The Triangle Factory Fire : The Effects Of The Triangle Factory Fire

Did you know fire extinguishers were made in the 1818’s? So why did the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory not come with any? The owners and building constructors were not very prepared with all the safety regulations. This is because all the workers were in danger every day they worked. Not all of them could have gotten out of the building in case of an emergency. In the text Flesh and Blood So Cheap by Albert Marrin, there is many explicit and implicit evidence. This evidence proves there was a lack of safety standards that led to the Triangle fire tragedy.

The Triangle was undoubtedly one of the most tragic events in the worlds history. The not only is the fire a horrifying event, but the factory had no safety precautions and didn’t have any emergency exits and kept doors locked. Not only did this strike sorrow on the community, but it awakened people to realize that workplace safety is a serious thing and needs to be practiced.

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

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)

A year after shirtwaist workers thought they had won a war, the Triangle Fire proved that it had merely been a battle. Under the Triangle Shirtwaist Company owners, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, the men and women laboring to sew waist skirts were dissatisfied with their terrible working conditions and low wages. While working, the garment workers, made up of mostly poor Italian and Jewish women immigrants, would constantly be yelled at and called sexist slurs by bosses, and forced to work long, tiring hours for little pay (Argersinger 11). Tired of these conditions, the workers of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York met in secret to form a union against the company in September 1909 (Argersinger 11). The union of the garment workers

Throughout history, women have faced with a plethora of challenges that called for them to transcend society’s limitations. One of these situations was the challenges presented by the terrible living and factory conditions in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire took the lives of 146 immigrant women and devastated New York; and due to the theft-preventative measures of locking the doors to the factory, owner, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck led to even more lives being lost. This situation, although terrible, was not that uncommon. As these immigrant women arrived in the United States, there would be a typical and similar experience among many; one that started with the problems offered upon arrival,

Thesis = Even though the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was a horrible event and killed a lot of people, it helped the United States improve their factory working conditions and helped strengthen the woman's work unions.

After reading the novel Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix and watching the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire 1911 documentary it became apparent that there were several similarities between the two, however, there are also many differences. Haddix wrote Uprising from the perspective of three young girls over the period of a few years leading up to the fire; while the documentary simply covered the indecent of the fire and used first hand accounts of civilians that were around the building during the event. Although Uprising and the documentary on the fire may tell it a little differently, both tell the history of one of the worst disasters in New York’s history.

March 25th, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory burned leaving 145 workers dead. Negated safety rules and regulations and the overall working conditions in the factory where illegal manual workers were paid close to nothing for working very long hours, were a known concern that was just looked over by the business managers in this “Sweatshop.” Fires, leading up to this tragedy, were looked passed on the count of government officials and business managers’ corrupt ways of running things. The owners of the factory, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were known for causing fires in factories they have previously owned such as two Diamond Waist Company factory fires in 1907 and 1910, and the Triangle Shirtwaist Company’s fire in 1902. They were doing so to collect insurance money and everyone looked the other way.

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

     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 book is about a person who put a cigarette in the trash when it was still burning and it caught the whole building on fire. This building was called Triangle Factory Fire. Also 146 people died. They died because they couldn't get out of the building. Aslo they jump out the window. The owner locked the door because of people being late. Also the owner didn't want the late people to get in the building.

Frances Perkins came from a wealthy family in Maine. From her mother, she inherited the propensity to be stingy with money, earnest, and brutally honest. In 1902, she attended Mount Holyoke College, where she used her glibness to barely get by. Instead of focusing on improving her strengths, Frances’ professors sought to improve her weaknesses; Especially her moral ones. This was done with the idea in mind that if she were to overcome her shortcomings, she would be able to conquer anything life threw at her. After graduation, Frances struggled to find something meaningful to do with her life; That is the tragedy of The

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.