Austin Granger

HIST-1700
4/14/2017

Human Rights and the Triangle Factory Fire

In 1911, a devastating fire would shake the foundation of labor laws in America for years

to come. The Triangle Waist Company would see a fire that brought the deaths of hundreds,

and ultimately lead to the revival of labor laws and building safety. But what had caused this

fire? And why did so many parish to its destruction. Are the owners guilty? Well be looking

at these questions, in the reviewing of the documents related to the Triangle Factory Fire.

The Triangle Factory was no ordinary factory, it was a sweat shop. More over common in

the year the factory was in production. Housing immigrants from all over the world, Jewish,

Hebrew, and many other cutlers/religions. These sweetshops housed primarily younger

women who could be as young as the age 14, forced to work in dreadful environments due to

the necessity of coming to a new country. These harsh long-hour and poor health conditioned

facilities of hardship were met with daily peril. Loose working laws made it easy to house an

easy means of work. Of the documents regarding the incident, the article titled FIRE! by

Cornell University spins the finer webs of what occurred. March 25th 1911, during the

closing hours of the Triangle Factory, a fire had broken loose due to poor inspections, on the

top floors of the Asch building. a terrifying moment in time, disrupting forever the lives of

young workers. By the time the fire was over, 146 of the 500 employees had died -Cornell

University. Many women would parish to the flames, or choose to leap to their deaths instead

of facing the fire this day.

 Recounts from the survivors paint what had truly happened this day, describing

to later jurors that the doors had been locked. Workers recounted their helpless efforts to

open the ninth-floor doors to the Washington Place stairs. They and many others afterwards

believed they were deliberately locked-- owners had frequently locked the exit doors in the

past, claiming that workers stole materials. For all practical purposes, the ninth-floor fire

escape in the Asch Building led nowhere, certainly not to safety, and it bent under the weight

of the factory workers trying to escape the inferno. -Cornell University. This article is the

most compelling to the incident, in terms of description and of photography, painting the

gruesome image of what happened. Others waited at the windows for the rescue workers

only to discover that the firefighters' ladders were several stories too short and the water from

the hoses could not reach the top floors. Many chose to jump to their deaths rather than to

burn alive. -Cornell University. It is very compelling to relate to this, by means of humanity.

We live in a time where things like this are avoidable and are cautioned around, having

ample working conditions and safety escapes. Because of the new time period for

photography, they were being added into articles. Being of use in expressing the situation and

bringing to the public eye the view of the incident. Being of more credible sorts, it shows

without a shadow of a doubt what had truly happened and in terms would shape the way

news would be shared and covered.

 An eye witness depicts in morbid detail on what he had seen from the outside, describing

the women who had leaped to their deaths to avoid the fire. And in one description recounts

one in particular: I even watched one girl falling. Waving her arms, trying to keep her body

upright until the very instant she struck the sidewalk, she was trying to balance herself. Then

came the thud--then a silent, unmoving pile of clothing and twisted, broken limbs. -William

Shepherd. If there wasnt a more descriptive an accurate recount between the eye witness

William Shepherd, and the article FIRE then there would be discrepancy; though between

the two it makes for a clear picture, alongside the photographs that were taken. Each having

their own deep value in regard to the fire, the eye witness has more tangible insight on the

happenings. Though the article FIRE goes into what had brought upon the peril from the

inside out, bringing to light the locked doors and the poor fire escape conditions.
 Initially, the factory owners were charged with manslaughter in the second degree,

under then labor laws. But justice wasnt fully had. They were afterwords acquitted them of

any wrong doings. Three years after the fire, civil suits were brought against the two owners

which resulted to them paying 75 dollars per life lost. To which at the time, was a

tremendous amount of money. After review of the buildings inspection, it was proclaimed

that it met safety code, to which wasnt the case. The owners would lock particular exit

points to prevent theft, which inevitably lead to so many perishing. Though they claimed

they werent aware of it, the recounts state otherwise. The owners deliberately locked the

other exit doors to funnel their workers through the front at the end of every night, so that

they may check their pockets and other belongings for theft. With all of this, it eventually

lead to the tragic disaster that had taken place at the Triangle Factory fire.

The 1911 Triangle Factory Fire

http://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/story/introduction.html Cornell

University. Published January, 2011. Accessed April 10th 2017

Exhibit Credits
Kheel Center Director: Curtis Lyons
Exhibit Editor: Patrizia Sione
Media Editor: Barbara Morley
Site Design: John Peters