"New York Challenged"

Slide Sheet for May 23rd

Meeting Six: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: Crisis in Workplace Safety and Worker Exploitation

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was a catalyst for reform. Was it inevitable? Was it necessary? If so, why? If not, why not? How does the crisis and its resolution reflect longstanding New York attitudes and approaches?

These images are drawn from the following sites:
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire at Cornell: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/
New Deal Photo Gallery: http://newdeal.feri.org/library/d_4m.htm

Detail, History of the Needlecraft Industry (1938), by Ernest Feeney, High School of Fashion and Industry. A mural commissioned by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGW). FDRL

WTUL Strike Vote, 1909, Kheel Center
Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) - Established by social settlement reformers and working women in 1903, with branches in New York City, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, the WTUL organized the creation of unions of women workers in the garment and other semi-skilled industries. Affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. Remained active until 1955.

WTUL Vote at Cooper Union, 1909
In 1909, an incident at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory sparked a spontaneous walkout of its 400 employees. The Women's Trade Union League, a progressive association of middle class white women, helped the young women workers picket and fence off thugs and police provocation. At a historic meeting at Cooper Union, thousands of garment workers from all over the city followed young Clara Lemlich's call for a general strike. One of the demands was safer working conditions and stronger safety regulations.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Building, March, 1911, WPA, UPI , FDRL
"My building is fireproof" insisted Joseph P. Asch. The 10 story Asch Building was completed in 1901 on the corner of Green Street and Washington Place, neighbor to NYUoff Washington Square Park. The structure was 135 feet high. At 150 it would have required by law metal trim, metal window frames and concrete floors. For 135 wooden trim, frames and floors were legal.

On November 25th, 1910, fire broke out in a four story buidling in Newark, NJ. 25 workers died, 6 who had burend to death and 19 who jumped.

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Building Plan, March, 1911, Kheel Center
The plan of the factory 9th floor shows 75 foot long tables. 240 people worked in this space.  Chairs and work baskets blocked the aisles, making it necessary to climb over work tables to reach the exits.  By law the building shoudl have had three stairs, but the Building Department permitted an exception at the request of the architect. The rear fire escape was suppose to lead to a courtyard but ended above a skylight on the ground floor. Only the Greene Street stair exited onto the roof. The stairway doors were supposed toremain unlocked and open outward by law "where practicable." (Section 80, State labor Law) The doors opened inward, when they opened at all, because the 2 foot 9 inch stairway was too narrow to accommodate the open doors

Fire Fighters, Saturday, March 25th, 1911, WPA, Brown Brothers, FDRL
First alarm is at 4:30. Fire Battalion Chief Edward J. Worth arrives at 4:46 and orderes a second alarm at 4:48. Two more alarms called at 4:55 and 5:10. Fire fighters arrived within minutes of the alarm, but their ladders only reached the 6th floor and pumps could not raise water to the 8th, 9th or 10th floors. 

Twisted Fire Escape, March, 1911 , WPA , Brown Brothers, FDRL
Iron window shutters hid the fire escape on the 9th floor. Those fleeing from the 10th floor had to climb down through flames as they struggled past shutters on lower floors stuck open across their path.  The heat of the fire and weight of the people caused the ladder to twist and collapse.

Interior, After the Fire, March, 1911, WPA, Brown Brothers, FDRL
With fire doors locked on several floors, the elevators insufficient and fire escape blocked, many women turned to their only means of escape, the windows.

The Fallen, March, 1911, WPA, Brown Brothers, FDRL
146 dead, mostly teenage immigrant women.

Viewing Victims at the Morgue Pier on the East River, March, 1911, Kheel Center

After Identifying a Body, March, 1911, WPA , Brown Brothers, FDRL

View of Ruins, March, 1911, WPA , Brown Brothers, FDRL

Mourning March of 400,000, April 5th, 1911, Kheel Center

Newwspapers, unions and progressive reformers led the charge for government action. The March 28, 1911 New York Evening Journal cover stories reported upon the survivors¹ experiences, asked who was responsible and what reforms were required to avoid such distatsers in the future.

Cartoon, "How Soon Will They Be All Forgotten"? Kheel Center
Help for the victims came from all over the country and from the world. The Red Cross Relief Committee of the Charity Organization Society organized releif efforts. the committee, chaired by tenement reformer Robert W. de Forest included: Jacob Schiff, Cleveland Dodge and Edward Devine. The ILGWU organized its own relief committee in concert with the Workingman's Circle, the Jewish Daily Forward and the WTUL. This committee cutacross class lines and was supported by Mrs. O.H. P. Belmont, Mary Simkovic and Mrs. J. P. Morgan.

Cartoon, "Inspector of Buildings"? Kheel Center
One culprit was the government. Not only were the laws inadequate, but enforcement was poor and coordination between the City Building and Fire Departments was non-existant. Four separate investigations began by the Coroner's Office, the District Attorney, Fire Commissioner Waldo and Building Department Superintendant Albert Ludwig. Separate investigations were held by such private groups as the Chamber of Commerce, the Architectural league and the AICP. Protests were organized by the WTUL and ILGWU.

Cartoon, $$$ Blocking Door, Kheel Center
A trial for manslaughter of the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck, took place in December and resulted in a not guilty verdict. After a series of lawsuits, in 1914 twenty-three individual suits against the asch Building owner were settled at $75 per life lost.

Cartoon, "One of 100 Murdered"? Kheel Center
In October 1911 the passage of the Sullivan-Hoey law established the Bureau of Fire Prevention. The shock of the acquittal created the widespread desire for more effective action. A Committee on Safety, including future secretary of labor Frances Perkins, Rabbi Stephen Wise, WTUL president Mary Dreier, and future Sevcretary of War Henry Stimson, emerged from discussions at the WTUL meeting the day after the fire. As a result of agitation by the WTUL, ILGWU and the Committee, the NY State Legislature created a special Factory Investigating Committee on June 30, 1911. Its chair and vice chair werethe future senator Robert F Wagner and future governor Alfred E. Smith. The four year term on the commission marks what is generally called the "golden era in remedial legislation" in NY State. In its first year 8 laws were added to the labor code, the next year 25 and in 1914 three more. These laws completely transformed the State Dept. of Labor. Many of the reformers who became active in the fight for improved worker safety in the garment trades went on to become the leading figures in the New Deal and the burgeoning labor movement.