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triangle shirtwaist factory fire
triangle shirtwaist factory fire
Triangle Factory Fire
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With the continued rise of industry and factories in the early twentieth century, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company is one that stands out from all the rest. During this time, The United States was experiencing a large influx of immigrants. These immigrants, in need of money to survive, became the employees of these growing factories and industries in the cities. The immigrants, who most did not speak English, were subject to poor wages, working hours, and conditions within these jobs. The Triangle Shirtwaist Company located in Manhattan on the top three floors of the Asch building, was no different from the rest. The owners were corrupt and did not care about the safety and well-being of their own employees. The owners themselves, were immigrants, …show more content…
There was approximately five minutes left in the workday before all the women could leave the building. From possibly a cigarette, a spark burst on the work floor. The factory floor was crowded in a surplus of material and crowded with too many chairs and tables. The fire quickly spread. Taken aback with all the commotion, the workers flocked to the doors, only to find them locked. The owners, Max Blanck and Issac Harris, had kept the doors locked to prevent any stealing from happening within their factory. The owners would later deny in trial that they had locked the doors. They simply stated the there was a key in the lock, which due to the destruction could never be proven wrong. Thus, getting both Blanck and Harris clear of any manslaughter charges. The fire continued to spread on the top floors of the Asch building. The workers went to the elevator, which quickly broke, adding to the death toll of 146 for the day. The only other escapes were through the windows and fire escapes. The fire escapes were not built to hold a large amount of weight and collapsed. Trapped and afraid, many women decided to make the jump out of the building. No one survived the jump, but a quick death looked more favorable compared to the fire. When firefighters reached the building, their ladders could not extend to the windows, nor could their nets stop the bodies. On lookers were met with screams, sirens, and smoke …show more content…
The funeral occurred on April 5, only after the bodies were identified. The bodies of the victims lined the streets of New York, evidence of the carelessness for the safety of the employees by the company. These were some of the same bodies that had marched the streets in hope of reform. In June of 1911, an investigation started by the local authorities and firefighters. In a testimony, the fire chief exclaimed, “Nothing is done to protect from fire.” This further showed that the company neglected to make sure there was proper safety measures put in place in case of an accident. The public was also met with defeat after the owners got out of jail time and avoided prosecution. Four years after the tragedy, new legislature was passed that included thirty-six new laws. Within this, the Division of Fire Protection was created. The organization went to local schools and workplaces to teach fire safety. They also informed people on the importance of fire alarms, fire drills, and banned smoking. On the day of the tragedy, the public felt hopeless that they could not prevent the deaths that occurred. In return, they made it their mission to prevent any future
On July 13, 1900 Joseph Aschs’ new building plans in New York City are approved and by January 5, 1901 the building is complete. In 1906, the eighth floor of the Asch building is bought by the Triangle Shirtwaist Company who opens a factory there. Three years later, a letter is sent to the management of the Triangle Shirtwaist building from a fire prevention expert. He suggests they that a discussion about evaluating and enhancing safety measures. Unfortunately, management does not take the letter seriously and “the letter is ignored.” (Linder, “Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Trial”) The inhumane work conditions in the factory led to the decision of twenty-five ILGWU workers to declare strike against th...
At the time of the fire the only safety measures available for the workers were 27 buckets of water and a fire escape that would collapse when people tried to use them. Most of the doors were locked and those that were not locked only opened inwards and were effectively held shut by the onrush of workers escaping the fire. As the clothing materials feed the fire workers tried to escape anyway they could. 25 passengers flung themselves down the elevator shaft trying to escape the fire. Their bodies rained blood and coins down onto the employees who made it into the elevator cars. Engine Company 72 and 33 were the first on the scene. To add to the already bleak situation the water streams from their hoses could only reach the 7th floor. Their ladders could only reach between the 6th and 7th floor. 19 bodies were found charred against the locked doors. 25 bodies were found huddled in a cloakroom. These deaths, although horrible, was not what changed the feelings toward government regulation. Upon finding that they could not use the doors to escape and the fire burning at their clothes and hair, the girls of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, aged mostly between 13 and 23 years of age, jumped 9 stories to their death. One after another the girls jumped to their deaths on the concrete over one hundred of feet below. Sometimes the girls jumped three and four at a time. On lookers watched in horror as body after body fell to the earth. "Thud -- dead; thud -- dead; thud -- dead; thud -- dead.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire most of all impacted all forms of industry, and changed the way workers worked. Along with the legislations that impacted women and children, laws also centered on the safety and well being of all workers. One of the main reforms and changes came through the formation of the New York Factory Investigating Commission, or the FIC: a legislative body that investigated the manufacturers for various infractions. They were based on protecting the workers: both their rights and their lives. The FIC investigated countless factories and “enacted eight laws covering fire safety, factory inspections and sanitation.” The FIC was highly focused on the health and safety of industrial workers, making reports and legislation that focused on “fire safety, building construction, machine guarding, heating, lighting, ventilation, and other topics” and on specific industries like “chemicals, lead trades, metal trades, printing shops, sweatshops and mercantile establishments.” Thirteen out of seventeen of the bills submitted by the FIC became laws, and “included measures requiring better fire safety efforts, more adequate factory ventilation, improved sanitation and machine guarding, safe operation of elevators” and other legislations focused for specific establishments.” Fire safety and new fire codes such as “mandate emergency exits, sprinkler systems, and maximum-occupancy laws,” such as the Fire Prevention Act of 1911, were put into place to limit the likelihood that another fire like the one at Triangle would occur, or be as drastic and deathly. Other organizations like the Joint Board of Sanitary Control “set and maintain standards of sanitation in the workplace,” as well as actually enforcing these stand...
...afety should have inspected the building prior to issuing permits for further renovation, especially knowing this structure was going to be housing 124 residents. It seems that lack of knowledge from prior owners and lack of responsibility of city officials are responsible for this collapse and sadly, the loss of 9 brave men in the line of duty. The Boston Fire Department could have worked closer with the owner/ construction crew at the Hotel Vendome, and the deficiencies would have been found, and they would have known the instability they were walking into on June 17. At that point, firefighting operations would have more than likely been defensive. The firefighters did not conduct pre-incident planning which would have let them know they were going to face the construction barriers while attempting to lay hose, maneuver hose, and get the hose to a water source.
Often, children were forced to work due to money-related issues, and the conditions they worked in were terrible. Children worked in coal mining, such as at Woodward Coal Mining in Kingston, Pennsylvania (Doc. 7). Children were used to make the process of producing products cheaper, and they were paid low wages; the capitalists hired children just to keep the process of making products going and to make profit. One cause of child labor in harsh conditions was the unfateful fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City in 1911. Teenaged immigrant girls that were employed there worked under sweatshop-like conditions. The building they worked in was inadequately equipped in case of a fire, for the doors were locked, leaving no exit for the girls, and the single fire escape collapsed with the rescue effort; as a result, when the fire started, they were unable to escape. 145 workers were killed, but the company owners were not penalized harshly for this tragedy. This further demonstrates that capitalists were able to get away with the harsh conditions that they put their laborers, especially child laborers, through for their own benefit, which is making more money and using any means to get it, even if those means are low wages and harsh working
The bombing of the World Trade Center was nicknamed “the Big One”, causing a sixteen alarm fire. FEMA’s Incident Commander (IC) arrived on the scene at 12:48 and began assessing what needed to be done: over 50,000 people needed to be evacuated, thick black smoke was filling the building and could not stopped, numerous people were trapped in elevators and personnel on the top floors were breaking glass raining it down on personnel on the ground.
Life in the early 1900’s wasn’t easy. Competition for jobs was at an all time high, especially in New York City. Immigrants were flooding in and needed to find work fast, even if that meant in the hot, overcrowded conditions of garment factories. Conditions were horrid and disaster was inevitable, and disaster did strike in March, 1911. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York set on fire, killing 146 workers. This is an important event in US history because it helped accomplish the tasks unions and strikes had tried to accomplish years earlier, It improved working conditions in factories nationwide and set new safety laws and regulations so that nothing as catastrophic would happen again. The workplace struggles became public after this fire, and the work industry would never remain the same again.
The social and economic developments of the last quarter of the nineteenth century drastically changed the United States. The business world changed once industrialization was introduced to the world. Opportunities grew as people heard about the boundless American opportunities. Immigrants from all races flooded the cities which doubled in population from 1860-1900 (Barnes and Bowles, 2014, p. 34). However, as industries grew, owners prospered off the hard work of others. People started to feel they were not being treated fairly. People had to work harder and longer for their money. Barnes and Bowles (2014) noted “In the era of industrialization, millions of workers fought to simply have the right to work in safe conditions, and earn a fair wage” (p. 45). Many Americans feared that giant corporations would one day seek to restrict the ability of common people to get ahead and curtail individual freedoms. These fears were particularly strong among farmers, laborers, an...
The Gilded Age was the last three decades of the nineteenth century, when America’s industrial economy exploded generating opportunities for individuals but also left many workers struggling for survival. With the many immigrants, skilled and unskilled, coming to America the labor system is becoming flooded with new employees. During this period, the immigrants, including the Italians, were unskilled and the skilled workers were usually American-born. There was also a divide in the workers and the robber barons. Robber barons were American capitalist who acquired great fortunes in the last nineteenth century, usually ruthlessly. There was much turmoil throughout the business and labor community. Two major organizations, the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, helped represent the workers in this time of chaos. The Knights of Labor, founded in 1869, were representing both skilled and unskilled workers. They were quite popular with a large boost in membership becoming the biggest union in 1885. They sought for equal pay and equal work. All were welcomed to the Knights of Labor; there was no discrimination on race, gender, or sex. They called for an eight-hour day in order to reduce fatigue and for safety issues. The Knights of Labor Declaration of Principles states their purpose is to “make industrial and moral worth, not wealth” (Reading 9, p. 1). This means the moral worth is to what they could contribute to society rather than monetary gains. They were working towards this improvement of the common mans life to advance in civilization and create new ideas for society. They also called upon the employer to treat the employee with respect and fairness so they can contribute to not only their company but to Amer...
...pectors had determined that the reason on which the fire had rapidly spread was due to many structural and design flaws. Wires not being grounded correctly, a fire alarm that never rung or let out a peep. The stairwell which was a critical escape path overwhelmed by smoke. Other defects located in the air conditioning systems, all which helped the smoke spread. Despite of 83 building code violations, no one was ever punished for the lives that were lost. Later, the Hotel was being rebuilt, and the fire marshal had issued for the hotel to pay 192000$ to install sprinklers in the casino room; the clark county building official had rejected for the fire marshal’s charge. Authorities then had said that the automatic sprinkler systems were better off installed in the first place, as they could have prevented the loss many lives and the disaster at the hotel. Even after
It is the worker’s condition that he truly focuses on. Many of the problems that people faced during this time include: tenement housing, poor working conditions, child labor, monopolies of business, social and political inequality, and most importantly people putting profits over lives. It is around the same time that a terrible fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The unsafe working conditions made the employees escape nearly impossible.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire is a turning point in history because, unions gained powerful alliances and people who wanted to fight for their safety. Which now in the U.S there is a set of guidelines that need to be follow to ensure the safety of the employees. He writes: “The Triangle fire of March 25, 1911, was for ninety years the deadliest workplace disaster in New York history—and the most important (Von Drehle 3).” Von Drehle emphasizes how important this event is in history and he draw comparisons to the to
Near closing time on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 1911, in New York City a fire broke out on the top floors of the Asch Building in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. One of the worst tragedies in American history it was know as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. It was a disaster that took the lives of 146 young immigrant workers. A fire that broke out in a cramped sweatshop that trapped many inside and killed 146 people.
The documentary strived to show us how factories were corrupt that they couldn’t provide good working conditions for the workers until we lost people. This documentary is about the tragic fire that took place on March 25, 1911 in the Triangle factory. We can clearly see through this documentary that these people didn’t matter to the factory owners because their needs were not met. The documentary shows that the year before the fire took place the workers led a strike asking for better working conditions, but obviously their voices were not heard. After the fire took place this is when factories started improving working conditions. It is sad to learn that it took 146 lives of innocent people in order for factory owners to be convinced that they need to improve the poor working
David Von Drehle is a journalist for The Washington Post. Von Drehle put a tremendous amount of work into writing Triangle. All of his work paid off because Von Drehle received many awards for Triangle. Some of the awards include Winner of the 2004 Christopher Award, Amazon Top 50 Book of the Year, New York Society Library Book of the Year, New York Public Library Book of the Year, and Washington Post Book World Rave of the Year (Inside Cover). Some of his previous works include Among the Lowest of the Dead: Inside Death Row and Deadlock: The Inside Story of America’s Closest Election (Back Cover). Von Drehle was qualified to write this book because of his occupation, experience, and interest in the event. His occupation is as a journalist and as a journalist he tried to report the story of the fire. Experience wise, Von Drehle used many resources and even got to visit the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors, and the roof, of where the fire occurred, which is now the Brown Building of NYU (Acknowledgements). Von Drehle also spent time doing research in the Library of Congress (Acknowledgements). A major source that he used was the transcribed testimony from the trial of People of the State of New York v. Isaac Harris and Max Blanck. He got help...