The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire 101 years later
It was 101 years ago, on March 25, 1911, that one of the most catastrophic events in the history of American industry occurred, the consequences of which are still highly relevant today. At the turn of the century, New York City's garment and textile industry employed vast numbers of workers -- mostly immigrants and mostly women. They worked long hours for low wages and had limited choices. The Triangle Waist Company factory employed hundreds of women who sewed "shirtwaists" (blouses) on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors of a Greenwich Village building near New York University. Asch Building during the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire The now infamous fire started toward the end of a Saturday afternoon workday when a bin of cloth scraps caught fire. The alarm was raised and the fire may not have been notable had not several conditions been present: the factory's managers had locked one exit in order to prevent the workers from stealing and the ma...