fundamental reforms from the political machinery of New York and the whole nation.” (Von Drehle 3)

On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company which sparked the beginning of The Progressive Era in United States politics. However, there were events before the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and after the fire that showcased Progressivism in action. The formation of labor unions and women seeking a change in their lifestyles defined the beginning of a Progressive movement while reforms in worker’s rights and protections and women’s suffrage highlighted the outcome of the tragedy.

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.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire not only affected the city of New York, but also the rest of the country. It forever changed the way our country would look at safety regulations in factories and buildings. The fire proved to America what can and will happen if we over-look safety regulations and over-crowd buildings. Unfortunately, 146 lives are taken before we fully understand this concept.

These are the survivors thoughts on the Triangle Factory Fire. There was over 100 survivors but I choose two of the most important people who lived from the fire and I am sharing their thoughts.

     Near closing time on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 1911, in New York City a fire broke out on the top floors of the Asch Building in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. One of the worst tragedies in American history it was know as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. It was a disaster that took the lives of 146 young immigrant workers. A fire that broke out in a cramped sweatshop that trapped many inside and killed 146 people.

The crew was not prepared for the fire when it suddenly arrived. A wave of fire, heat, and smoke over took them by surprise, Eight of the crew deployed their shelters on the road and the two civilians took shelter with one of the crew members. The squad boss was high above the road in the rock scree watching the fire. He ran down towards the road but couldn’t get there before the fire arrived, He turned around and ran back up the slope were the other four crew members and the crew boss was.

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.

There was no sprinkler system inside this building but could have stopped the fire within a minute or seconds after the system turned on. This is another way that the fire could have been easily stopped before it turned into the massive tragedy that has been talked about as one of the deadliest catastrophes in New York City before 911. The New York Fire Department did everything they could to help extinguish the fire, but their ladders only went to the 6th floor, and the fire hoses didn’t reach past the 7th floor. This department had the most advanced equipment in the country and still wasn’t enough technology to save these women from burning to death. Some women chose to jump 80 feet to their death to avoid being burned to death, which is no way to die. “Within 18 minutes, it was all over. Forty-nine workers had burned to death or been suffocated by smoke, 36 were dead in the elevator shaft and 58 died from jumping to the sidewalks. With two more dying later from their injuries, a total of 145 people was killed by the fire. The workers union set up a march on April 5 on New York’s Fifth Avenue to protest the conditions that had led to the fire; it was attended by 80,000 people.” (History.com Staff, "Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire,"

During this investigation, I will be analyzing the aftermath of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that occured in New York City on March 25, 1911. I will specifically be addressing the question, “To what extent did the Triangle Factory Fire of 1911 help give workers the reforms that they had already been demanding?”

On March 25, 1911, at an New York City sweatshop, a deadly fire took many lives. For some of those workers it was their last workshift they worked. Many whom were young immigrants. It's was about 4:45 PM , almost time for the workers to go home after a hard long day of being in a hot, cramped, and a very poor condition workroom. They made mostly women’s shirtwaists which was very popular at the time.

We study, in the last section of the book, while everyone was still out for blood; the proprietors of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory were tried for one of the deaths when the fire took place. The trial period and evidence was all over the place and were seen as innocent people. Still, the rest of the workers of New York really earned the benefits of the changes that the fire started. Stronger unions and stronger rules protecting buildings, owners, & finally the workers won.