It was Saturday afternoon, March 25, 1911. In New York City the first touch of spring warmed the air. The paths among the old trees in Washington Square Park were dotted with strollers.
Suddenly there was the muffled sounds of an explosion, and passersby near the Triangle Shirtwaist Company off the east side of Washington Square saw a puff of smoke- the first sign of the devastating blaze inside the building-comping from an eighth floor window. Less than half an hour later, more than 140 Triangle employees, most of them young women, were dead, and bodies covered the sidewalk. A storm of protest at the needless tragedy swept the nation, leading eventually to major sweatshop reforms.
Here is this story of that disaster, from the moment the blaze was discovered, almost at closing time, to the horror of its conclusion, minute by minute, from both inside and outside the burning building. Courage, panic, miraculous rescues, inevitable loss of life are all part of it, as are the dramatic lawsuits against the Triangle Company owners which followed.
Reconstructed from interviews with survivors, exhaustive research of newspaper files, and testimony in various court cases, this is a story of great and intensely compelling immediacy-and one with lessons significant for us today.
If you are at all interested in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, this is the first book you need to read. It is the go-to book for information on the fire and its aftermath. Stein tells the story of the fire's survivors and how they lost their loved ones in a way that truly conveys how horrifying the event was. You know the whole time that real events are being conveyed, but the book reads like a nightmare story that you can't put down until it's finished.
Although this was an assigned book for a grad school class (Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery), the Triangle fire has long been a part of my family's history. My father had a great aunt who was scheduled to start work there on Monday, March 27, 1911, just two days after the fire that killed 146 garment workers -- most of them young Jewish and Italian immigrants. Sad and realistic, this centennial edition brings to life the tragic events surrounding the fire. Thankfully, those workers did not die in vain. The fire was a watershed moment that led to much needed safety, social and labor reforms in early 20th century New York City.
I can't really say that I enjoyed this book since a large part of it is a horrifying account of a tragic fire which took the lives of 146 workers in a shirtwaist factory on the East Side of New York in 1911, but I highly recommend it. The author made extensive use of news reports, police accounts, and court records, as well as interviews with survivors and witnesses. His use of this information to describe the fire as it took place on the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors of the building gave me the sensation that I was inside the building watching the tragedy unfold. Even more unsettling were the events of the days, months, and years afterward where families identified their loved ones, gawkers invaded the area with no concern for the victims or their families, and those responsible for the horrible conditions in the factory not only managed to escape prosecution but continued to operate in the same unsafe manner. I found the questions raised by William Greider in his Introduction to the Centennial Edition to be equally unsettling.
The Triangle shirtwaist factory fire was a fire that occurred in 1911 at the Triangle shirtwaist factory, on the eight, ninth, and tenth floors of the Asch building in New York City. Fueled by the highly flammable shirtwaist scraps and machine oil, the fire was put out by firemen after only 30 min but in that time it killed 146 people, mostly young female immigrants. The women died mainly from either burning to death, or from jumping to their deaths.
The first part of this book gives an extremely graphic recounting of the fire. This whole section is grim and upsetting, but a few choice parts: “On the Washington Place side they ‘tried to fall feet down. I watched one girl falling. She waved her arms, trying to keep her body upright until the very instant she struck the sidewalk.’ But on the Green Street side ‘they were jammed into the windows. They were burning to death in the windows. One by one the window jams broke. Down came the bodies in a shower, burning, smoking, flaming bodies, with disheveled hair trailing upward. These torches, suffering ones, fell inertly. The floods of water from the fireman’s hoses that ran into the gutter were actually red with blood” (20) and “The screaming mass of people became immobilized. Then, out of all six Triangle windows fronting on the fire escape the flames roared forth. The heat and the weight of the struggling bodies bent the iron slats and railings, twisting them from the tenth floor down, crumpling them against the side of the building and dumping the flaming human load to the yard below.” (80)
Leon Stein then describes the days following the disaster. Bodies taken from the scene were laid out in coffins and family members walked through rows of bodies looking for their missing loved ones (“‘Smiling Dick’ Walsh, his face damp where he had wiped away tears, added that… fifty-six [bodies] were burned or crushed beyond physical recognition. Every stitch of clothing on dozens of girls had been burned off. The body of one girl was headless.” (98)) The burned Asch building became an attraction for bored New Yorkers in the days following, with people crowding the streets and hucksters selling cheap jewelry in little envelopes, claiming it was the jewelry of the dead fire victims.
There was widespread public outrage and grieving after the fire. People from all over the United States sent in hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for the victims and victims’ families, despite many of the victims refusing monetary assistance. The massive loss of lives in the fire was preventable. The Asch building was designed cheaply. It had only one fire escape that ended at the second floor. Girls tried to escape on this single fire escape during the fire, but were blocked from climbing down it by outwardly protruding window shutters which were locked in place and impossible to close. The fire escape also collapsed during the fire. Sprinklers had not been installed even though they were invented at that point, because it would have increased the building’s cost by 4 percent. A giant trough of rags and cloth scraps was kept on the floor where the fire started, and this trough was not regularly cleaned out, resulting in basically accumulation of kindling. No fire drills were held (this wasn’t common practice and there were no laws requiring them), and a lot of girls weren’t even aware that their building had a fire escape. The ninth floor door was (probably, more on this later) locked at the time of the fire; and doors were regularly kept locked to prevent the girls from leaving during the workday. And the doors to the staircases opened inward instead of outward, so during the fire, when girls tried to escape and crowded around the doors, the doors became difficult to open.
This was not even the first fire to happen at the Triangle factory. The Triangle factory had received insurance payouts for eight fires occurring at the factory between the years 1902 and 1910, in the years leading up to the fire. There was also a fire in a different factory in New Jersey just four months before the Triangle fire, where twenty five factory workers died. There also had been a strike before the fire, which had asked for, among other demands, more fire escapes and for open doors during working hours, but the strike had failed. The Collegiate Equal Suffrage League pointed out that mostly women died in this fire, and women at the time couldn’t even vote for representatives to create laws to protect them because women didn’t have the right to vote.
The factory owners, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck, were indicted for manslaughter, but the jury did not find them guilty. A key point of contention during the trial was whether one of the doors to the ninth floor was actually locked at the time of the fire. It was acknowledged that the doors were often locked during working hours, and several girls who escaped the fire testified that the ninth floor door was locked at the time of the fire, but one girl testified that the key was hanging on a string by the door, and she unlocked it and escaped through it. At any rate, Harris and Blanck were not ultimately convicted of manslaughter and basically faced no consequences for the fire (they even got an insurance payout from it). Though the public was largely on the side of the victims, one of the jurors said, “I cannot see that anyone was responsible for the disaster. It seems to me to have been an act of the Almighty. I think that the Harris and Blanck factory was well-managed. I paid great attention to the witnesses while they were on the stand. I think the girls who worked there were not as intelligent as those in other walks of life and were therefore the more susceptible to panic.” (199)
Insurance companies basically had an incentive to allow unsafe conditions at factories like the Triangle factory, because it allowed them to charge more for insurance. Stein writes that insurance companies had two options with factories like Triangle, “They could inspect and appraise the business conditions of all who had had fires and weed out all rotten risks. In this way… there would be concrete discouragement of fires and a positive incentive to prevent fires inasmuch as they would not be covered by indemnity. Or the companies could take the second course which would be to estimate carefully the coming increase in the number of fires, raise their rates accordingly, let the fires come, ‘and by keeping the rates up long after the crisis is past, profit by those fires.’” (171-172) For factories like the Triangle factory, insurance companies took the second option, basically realizing they could in some cases make more money insuring riskier companies, as long as they increased their rates high enough, even if fires or disasters happened.
One good thing that came out of the Triangle fire was that it was pivotal for improving worker safety in the US. Unfortunately, as the introduction of this book points out, in other countries similar fires still regularly happen in sweatshops. It was pretty devastating to read about a toy factory fire in Thailand that killed 188 workers in 1993, with the victims telling the author of the introduction who was interviewing them that they knew because of the fire Americans would be boycotting the products and demanding reforms, when in reality no one really blinked in America. It does seem clear that “…the global system needs new and reformed trade and investment agreements that penalize both the multinational companies and the trading nations that choose inhumane production methods to gain a competitive edge over rivals.” (xv)
I liked this version of the Triangle Fire story the best. I've rated it the same as Triangle and Flesh and Blood So Cheap, although maybe I should have given it 3 1/2 stars if that was available. None of the books were great--in my opinion, not enough to merit 4 stars. The Triangle Fire was the most detailed book about the actual fire itself. The other two spent a lot of time on the conditions that most immigrants worked in (not just the garment workers). They also covered the shirtwaist workers' strike in depth. But I felt they were lacking in detail about the Triangle fire. This book, on the other hand was very detailed--lots and lots of horrible detail. There was very much a "you-are-there" feel to it. The author wrote primarily for labor union publications so while he was certainly qualified to write this book, he wasn't necessarily skilled in engaging the reader. I loved the way the chapters were named with single words: "Fire," "Eighth," "Tenth" and "Ninth" (for the floors of the building--most of the victims died on the ninth floor)," "Morgue," "Guilt," "Dirge," "Justice," etc. Very clever.
I chose to read The triangle Fire because i wanted to know more about this huge disaster and see how bad these peoples working conditions were.The book is about how the fire broke out and how the people inside reacted.This book made me think of how people sometimes complain about their jobs today but it was nothing like back then.This book makes you really make you think that you should be happy with what you have.I also found it amazing how nothing was done for working conditions until something like this happened.Instead of fixing the conditions before something would happen,people wanted to be cheap and not improve their conditions.I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about a true event that changed the way peoples working conditions are today.
Well done. (sorry) No, really, this is a good read about a true life tragedy in 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire. This is a story that is all too often forgotten. There were 142 dead, many from jumping from the ninth floor windows.
Before the fire, some workplace manager (not from Triangle) was asked about fire safety for factory workers. He replied, "Let 'em burn. They're just cattle anyway." It seems to me his attitude is not far removed from some bosses today, especially towards the working poor. Remember that phrase the next time someone bitches about having to comply with OSHA standards, or that government ought to keep out of the way of business.
n 1911, New York City was the scene of a tragic fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. In all, 146 young women and girls died, mostly poor immigrants. Some were burned so badly that the bodies were never identified. Leon Stein takes us behind the scenes and uses victims original words to tell the story as well as extensive historical research into the social, economic, and political realities of the time. A must-read for history buffs or anyone interested in a riveting true story.
This was a pretty good book, but the author wrote in a removed, distant sort of manner that kept the horror at bay. This story was really so tragic that I felt I shouldn't have been insulated from the tragedy. Also, some of the explanations were difficult to understand. Nonetheless, I feel much better informed after having read this and I have a true appreciation for the labor community and citizens of New York who used the events of this fire to change work place and building safety laws that benefit us all.
Leon Stein had the advantage of speaking with some of the survivors, and he is an excellent conduit through which they tell their story. The strike is covered briefly, but Stein concentrates on the fire and its aftermath, including the gruesome task of identifying the bodies and the mournful series of funerals, culminating in the procession for the unknowns. Read this volume in tandem with David von Drehle's "Triangle: The Fire that Changed America," as they complement each other perfectly.
In 1911, New York City was the scene of a tragic fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. In all, 146 young women and girls died, mostly poor immigrants. Some were burned so badly that the bodies were never identified. Leon Stein takes us behind the scenes and uses victims original words to tell the story as well as extensive historical research into the social, economic, and political realities of the time. A must-read for history buffs or anyone interested in a riveting true story.
Leon Stein does a fantastic and concise job summarizing the causes, effects and fire itself. It can be a bit hard to get through at times since he uses so much eyewitness testimony, but if interested at all in the Labor Movement, I think it's important to check it out.
And it introduced me to Carola Woerishoffer! The coolest woman of the 20th century!
Fascinating book - not sure that everything Leon Stein recounts about the fire is entirely correct, but he certainly did interview a number of the survivors. Incredibly gripping - I think I finished this book in one sitting. Interesting side note - I have a first edition with an inscription from Mr. Stein to my ex-husband's father, who was a well known writer in union circles.
I have read many books on this subject and the greed that led to the tragedy never ceases to amaze and terrify me. The dismissal of these women's lives is appalling and the book treats their lives and death with great respect. A great historical view of industry and commerical fashion as well as the daily life of so many in New York.
Un livre très complet sur l'événement et l'après. Tous les aspects sont abordés. La première partie est parfois très difficile à lire d'un point de vue émotionnel. Mais je le recommande à quiconque souhaite en savoir plus sur l'incendie, sa cause, et ses conséquences dans le monde du travail aux USA, ainsi que pour les luttes syndicales.
The Triangle Waist Coat Factory Fire has always fascinated me history wise. I read this one because of the David Von Drehle book. He actually used this one for some research and I thought I'd pick it up. I really enjoyed the detail that was put into the book and the research.
The first part is very toughing but scary also. The second part is more about the emergency response and discussion about the responsibility between government, company and the public.
How was I never consciously aware the Triangle building was on Washington Square? This book is great, if only because it contextualized New York, the Triangle fire, and labor & suffrage fights in the early 1900s. It reads sort of like a crime procedural, but that was fine by me.
A minute by minute account of the fire which changed NYc forever in 1911. Awesome and riviting book, really brings the human perspective into the tradegy.
Mr. Stein interviewed survivors and witnesses, creating an outstanding history of the fire and what happened afterwards. This book came out around the 50th anniversary.
Deftly written, comprehensive, and probably the definitive book on The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. The two things I was struck most by while reading this book were first, how even in 1911, people knew that rampant capitalism at the expense of human lives was unjustifiable. I highlighted so many passages that were spoken over 100 years ago but are still being said today, both in the fight for worker's rights and by those who still cannot conceive of their workers as human beings.
Second, how not that long ago this all happened. I was stunned to learn at the end that the author had interviewed survivors and witnesses for this book, but of course he could have tracked them down; at the time of this book's publication, the fire had only been 50 years ago. 1911 and 1962 may seem like entirely different and discrete universes, and I am certainly always disoriented when I remember just how many eras of history a single person may see in their lifetime. But to keep this in mind after reading the book really helps to drive home the point that while we feel very disconnected from this world, we are still living in it, and while a lot has changed, a lot has also stayed the same. We are not as far removed from the Triangle Fire as we'd like to think.
Informative and interesting enough, but it's dry reading. Add to that the author's insistence that nearly every woman, consistently referred to as "girls" (I understand many of them were young, but please), was screaming, shrieking, hysterical, or fainting at any given moment, both during the fire or standing outside, or during the hearings, or just sitting at home. The one-note depiction of the women involved began to wear on me. The book was written in 1962 which may explain the older male author's dim view of the female of the species, but I can't believe that every woman involved in this fire was just a screaming Mimi who couldn't help herself. Again, the book is interesting enough, but I came away wondering just how ignorant and irrational all these workers were? Yes, it was a terrible, frightening tragedy. Doesn't mean everyone reacts in a crazed, over-emotional manner. The number of survivors is evidence of that.
I recently watched a documentary on The Triangle Fire which delved into the stories of many survivors and many of them did show bravery, common sense, and strength. A shame Mr. Stein didn't explore any of those to add a little balance to his book.
Love this book! It paints such a comprehensive picture of what happened before, during and after the fire.
The Triangle Fire may not have been the only catalyst for important and modern changes in several areas, including women’s rights, labor laws, safety laws and work conditions, but it’s definitely an event that is referenced strongly and even referred to in several landmark laws around these changes.
If you don’t know anything about why this is an important early 20th century event you should definitely read this concise yet thorough history.
Mr Stein did a commendable job gathering a plethora of details for this book. However, I didn’t benefit from reading all of the details. I would have been happy with a shorter book. Maybe it’s just because the topic was so tragic.
The world is truly bleak because it's been 114 years and the only thing that's changed is now the sweatshop girlies are dying for polyester and $5 shein tops :(