TRIANGLE FIRE

The mostly forgotten tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911 is worth revisiting 100 years later as it served as a sobering wake-up call for modern labor rights.

At the turn of the 20th century, the garment industry in New York City was making millionaires out of factory owners, and virtual slaves out of its tens of thousands of workers, mostly young women. Workers in the garment industry actually walked out in a unified protest against the dangerous working conditions and dismal wages in 1909, with some 20,000 workers going on strike, bringing the city's garment factories to a screeching halt. Their cause became more well known as rich society women, including Anne Morgan, were moved by the cause, and joined the protests, supporting their poorer sisters on the strikers' line.

However, despite much support and media coverage (strikers were beaten by thugs as well as by police and thrown into jail), the extended strike soon fell out of favor with the media and the social elite. Most of the garment workers went back to work without their demands being met.

The workers of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory were some of the last holdouts of the strike for labor rights. However, the story of the Triangle would take its place in the history books less for its role in the strike, but because of the horrific tragedy that occurred on March 25, 1911. A fire broke out in the factory, trapping hundreds of workers on the upper floors of the building. Some of the exits were actually locked by the management (to keep workers from sneaking out early), the fire escape collapsed, the firemen's ladders couldn't reach the upper floors, and the single working elevator was only able to provide escape for a lucky few. To make the event more horrific was the fact that it all happened as hundreds of onlookers watched the building burn from the sidewalks below, witnessing with horror as many of the victims, mostly young women, jumped from windows rather than die in the inferno. When the embers finally cooled, 146 factory workers lost their lives in the Triangle fire, and the event became a rallying point for union and labor rights, with public support and outcry over the victims.

Triangle Fire is an hour-long documentary produced by PBS's American Experience series, and it covers events leading up to, during, and after the fire. With detailed explanation, narration from journals from survivors as well as society folks, and photos from the tragedy (so sad), it offers a comprehensive explanation about how the Triangle fire changed the public's view and support of labor unions.