The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

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

Woman along with the children were affected while working during the industrial revolution. During 1834 and 1836 Harriet Martineau, a British feminist and abolitionist, visited America and enthusiastically embraced the social implications of the Industrial Revolution, (DTA, 223). Martineau compared the lifestyle of women to slaves and said the United States contradicted the principles of the Declaration of Independence. She did believe though with some progress that it could become New England’s new industrial order. One of the Mill factories Martineau visited, Waltham Mill, was a prime example of the scheduled lifestyle of women mill workers. Women Mill workers of all ages worked at Waltham Mill, which I compared to a boarding school because of their strict schedules. The ladies had a time to wake up, to be at work, to eat, and to go to school. A lot of women did not mind the harsh conditions they lived and worked in because they fought for their equality of rights for a long time now.

A fresh, personal, bottom-up approach to the women’s labor movement in the early 20th century

Von Drehle's description of the Tammany change is a real contribution to a much-mistreated chapter of American history. While the Triangle fire was a turning point for Tammany Hall, the movement for social and economic reform in the United States was well under way earlier. The first decades of the 20th century are commonly referred to as the Progressive Era. The author shows how the activist workers in the garment sweatshops of Manhattan were as vital to the progress of the period as the intellectuals who moved into Federal offices in Washington, D.C.

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.

     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.

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

Along with the multiple violent strikes that has been occurring the recent years, many women tried to join in the fight for equal rights. Their primary goal was to obtain better working conditions, get equal pay checks, and abolish child labor. One of the biggest participants was Mary Jones, as she supported the Great Strike back in 1877. She was even motivated to start her own union called the United Mine Workers of America. Despite threats and arrest, she continued to advocate women’s rights. However, events will then take a dark turn, causing major changes finally. In 1911, a whole bunch of women was working in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory where a fire suddenly sparked. Everyone tried to get out, but they were unable to as the only exit

Although immigrant women play a big role in America’s society and economy, they have been constantly mistreated and looked down upon throughout history. Not only do they face the burden of the stratifications that their gender entails but they also struggle to adopt the American culture and norms. America was viewed as the land of opportunities and economic prosperity, a perspective that draws in many immigrant women who were willing to leave their families and possessions to come to this foreign country in hopes of a better life. In America, they faced many challenges as they not only had to work long hours but also took care of their families and do housework as well. They struggled to make a standard living out of low wage jobs and assimilating into America’s society. Today, the treatment of immigrant women has improved greatly as they have stood together and fought for their rights. Immigrant women have built communities and held strikes for better pay and treatment. Although America has made great strides in improving treatment of immigrant women, there is still social injustice. Immigrant women have come a long way from the first time they entered America until now, but their stories are often left untold and omitted from American history.

The WTUL issued a declaration that called for women's suffrage and for the right of women to educational and employment opportunities. The Seneca Falls Convention was the beginning of the women’s rights movement, and it was among the first discussions on the topic that involved the active participation of men. The creation of the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) was formed in 1903. The league was known by its members, they drew together educated women and young women workers to improve factory wages, working conditions and hours. The WTUL initiated many strikes. At the beginning of the 20th century there was the “Rising of 20,000” ran by the shirtwaist workers in 1909-1910. There was also the strike of “ Bread and Roses” ran by the textile workers in Lawrence in 1912. The WTUL provided important assistance to the strikers. After about 1910, the WTUL focused on enacting protective legislation for women, and, increasingly, supported women’s suffrage as a means to achieve gains for working-class women. Rose Schneiderman, the renowned feminist and labor activist, became an important member of the WTUL because she was a recognized leader of American working women. She worked tirelessly trying to improve wages, hours, and safety standards for American working women. “The women worker needs bread, but

In the early twentieth century New York City was a hub of garment manufacturing. The majority of workers were poor, new immigrants who spoke little English and were desperate for money to keep themselves and their families afloat. At the time there were no safety laws, public policies, and very few unions to protect workers while on the job. It was a time when the market economy ruled unbridled without concern for the human condition or safety. In 1911 a fire broke out at the Triangle Factory building and no one notified the workers floors below. With one exit locked, no working fire escape, and no oversight 146 workers perished while onlookers watched helplessly as they lept to their death or burned inside the factory. While both the owners of the factory and employees may have helped in preventing or minimizing the disaster, the legacy of the Triangle Fire is that the fire could have been prevented or its effects minimized by the factory owners making specific changes.

Frances Perkins came from a wealthy family in Maine that lived a traditional Yankee lifestyle. From her mother, she learned at a young age to be stingy with money, Ernest, and brutally honest. In 1902, she attended Mount Holyoke College where she used her glibness to bearly get by. Frances suffered the most in Latin and Chemistry and was forced by her professors, Ester Van Dieman and Nellie Goldthwaite respectively, to excel in them. Instead of focusing on improving her strengths, Frances’ professors sought to improve her weaknesses; Especially her moral weaknesses. 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 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Having witnessed the tragedy first hand, and listening to the emotional speech of Russian immigrant, Rose Schneiderman, the representative of those that perished in the fire, Frances set out to change the laws of labor rights all over the country.

In the beginning of the women’s movement, there were people who supported and who rejected. Narrated by Weatherford, on the 14th of July, 1848, the first convention about women’s rights was held in New York. This convention was made by a simple announcement to discuss “the social, civil, and religious rights of women.” Moreover, the women’s movement was started by a few farm women. The movement had faced a lot of difficulties because of opposing males and females as well. Also, some women had gathered Sundays morning to write the documents to form the agenda for American women. It took them seven decades to turn down and set those agendas (Weatherford, 1998, p. 1-26). Seventy years just to write the agenda for American women was a journey that

Many females who live in the twenty first century now often take for granted of their rights and freedoms that permit them to pursue their own interests and desires. However, this starkly contrasts with how women were treated in the past due to their submissive, powerless position that prohibited them from being able to truly embrace their own identity. This is particularly illustrated with female immigrants into which constrictive gender roles created a constraint upon each person’s freedom, resulting in feelings of unhomeliness in a completely different environment. However, while some women decide to passively accept the strict boundaries that society has imposed upon them, others will rebel against this confinement and confront against

Throughout history there have been many movements in order to gain equal rights and equal pay for women. In 1903 the National Women’s Trade Union League was established to advocate for improved wages and working conditions, in 1920 the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor was formed in order to collect information about women in the workforce and in order to safeguard good working conditions for women, in 1961 improvements like fair hiring practices, paid maternity leave and affordable child care were recommended, and many more. Although women have achieved a great number of things there are still some problems in the workplace and at home. While women have been increasing their participation in the labor force they continue to be the