nostalgic_mermaid
2008-07-26 14:07:59 UTC
Divided by Fire: The Triangle Waist Co. Factory Fire
“Damned be the rich! Damned be the system! Damned be the world!” This was written by the Yiddish poet Morris Rosenfeld, the “poet laureate of the slum.” It shared a common feeling felt by all in the aftermath of the worst factory fire in the history of our country.
On March 25, 1911 the Triangle Waist Factory fire claimed 146 lives. It lasted only 45 minutes. [It was the triangle shirtwaist factory fire. It occurred on March 25, 1911 and it claimed 146 lives.] Yet, for the 600 workers occupying the building, it most certainly lasted an entire lifetime.
Presently, it is every employer’s responsibility to provide a safe and constructive work environment for his or her employees. In 1911 and years previous, it wasn’t. Sweatshops were commonplace and accepted. Workers had few rights. Most workers were immigrants. They would work for fewer wages than the Americans who demanded more rights and greater pay.
The Uprising of the 20,000 as it came to be called; was a garment workers strike. It focused on gaining a union and union rights for garment factories and their workers. The Triangle Waist Co. was owned and operated by two Russian immigrants, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck. Harris and Blanck forbid their workers to organize a union and strike. In November 1909 a walkout of 20,000 garment workers from garment factories all over New York City occurred in response to their refused plea for a union.
Harris and Blanck showed their contempt for the strikers by hiring prostitutes as scabs. They also paid the prostitute’s pimps to beat up the strikers and pushed the police to arrest and detain the protesters. In February 1910, after thirteen long weeks of protesting, the strike ended inconclusively. For some garment workers a union was negotiated and was acquired. For the strikers of the Triangle Waist Co. a union was denied and only a small pay raise was added to their meager pay.
Not more than 1 year later, fire.
We will never know what started the fire. We do know what happened during the fire though. We learned this from the survivors of the fire. We learned this from the lucky ones. A cigarette thrown in the waste bin on the 8th floor is the most accepted and the most logical theory of what started the fire. The fire spread quickly. Scraps of cloth on the floor and paper patterns hanging from the ceiling ensured this.
27 buckets of water, two exits, two passenger elevators, two freight elevators, one water hose, and one fire escape; were the extent of the safety measures and escape routes available to the approximately 600 workers desperately trying to escape.