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Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Analysis

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The Fire That Sparked Change The Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire of March 25, 1911 is a day that will forever stand out in the heart of communities, families, American factory workers and employees alike. Not only did it needlessly take the lives of 144 people, mostly young women, ages 16-23, and a few men, but it called into light the dangers of poorly constructed buildings, overcrowded work spaces, and dangerous work environments. Historians, teachers, and journalists have poured over trial transcripts, newspaper articles, commission reports, and first hand accounts from either victims or analysis of what was left behind, on that fateful day knowing full well the far reaching grasp of that event. Whether first hand accounts as told by the “Commission” in the “Preliminary Report of the New York Factory Investigating Commission” (1912), recounts of information supplied to the newspapers as in the story published by the New York Times (1911), titled “141 Men and Girls Die in Waist Factory Fire, stories that covered how journalists reported on the story, Elizabeth V Burt’s (2005) “Working Women and the Triangle Fire: Press Coverage of a Tragedy or Doug Linder’s “The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial” each account has not only helped to bring reality to the existence and subsequent deaths of each and everyone of those individuals who lost their lives that fateful day, but also to the need and responsibility for the community and government alike to ensure for safer workplace regulations and stronger building codes. …show more content…

For many of these women, this wasn’t a choice, but a necessity. The factories were often dangerous and rot with sexual abuse and utter disrespect for the workers, who were forced to work in unsafe work environments, in buildings and surroundings that were equally as unsafe (Burt, 2005, p.

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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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Constance Bowman Reid presents several captivating observations and narratives about being a woman working in a World War II bomber factory in her memoir Slacks & Calluses. Reid and her friend and fellow teacher Clara Marie, referred to as C.M., decided to spend their summer vacation assisting the allied war effort by working the swing shift at a local aircraft factory. Because of their gender, Reid and C.M were forced to challenge many presumptions and biases that the factory supervisors had about their abilities. Despite proving to be strong workers, the duo had to deal with sexism within the workplace and in the world around them. Due to her unique social positioning, Reid offers an unparalleled perspective on several wartime issues that in total provide a comprehensive story with spectacular historical value.

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Safety laws within a company or organization were never in demand before the 1900’s. One tragic situation that showed the need for safety laws within companies and organizations was the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. On May 25, 1911 the Triangle Shirtwaist Company Factory burned in a fire. The Factory was owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris. It was located in Manhattan, New York on the top three floors of the Asch Building on Greene Street and Washington Place.

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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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One of the main reasons the fire took such a psychological toll on the New Yorkers was because of the workers jumping to there deaths. One witness even remarked the event saying quote 'I know a new sound a terrible sound the sound of a body hitting the pavement". The inferno was also not an uncommon occurrence the triangle shirt was burned before the tragedy to collect insurance money. Knowing this information, many Jewish and women workers went on strike to secure improved working conditions. There strike in fact proved successful with the New York state legislature creating the Factory Investigating Commission.

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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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Introduction The fire that erupted at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City is remembered as one of the worst disasters since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The infamous incident claimed 146 lives of young immigrant workers due to negligent safety precautions. To this day this incident has continued to have great significance because it highlights the inhumane working conditions that industrial workers have to be subjected to. Sweatshops before 1911

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