Effects Of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire occurred on March 25th, 1911 in New York City, and flabbergasted the citizens of the US by showing them the brutal consequences of the way that factory workers were being treated at the time. The triangle factory fire was the deadliest industrial disaster to have ever occurred in the city at the time that it happened. Located on the top three floors of the Asch building, the factory was one of the largest producers of the popular women’s shirtwaist blouse, and became a martyr for employee rights after 1911. Because of its location in what was considered to be one of the most progressive cities in the world and its adjacency to some of the most influential people in the country, the triangle shirtwaist factory

The factory produced the “shirtwaist”, a fashionable women's blouse that caught on quickly in the New York fashion scene, becoming highly demanded in the early 1900s. In order to keep up with the level of demand, owners Isaac Harris and Max Blanck disregarded what sparing legislature was in place to protect the workers in factories. The factories in New York after the Second Industrial Revolution primarily employed immigrants desperate for jobs to survive who were willing to work for lower wages in bad conditions. In the case of the textile factories, specifically the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, those employed were mainly women, many of whom were sending money back home to their families in other countries. The factory is infamous for the fire that took place there on March 25th, 1911, appropriately nicknamed “the triangle

The women would often work from eight a.m. until eleven p.m. during the winter,and during the summer from six or six thirty a.m. to midnight, occasionally stretching all night. “From this hour a hard life began for me. He refused to employ me except by the week. He paid me three dollars and for this he hurried me from early until late. He gave me only two coats at a time to do. When I took them over and as he handed me the new work he would say quickly and sharply, "Hurry!" And when he did not say it in words he looked at me and I seemed to hear even more plainly, "Hurry!" I hurried but he was never satisfied. By looks and manner he made me feel that I was not doing enough Late at night when the people would stand up and begin to fold their work away and I too would rise, feeling stiff in every limb and thinking with dread of our cold empty little room and the uncooked rice, he would come over with still another coat.” Contributing to the already back breaking work and awful conditions was the lack of sanitation. Extra bathroom breaks were often denied, forcing women to urinate on the floor. There was also poor ventilation in the factories, with factory doors being locked to prevent the stealing of goods. The working conditions, especially of women, in factories would later become a hot button issue for reform groups such as the Nation Women’s Trade Union