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Summary Of Triangle The Fire That Changed America

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David Von Drehle is the author behind the book, “Triangle: The Fire That Changed America”. This book is about the facts, stories, and trial of what occurred on March 25, 1911 at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. This fire was the worst workplace disaster in New York history until 9/11. The fire that took place left workers of that factory and many others with the goal to change the working conditions and fundamental reforms. Drehle has always known his future involved writing. He worked and still works for the Washington Post and has previously co-written a book with them, along with his own novels. After researching the fire, Drehle was inspired to write this book to bring back to life what people had forgotten about in the past years, and to “settle on the facts and their meaning” of what happened that day (Drehle, 2004, 5). …show more content…

Frances Perkins was a political activist who was involved with the proposing of new labor laws after the fire. She worked hard with others like, the Tammany Twins and Al Smith to make a difference in the factories. After years of working together and proposing laws, they passed fifteen covering fire safety, employment rules, and factory inspections. In 1913 “the Tammany Twins pushed through twenty-five bills” which completely reshaped the labor laws (Drehle, 2004, 215). The new laws and regulations demanded better building access, alarm systems, automatic sprinklers, and unlocked doors. They also had better eating and toilet facilities and lowered the number of working hours for women and children. These laws made working conditions safer for everyone for years to

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The labor and women’s movements challenged the nineteenth century meanings of American Freedom. The tragedy received widespread attention to dangerous conditions of the factories

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The book Uprising is about three young girls in 1910,1911 New York City. An Italian immigrant, Bella. A Russian immigrant, Yetta. And a rich American, Jane. All three girls experience the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in 1911.

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Another result of the Triangle Factory fire that resulted in change in the American workplace was the attempts of labor unions and strikes. Prior to the fire, in 1909, one of the more notable strikes dubbed the "Uprising of 20,000" was organized primarily by female immigrant garment workers because of the awful conditions, long hours, and low wages they were made to work in due to the lack of options available to them (Pool, 2012). The primary challenge was to get attention paid to the mistreatment of immigrant workers. While there were short term agreements for their demands, the strike ultimately failed, however where it did succeed was exposing poor working conditions and stirring a debate about what counted as public and private (Pool,

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Frances Perkins, a survivor from the Shirtwaist Factory Fire quotes “Moved by this sense of stricken guilt, we banded ourselves together to find a way by law to prevent this kind of disaster.” Frances Perkins became secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and this quote said by Perkins “something must be done. We’ve got to turn this into some kind of victory, some kind of constructive action,” helped new workplace safety standards into law in the state of New York. The benefits that I would like the audience to see is how workplace safety is important by learning about the history of regulation, OSHA, and workers compensation.

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Shoaib Sheikh HIST 1312, Zimmer 9/29/2015 "Preventable Fires" A little over a hundred years ago, America suffered one of the most deadliest industrial accidents in the country's history. On March 25th, 1911, a fire ignited by a cigarette began on the eight floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. The fire spread to the entire building and eventually resulted in the death of 146 shirtwaist workers (mostly girls.) This tragedy exposed the horrible conditions in which these workers were forced to work and the disregard of the safety of the workers by the factory owners.

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Could the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory have been prevented? I am not going to answer that question just yet. Without assessing all of the information to prevent the making of unfounded accusations. First things first you may be asking yourself what a Triangle Shirtwaist is. A triangle shirtwaist is a type of blouse that many women wore in the early 1900's.

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The Fire That Changed America is a historical monograph discusses the rise of labor reforms along with the Progressive Movement throughout the state of New York during the early 1900’s, and pushes forward the argument that the fire which decimated the Triangle Waist Company was vital to the entrance of laws advocated by unions that protect the safety of workers. Drehle himself is a journalist, a former editor of Time Magazine, and a frequent visitor of American History in most of his works. The fire at Triangle was a devastating tragedy, but its sheer scale caused incredibly welcoming effects on the common workplace. Before the fire, labor unions that belonged to the progressive movement were only able to secure “a pay raise, [and] a fifty-two hour work week” for a pitifully limited number of workers, as the

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The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was a devastating fire that killed 146 girls in New York City (Leap for Life, Leap for Death). At this time, citizens of New York were furious and demanded that the government do something to prevent future tragedies. The government responded and the reforms that the government made, it changed the future of New York industry. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, one of history’s deadliest fires, came as a result of outrageously unsafe working conditions, led to a high death toll and injury total, but, ultimately resulted in reforms that helped safeguard future factory workers.

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The books Violence in the West and The Triangle Fire cultivate around three events: the Johnson County War, the Ludlow Massacre, and the Triangle Fire. The names of these events gives way to how the public interpreted them; the Johnson County War implies that both sides engaged in fighting and stood a chance, the Ludlow Massacre implies strong violence against a defenseless group, and the Triangle Fire, nicknamed the “Gotham Holocaust” by the Chicago Sunday Tribune, implies a group that did not stand a chance against a strong force of nature. Why was the Johnson County War viewed as an equal sided fight, while the Ludlow Massacre and Triangle Fire viewed as national tragedies that needed remedying? The latter two events largely dealt with the

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Frances became the first women to serve in the Cabinet and with this appointment ship came many changes for the good (Berg, "Labor Hall of Fame: Frances Perkins and the flowering of economic and social policies. ," n.d.). She became the Secretary of Labor and directed Federal aid to the States for unemployment relief, public works projects, maximum hours of work, minimum wages, child labor laws, unemployment insurance, social security, and a revitalized public employment service (BLUMBERG). She also brought about insurance for the people and later on she also helped produce the Social Security program in response to the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire (Berg, "Labor Hall of Fame: Frances Perkins and the flowering of economic and social policies. ," n.d.).

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The emergency response was ineffective because “Others waited at the windows for the rescue workers only to discover that the firefighters' ladders were several stories too short and the water from the hoses could not reach the top floors”. Because of the poorly enforced law of doors must be unlocked in the workplace, many died. Americans knew this carelessness should never happen again; therefore, people wanted change. During the trial of the Triangle Fire a witness Samuel Bernstein said, “I was the last one there and I seen the flames was coming up through the roof on the Greene St. and uptown side.

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The detrimental Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire is considered to be one of the most tragic disasters in history. On March 25th, 1911, a fire broke out and killed 146 garment workers who were mostly women. These women worked countless hours with low wages and inhumane working conditions in a factory. Even though this event was tragic, the triangle shirtwaist fire helped to shape the new world for the better. The multitude of workers trapped within the inferno to their demise was the final straw for the mistreatment of America’s workers.

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Other domestic reforms, was child labor laws, an eight-hour workday, and financial assistance to farmers

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Gilded means to be covered with gold and it is exactly why it is used to describe the United States from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. The Gilded age shaped The United States into a new world. With the growth of industries, growth of cities, and new technology, the United States way of life completely shifted. However, under all the amazing shining gold was a thick layer of dirt and harsh reality from the Gilded Age. Although this age was filled with many improvements, it was also filled with massive poverty, unequal wealth and political corruption.

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Although a bit creepy, this brief glimpse into history has educated me on a couple things. Wilson’s Raid and the things people endured following the American Civil War were all eye openers to me. Although briefly spoken about, I believe the most significant piece of this story is Wilson’s Raid, the first time the courthouse was burned down. Watching helplessly, there was nothing they could do about it at the time. Even the small band of confederates formed to intercept Wilson’s army proved to be unsuccessful.

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