ipl-logo

Triangle Fire

939 Words4 Pages

During the Progressive Era (1890’s - 1920’s) there were political reforms and social activism in the United States of America. These acts of social activism and political reformation were to fix issues in urban areas, fix issues in the garment industry, and to make a changes so tragedies (like the Triangle Fire) don’t happen again. The triangle fire serves as a microcosm for the progressive era because they both needed reformation but action was not taken until things became extreme. Right before the Progressive era, America was full of living condition issues, political leader problems, and issues among the people. A serious urban issue included “Laws regulating factories were worthless if not enforced, a truth horribly demonstrated a …show more content…

The fire raged to high in the building for the fire department’s ladders to reach it. With workroom doors illegally locked by the employers, the workers, mostly young women, were trapped.” This horrible event proved fatal when “Some fled the flames by throwing themselves out windows. Others burned. When it was over, 146 had died”. 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. And nobody was there anymore to push me up so I ran across the roof all the way to the Washington Place side where the university is and they pushed me up a step ladder and when I got to the top the step ladder, I looked down and saw 5 or 6 girls falling from the windows”. Knowing this horrible event was preventable, many wanted change, so many marched at the memorial parade and the American Federation of Labor was

Show More
Related
857 Words | 4 Pages

Some of the women bodies fell on top of the fire hoses, strangling the firefighter’s duty to fight the fire. When the firefighters tried to put the fire out, they

Read More
1468 Words | 6 Pages

The investigation involved thousands of factories across New York and eventually uncovered a serious need for reform. “They dealt with specific aspects of the Triangle fire, providing more stringent requirements for fire escapes and fire drills and stronger regulations against locked doors, blocked exits and aisles and the presence of combustible material (Argersinger p32).” The reform

Read More
451 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
526 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
579 Words | 3 Pages

There were overly crowded tenements, limited sanitary facilities, oppressive labor conditions, increased racial tension, and much more. Changes in transportation and improvements in technology influenced the geography of the city by expanding the use of railroads, invention of the automobile, trollies, and more which linked the city in roads and rails. What was Progressivism, and what groups in society tended to join in progressive reform movements? Progressivism was the response to the social and economic issues. Progressivism is basically the belief that the government can be used to address social inequalities, problems, and/or inequities that were facing the United States.

Read More
1377 Words | 6 Pages

Those on the ninth had no warning until the flames engulfed them. There was a telephone call up to the tenth floor that saved Blanck and Harris’s lives. Girls burnt, people fell and tumbled to their deaths. The scene was horrific.

Read More
1402 Words | 6 Pages

If there were ever a fire in a building, I would not want it on my conscience. Afterword, a suspicious fire did occur at the I-Hotel on March 13, 1969 which killed three tenants. Because of this, Shorenstein, reiterated his point of the building being “deteriorated and unlivable.” That the tenants wouldn’t have died if they’d evacuated the building sooner. However, this didn’t deter activists and the tenants.

Read More
996 Words | 4 Pages

Reforming the Government During the years 1890 to 1920, there was a group of people called the Progressives they identified many problems that they saw in the city at the time. The Progressives were a diverse group of people from every work of life for example: journalists, Democratic politicians, Republican politicians, industry leaders, and many more. They agreed to use scientific principles in order to identify problems, offer solutions, and then in a rational ways solve these problems. For example, a group of journalists who utilized the Progressive ideals were called, “ the Muckrakers,” which helped spread knowledge about political and social problems. The Progressive’s believed society had these problems because of industrialization and organization, however, that is not completely correct.

Read More
265 Words | 2 Pages

Chapter 18 entitled The Progressive Era starts by recounting the fire that broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company which resulted in the death in a number of immigrant workers who were trying to make an honest living. These workers were locked in to deter them from leaving early and insure that productivity stayed at a certain level. Unfortuately due to unforeseen events many people died but their loss of life ensured that this practice would never happen again and it also resulted in building codes and why the regulation of the industry. This fire wasn't even the worst one in history the General Slocum resulted in more deaths years prior but I guess the old saying rings true its better late than never reguarding building and fire codes.

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

In April 2013, Matthew Yglesias, an American Economics Journalist proposed the people of Bangladesh would not appreciate having stronger safety standards in their country because it would cause undue harm economically. He asserts Bangladesh should have different lower standards for safety because they are a poorer country. Most of the people involved in the New York tragedy of 1911 also known as the Triangle Fire, would not agree with Matthew Yglesias on his assertion that lower economic status would be an indication of lower safety standards in factories. Namely, the workers, the union leaders, the progressive reformers and the political leaders would all vote for higher standards commiserate with the United States. The only ones who would not argue with Yglesias are the owners of the Triangle Factory with their vested interest, their own problems of multiple fires and accusations of safety neglect.

Read More
255 Words | 2 Pages

The popularity of the Progressive movement in the early 1900's was due to several social and cultural changes in the United States. In the wake of chaotic reorganizations of the country after industrialization and urbanization, as well as the influences of earlier ideological movements such as Populism and Pragmatism, the Progressives sought to bring order and progress to society through central planning, social reform, and even social control. The intellectuals were understood to have the best interests of the people in mind, and therefore had the responsibility to intervene in society through the means of the state. These areas of intervention included sanitation, inculcation of certain moral and behavioral habits, environmental conservation,

Read More
968 Words | 4 Pages

The Beverly Hills Supper Club fire had a profound impact on the families of the victims, the community, and the country as a whole. The loss of 165 lives was a tragedy that left a lasting impression on everyone who was affected by it. The families of the victims were left to cope with the devastating loss of their loved ones, while the community struggled to come to terms with the fact that such a tragedy could occur in their own backyard. However, the tragedy at the Beverly Hills Supper Club also led to positive changes in the way that we approach fire and life safety.

Read More
221 Words | 1 Pages

Some ways they died was from jumping out of windows or had trouble with doors and burned to death. The people that jump probably thought they had a better chance of surviving. The doors were locked to protect the employee’s belongings, which interfered with them escaping the fire through a door. Another reason is all the doors open inwards that

Read More
494 Words | 2 Pages

The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of time during the 1890’s-1920’s where a huge wave of immigrants arrived to this country. As a result,there was a rapid growth in urbanization and industrialization in America. Soon,landlords created tenement slum with unhealthy sanitary conditions. Meanwhile,big industries are taking advantage and monopolizing America’s finances. It wasn’t until Ida Tarbell exposed a big oil company’s unfair business practices.

Read More
779 Words | 4 Pages

The Grenfell Tower fire tragedy is presumed to have claimed 79 lives. Initially, the local council authorities were blamed for approving the construction of substandard high-rise buildings that threatened public safety (Scott p.1). On the contrary, it appears most of these assumptions were flawed, since additional revelations were exposed. For example, construction experts blamed the rapid spread of the fire on the of the 1967 archaic design standards. In addition, the failure was attributed to the external cladding that had been installed in the £10 m refurbishment.

Read More

More about Triangle Fire

Open Document