THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIREBy: Haime Alshaef 8d

March 12, 2015

VOCABULARY

Strike-work stoppage in protest of working conditions or employers’ actions.

Picket: make a protest outside a place, such as a business where workers are striking for better conditions.

Sweatshop- crowded factory with bad working conditions.

Unsanitary- so dirty as to be unhealthy. Reform- change designed to improve conditions. Ventilation- access to fresh air.

WHAT JOBS DID MOST PEOPLE IN U.S. CITIES HAVE AND WHAT

DID THEY NEED? Immigrants traveled to America to find freedom. Many factories needed workers. Immigrants accepted factory jobs. Immigrants accepted because they needed

supplies. Workers worked in long, horrible conditions.

Tucker, Kristine. Classroom.synonym.com/did-immigrants-join-factories-late-1800s-through-1920s-15709.html.

WHY DID MANY FACTORY WORKERS BECOME SICK?

Factories were harsh and completely unsanitary.

Workers were given stinky food. Sicknesses spread from one factory to another. Accidents occurred because of the machinery. One person died every other day.

http://Ecolaii.wordpress.com/factory-conditions-1800s/.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PEOPLE IN THE OVERCROWDED

FACTORIES? Factories had bad ventilation and no heating. People, equipment, and materials overcrowded

factories. Factories were so overcrowded with machines. Workers died because of the machines they

operated.

Crewe, Sabrina. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

source: book

IF FACTORIES WERE UNSANITARY, WHY DIDN’T ANYONE DO

ANYTHING ABOUT IT?

Wealthy citizens didn’t notice factory workers. The wealthy noticed workers after the fire. They realized that reforms were needed.

Crewe, Sabrina. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

source: book

WHAT HAPPENED DURING “THE UPRISING OF THE TWENTY

THOUSAND?” Twenty thousand people organized a strike. Most people were women. The strike lasted over five weeks. Strikers wanted employers to improve the

factories. The Triangle company refused to improve

factories.

Michels, Tony. Jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/uprising-of-20000-1909.

LADIES ON STRIKE

No author. Clara Lemlich and the Uprising of the Twenty Thousand. The Economic Populist. February 28, 2009. March 17, 2015.

WHAT DID STRIKERS WANT THEIR EMPLOYERS TO DO TO

THE FACTORIES? They wanted the factories to be improved. Workers needed fire escapes and safety

regulations. They also wanted a sprinkler system.

Crewe, Sabrina. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

source: book

WHY DID TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST WORKERS PICKET ALL DAY?

Workers picketed outside their places of work. They wanted employers to listen to their

demands. Many workers were beaten up by men. They also got arrested.

Crewe, Sabrina. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

source: book

HOW DID THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST STRIKE COME TO

AN END? The strike continued into 1910. Most factories gave in. The Triangle Shirtwaist company refused. Nothing changed for Triangle Shirtwaist workers. The strike didn’t offer them any help.

Crewe, Sabrina. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

source: book

HOW DID THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY CATCH ON

FIRE AND HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED?

The fire started on Saturday March 25, 1911. It took place on a 10 story building. The top three floors of the Asch building

got burned. No one knows how the fire started. After the fire, 146 people were dead. Most workers died because they jumped to

their death.

Crewe, Sabrina. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

source: book

PEOPLE WHEN THEYJUMPED OUT OF THE WINDOWS.

Douglas Linder. The Triangle Shirtwaist Triangle Fire Trial. Famous Trials. 2002. March 17, 2015.

SINCE THE FIREFIGHTER’S LADDERS COULD ONLY REACH UP TO THE SIXTH FLOOR, HOW

DID PEOPLE ON THE TENTH FLOOR ESCAPE? Workers on the tenth floor climbed onto the roof.

Among them were the factory owners. The New York University of Law helped the workers. They brought down ladders. Workers used the ladders to climb on the school

roof. Out of the 70 people there, one person died.

Linder, Doug. Law2.umike.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/triangle/triangleaccounts.html

THE PEOPLE ON THE NINTH FLOOR COULDN’T GO UP THE

TENTH FLOOR OR GO DOWN TO THE SIXTH FLOOR, SO WHAT

DID THEY DO? There was only one exit. Workers were trapped inside. The ninth floor became a blazing inferno. People climbed onto the windowsills. The workers plunged down to sure death.

Abidor, Mitch. https://www.Marxists.org/history/usa/workers/triangle-fire/introduction.htm.

WERE ANY LAWS PASSED AFTER THE FIRE? DID THEY MAKE ANY OF THE FACTORIES SAFER AND

DID THEY CHANGE HOW WE LIVE TODAY? After the fire, 36 laws were passed.

The laws made factories a lot safer. The laws were passed between 1911 and 1914. Now, we have fire escapes and sprinklers. We also have fire drills. This is all thanks to the reforms after the fire.

Crewe, Sabrina. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

source: book

ASCH BUILDINGAndrew Dolkart. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. NRHP. Monday March 30, 1998. Tuesday March 17, 2015.

VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9GVbzf7Q4

Fitzamh, John. Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. John Fitzamh. September 22, 2007. March 17, 2015.

CITATIONS

Crewe, Sabrina, Adam Schaefer. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2004.

Tucker, Kristine. “Why Did Immigrants Join Factories In The Late 1800s Through 1920s?” Classroom. Synonym.com/did-immigrants-join-factories-late-1800s-through-1920s.html. Demand Media. No date. March 9, 2015.

“Factory Conditiond:1800s.” https://ecolaii.wordpress.com/factory-conditions-1800s/. Ecolaii. No date. March 9, 2015.

Michels, Tony. “Uprising of 20,000(1909).” jwa.org/encyclopedia/articles/uprising-of-20,000-1909. Jewish Women’s Archive. No date. March 9, 2015.

Linder, Doug. “The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Trial.” law2.umke.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/triangle/triangleaccount.html. Doug Linder. 2002.

Abidor, Mitch. The Triangle Fire.” https://www.Marxists.org/history/usa/workers/triangle-fire/introduction.htm. US Labor History 1911. No date. Mach 17, 2015.