Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

Words: 1936

Pages: 8

Open Document

The workweek is almost over. It was nearly 4:40 PM, just a few hours before the factory would close and the garment making employees would go home for their one day off each week. On the eighth floor of the ten-story structure known as the Asch Building– where the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was located–, someone is likely to have flicked a cigarette to the ground. Its ashes ignited; the garments went up in flames. Soon, smoke gushed from the windows of the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors of the building. Workers and managers alike on the eighth floor quickly realized the danger, and most fled down narrow staircases to safety. Workers on the upper two floors, however, lacked such warning. With the factory’s regular practice of locking exits …show more content…
Those left in the building had few options of escape, especially since local firefighters were not equipped with a ladder tall enough to reach the upper floors, where the employees had been most densely packed. With no hope of aid, many workers jumped to their deaths; others remained inside, where they met their demise burning or suffocating. The tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was not only that 146 workers– most of which were young women and girls– met an untimely and horrific death that day in March. It was also that unions, namely the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union, had lobbied for better working conditions, higher wages, and increased protections for women shortly before the fire. The International Ladies' Garment Workers Union consisted primarily of young, working class, immigrant women, which was the demographic most affected by the Triangle fire. Union leaders such as Rose Schneiderman, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union’s founder, and Clara Lemich had organized an industry-wide strike through the end of 1909 into 1910, which thousands of workers participated

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

ago on March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory suffered one of the most devastating workplace disasters in American history. In the bustling city of New York City, a fire erupted throughout the upper floors of the Asch Building. The horrific scene of workers leaping out of the fire only to meet their death shocked the nation and called for change in workplace safety and labor laws. Despite the event occurring more than 100 years ago, lessons learned from the fire are still relevant today.…

Words 999 - Pages 4

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire happened on March 25,1911, resulting 145 dead. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was owned by Isaac Harris and Max Blanck. 100,000 women and men, were hired to work 14 hours for two dollars a day. Workers weren’t allowed any breaks, they had make 3,000 stiches without no mistakes. On March 25, 1911, the fire on eighth floor starts due to a cigarette. Workers weren’t alerted, they couldn’t use the fire escape due to being over burned. The elevator only held 12 people…

Words 217 - Pages 1

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

many accounts of the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, which rocked the nation in 1900 by revealing just how unsafe working conditions were in the factories and resulting in the creation of new workplace laws to keep workers safe. The workers of the factory had gone on strike only a few years prior, and anti-unionist owners Max Blanck…

Words 2587 - Pages 11

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Cigarette “It was not… a woman’s fancy that drove them to it, but an eruption of a long-smoldering volcano, an overflow of suffering, abuse and exhaustion,” revealed Theresa Serber Makliel. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was an extremely tragic event in history. I was the cigarette that started it all. I caused the deaths of 150 workers. This is a long story, so let me start from the beginning. It all began on a sweltering, summer day when a woman walked into the store where…

Words 745 - Pages 3

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

the worst tragic fires took place in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, also known a the Ash building, in New York City on March 25, 1911. Owners and employees never found out what exactly started the fire on the 8th floor, but there is many ways the fire could have started. The fire safety wasn’t very good, things on the 8th floor were wrongly placed. The fire started at about 4:40 pm while workers were getting ready to leave to go home to their families for the week. This fire caused new laws to…

Words 455 - Pages 2

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

In New York City, Massachusetts on March 25, 1911, 4:40 PM (Eastern Time) a fire broke lose, the predicted cause was a burning cigarette, in the Asch Building. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in US history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers, 123 women and 23 men, who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling or jumping to their deaths. There was 71 people with injuries. Most of the…

Words 184 - Pages 1

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

contributes to societal impacts is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which took place on March 25, 1911 in New York City. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was a garment factory and its employees consisted of young immigrant women working long hours in harsh conditions for minimum wages. Unfortunately, a fire broke out on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors, killing 146 workers. The fire was able to spread quickly due to the locked doors and not functioning fire escapes. This was not an uncommon occurrence…

Words 1200 - Pages 5

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

The detrimental Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire is considered to be one of the most tragic disasters in history. On March 25th, 1911, a fire broke out and killed 146 garment workers who were mostly women. These women worked countless hours with low wages and inhumane working conditions in a factory. Even though this event was tragic, the triangle shirtwaist fire helped to shape the new world for the better. The multitude of workers trapped within the inferno to their demise was the final straw for…

Words 1592 - Pages 7

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

which the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire occurred. Imagine being in these workers' shoes trapped in the factory as it went up into flames. This fire resulted in the deaths of 146, majority being female, immigrant workers. The fire was caused by a cigarette or match accidentally dropped on the eighth floor, and it quickly spread because the materials within the factory were flammable which caused the fire to spread rapidly, and the working conditions made it difficult to escape. During the fire, a significant…

Words 301 - Pages 2

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Research Paper

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which happened in New York City on March 25, 1911, had a significant effect on society at the time and still has an impact on laws governing worker rights and workplace safety today. The incident brought to light the hazardous working conditions and dearth of safety precautions in factories during the early 20th century, taking the lives of 146 garment workers, the most of whom were young immigrant women. Public outrage and demands for stricter workplace safety…

Words 448 - Pages 2