Public Employee Press

Book Review
1911 Triangle fire sparked a union drive for safer jobs

On March 25, 1911, a fire spread swiftly through the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on the top floors of a 10-story building near Washington Square Park. Fearing theft, management had locked the doors, and firefighters’ ladders could not reach the factory

Trapped, 146 of the workers, mainly young immigrant women, died in New York’s worst workplace disaster until Sept. 11, 2001. The tragedy galvanized a movement for safety and anti-sweatshop laws and spurred the growth of the ladies garment workers union.

In “Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire,” Donna Getzinger provides a short, heavily illustrated book suitable for young readers and those wanting an accessible introduction to the tragedy and the world it occurred in.

The book describes the crucial role of immigrant and women workers in the growth of the union, their massive strike, known as “the uprising of the 20,000,” the trial of the Triangle owners for criminal negligence and the organizing efforts that won better safety regulations.

With the revival of sweatshops, the increasing role of women and immigrants in the labor movement and last month’s tragic explosion that killed 29 West Virginia miners, it is clear that the workers’ struggles of 100 years ago are relevant to ours today.

The Triangle fire occurred in an exciting time of labor activism and reform in New York history. Readers can learn more about those days in “Frances Perkins,” the story of the dynamic reformer who became President Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor.

Both are part of a series of excellent introductions to labor history published by Morgan Reynolds, including books on African American labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph, union and community organizer Mother Jones, the 1912 “Bread and Roses” strike and the nationwide Pullman Strike of 1894. All are available in the DC 37 Education Fund Library in Room 211.

— Ken Nash
Education Fund Librarian