What was the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire?
More than an industrial disaster story, the narrative of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire has become a touchstone, and often a critique, of capitalism in the United States. Labor leader Rose Schneiderman moved the public across class lines with a dramatic speech following the fire.
When was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory acquitted?
Charged with manslaughter, the owners were acquitted in December 1911. A Smithsonian curator reexamines the labor and business practices of the era. In 1911, demonstrators protested following the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City.
What were workers asking for at the time?
In the early 1900s, workers, banding together in unions to gain bargaining power with the owners, struggled to create lasting organizations. Most of the garment workers were impoverished immigrants barely scraping by. Putting food on the table and sending money to families in their home countries took precedence over paying union dues. Harder yet, the police and politicians sided with owners and were more likely to jail strikers than help them.
What laws were in place to prevent tragedies like the Triangle Fire?
The Triangle factory fire was truly horrific, but few laws and regulations were actually broken. Blanck and Harris were accused of locking the secondary exits (in order to stop employee theft), and were tried for manslaughter. Outdated building codes in New York City and minimal inspections allowed business owners to use high-rise buildings in new and sometimes unsafe ways.
What became of the owners Isaac Harris and Max Blanck?
The garment industry, with its low economic bar to entry, attracted many immigrant entrepreneurs. Competition was, and continues to be, intense. Blanck and Harris were both recent immigrants arriving in the United States around 1890, who established small shops and clawed their way to the top to be recognized as industry leaders by 1911. What set them apart from their exploited employees lays bare the grander questions of American capitalism.
What is sweatshop in New York?
An 1895 definition described a sweatshop operator as an “employer who underpays and overworks his employees, especially a contractor for piecework in the tailoring trade.”. This work often took place in small, dank tenement apartments.
How many people died in the Triangle shirtwaist factory?
One of the most horrific tragedies in American manufacturing history occurred in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911 when a ferocious fire spread with lightning speed through a New York City garment shop, resulting in the deaths of 146 people and injuring many more.
Why were the doors locked in the Washington Place elevator?
Although the floor had a number of exits, including two freight elevators, a fire escape, and stairways down to Greene Street and Washington Place, flames prevented workers from descending the Greene Street stairway, and the door to the Washington Place stairway was locked to prevent theft by the workers; the locked doors allowed managers to check the women's purses. Various historians have also ascribed the exit doors being locked to management's wanting to keep out union organizers due to management's anti-union bias. The foreman who held the stairway door key had already escaped by another route. Dozens of employees escaped the fire by going up the Greene Street stairway to the roof. Other survivors were able to jam themselves into the elevators while they continued to operate.
Why did the sweatshops get locked?
Because the doors to the stairwells and exits were locked – a common practice at the time to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft – many of the workers could not escape from the burning building and jumped from the high windows. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers.
What was the name of the factory fire that killed 146 garment workers?
Non-fatal injuries. 78. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in U.S. history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers – 123 women and girls ...
Where is Triangle Waist Company located?
The Triangle Waist Company factory occupied the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the 10-story Asch Building on the northwest corner of Greene Street and Washington Place, just east of Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City . Under the ownership of Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, the factory produced women's blouses, known as " shirtwaists ". The factory normally employed about 500 workers, mostly young Italian and Jewish immigrant women and girls, who worked nine hours a day on weekdays plus seven hours on Saturdays, earning for their 52 hours of work between $7 and $12 a week, the equivalent of $191 to $327 a week in 2018 currency, or $3.67 to $6.29 per hour.
What is the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition?
For this commemorative act, the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition organized hundreds of churches, schools, fire houses, and private individuals in the New York City region and across the nation. The Coalition maintains on its website a national map denoting each of the bells that rang that afternoon.
What happened on March 25, 1911?
on Saturday, March 25, 1911, as the workday was ending, a fire flared up in a scrap bin under one of the cutter's tables at the northeast corner of the 8th floor. The first fire alarm was sent at 4:45 p.m. by a passerby on Washington Place who saw smoke coming from the 8th floor.
What did the fire in the factory do?
The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers . The building has been designated a National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark.
Where was the shirtwaist factory?
Shirtwaist Factory in New York City , March 25, 1911. The factory itself was dangerous. Managers refused to install any sprinkler systems, fire alarms or other safety measures. The factory had multiple floors but only one working elevator, reachable only by a long narrow hallway.
Why were the two stairways locked?
Of the two stairways, one was locked during shifts to prevent stealing, while the door to the other only opened inward. The single fire escape was so narrow that it was nearly impossible to navigate. Local government corruption meant they wouldn’t be caught for these safety hazards.
What was the most well known workplace tragedy?
One of the most well known workplace tragedies is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. In 1911 New York, sweatshops were common. Workers—often children and teens who recently immigrated to America—put in 12-hour days for low wages. Nearly all of the workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory were young girls, mostly Italian and Jewish immigrants.
What happened to the elevator in the factory?
On March 25, 1911, a small fire started in a rag bin on the 8th floor. A manager went to put it out with the fire hose, only to find the hose was rotten and its valve rusted shut. As the fire grew, panic spread throughout the 600 workers in the factory. The elevator could only hold 12 people at a time and only made 4 trips before it broke down. Some girls, left waiting for the elevator and desperate to escape, jumped into the empty shaft to their deaths. Those who tried to escape down the stairs found the doors locked. Many were burned alive attempting to break them down.
How did the Industrial Revolution change work?
The Industrial Revolution changed work forever; better quality products were made faster , for less money . Efficiency was the goal, businesses and government had little incentive to protect workers, until tragedy struck. One of the most well known workplace tragedies is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
How many people could the elevator hold?
The elevator could only hold 12 people at a time and only made 4 trips before it broke down. Some girls, left waiting for the elevator and desperate to escape, jumped into the empty shaft to their deaths. Those who tried to escape down the stairs found the doors locked.
What floor did the fire escape from?
Attempting to rescue the workers, firefighters brought out their ladders but they only reached the 7th floor—one floor below where the fire began.
