Term paper on Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911)

One major Progressive aim was to reform conditions for working women. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, a garment sweatshop in New York City . No fire escapes existed, and the doors of this upper-floor factory had been closed from the outside to keep employees from taking work breaks. As a result, 146 workers, most of them young immigrant women, perished from the fire itself or from jumping from windows. Following this tragedy, New York and other states enacted stricter codes for worker safety.

Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Were working conditions and wages in the Triangle Factory typical of other factories of the time?

2. Were labor unions responsive to the problems of working women at this time?

3. What employment opportunities did working women have in the early twentieth century?

4. Discuss public reaction to the fire.

5. To what extent did working conditions improve for women during the Progressive era?

Suggested Sources : See entries 7 and 13 for related items.

GENERAL SOURCES

Glenn, Susan A. Daughters of the Shtetl: Life and Labor in the Immigrant Generation . Ithaca , NY : Cornell University Press, 1990. Jewish immigrant women as workers in the United States .

Johnson, Gus. The Fire Buff ‘s Handbook of the New York Fire Department, 1900–1975 . New York : Fire Department of New York , 1977. A chronicle marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the department, with material on the fire.

McCreesh, Carolyn Daniel. Women in the Campaign to Organize Garment Workers, 1880–1917 . New York : Garland , 1985. Provocative investigation of the rise of women in organized labor.

Orleck, Annelise. Common Sense and a Little Fire: Women and Working-Class Politics in the United States , 1900–1965 . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995. Political activity of working women in America in the twentieth century.

Tyler, Gus. Look for the Union Label: A History of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union . Armonk , NY : Sharpe, 1995. A lively history of the union that reshaped the garment industry after the Triangle Fire.

Waldinger, Roger D. Through the Eye of the Needle: Immigrants and Enter-prise in New York ‘s Garment Industry . New York : New York University Press, 1986. Thorough discussion of newly arrived workers’ role in the city’s booming business.

SPECIALIZED SOURCES

Stein , Leon . The Triangle Fire . (1962). Reprint. New York : Carroll&Graf/ Quicksilver Books, 1985. Remains the best overall study of the subject.

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Malkiel, Theresa S. The Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker . (1910). Reprint. Ithaca , NY : ILR/Cornell University Press, 1990. Valuable first-person account of union organization of the needle trades.

PERIODICAL SOURCES

Crute, Sheree. ‘‘The Insurance Scandal behind the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.” Ms 11:81–83 (April 1983). A sidelight on the management of the Triangle Company.

Mitelman, Bonnie. ‘‘Rose Schneiderman and the Triangle Fire.” American

History Illustrated 16(4): 38–47 (1981). Good brief account of one labor militant.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal. Van Nuys, CA : Live Entertainment, 1978. Videocassette. 100-minute tape of the 1978 television drama.

WORLD WIDE WEB

Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives. ‘‘The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire—March 25, 1911.” The Triangle Fire, Sweatshops, and Protective Legislation. (July 1998). http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/cover.html An excellent and authoritative site dealing with labor-management relations; treatment of the fire includes selections from the Stein book, New York Times, and Chicago Tribune, as well as photographs and political cartoons.