Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

On Saturday, March 25, 1911, fire broke out on the eighth floor of the Asch building, home to the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York's Washington Square neighborhood. Workers, the majority young immigrant women, found themselves trapped in what was claimed to be a “fireproof” structure. Some managed to make their way down smoke-filled staircases; others rushed to the fire escape doors only to find them locked, a common practice of the era. The first alarm brought firefighters to a horrific scene of panic and hysteria, as many trapped workers sought their escape by jumping from the windows of the eighth and ninth floors of the building. In total, 146 workers died as result of the fire, an event that gave rise to waves of protest over the next several weeks. Though the fire itself, the trial of the factory owners, and the political response have been the subject of scholarly analysis, little attention has been focused on the public outcry in the days that followed. Protests occurred in several phases. The first phase was organized labor's meetings demanding justice for the dead and a governmental response to issues of workplace safety; the second was an enormous funeral cortege preceding the burial of eight unidentified workers; and the third occurred surrounding the trial of the factory's owners, along with spontaneous protests after their not guilty verdict. Triangle workers ... log in or subscribe to read full text