Remembering the Triangle Factory Fire, 100 years later
25 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, where 146 people perished approximately 120 of them were women. 1911 was a time of great industry in New York, and there were thousands of garment factories, employing approximately a hundred thousand workers, a large portion of them women. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris owned The Triangle Shirtwaist Company. On March 25, 1911, just a few minutes before quitting time, a fire broke out on the 8th floor of the Asch Building in lower Manhattan, not far from Washington Square Park. (The building still stands today and is a part of NYU). The Triangle Shirtwaist Company was housed on the 8th, 9th and 10th floor of the building. On the day of the fire, there were estimated to be 500 employees in the building.
In 1911, garment workers were predominantly immigrant women, many of whom did not speak English. Their work was not supplemental income; these were women putting food on the table. Many of the workers were Jewish immigrants who had come to NY to escape persecution in Eastern Europe. Girls as young as 10 years old worked in the factory. At the time, there were no child labor laws, no minimum wage, and little legislation in place to protect workers. Unions were gaining momentum, and just 2 years prior to the fire, the Triangle workers went on strike in an attempt to unionize. The strike in 1909 was the largest single work stoppage in the city’s history. Not only were the workers seeking higher pay with shorter hours, but better working conditions. Their strike efforts did not go over well with Blanck and Harris, who reportedly hired prostitutes to attack the striking workers. Ultimately, Blanck and Harris acquiesced to higher wages and shorter hours for the Triangle employees, but that is all. Employees were not allowed to unionize or negotiate other safety accommodations on the job.
Due to fear of theft from the employees, the second entrance of the building was locked, and no key was available. When the fire broke out, only the elevator and stairwell were accessible to exit. 12 pails of water were the only tools inside the factory to extinguish the flames. The fire started on the 8th floor, and an attendant there called the 10th floor to notify management of the fire (and they escaped to the rooftop). In the panic, no one alerted the 200 workers on the 9th floor, so they did not get a chance to leave before they saw the fire. The fire escape on the building was not built properly, and reportedly 20 people were killed when the fire escape broke away from the building and fell to the ground. When the fire trucks arrived, their ladders and hoses only reached to the 6th floor. They were helpless in getting victims out of the building from the windows and higher floors. Women jumped into the elevator shaft in attempts escape the flames, many were pushed into the elevator shaft by workers trying to get out of the fire.
Outside, within 5 minutes time, 1,000 onlookers had gathered to witness the fire. Coincidentally, Frances Perkins, the first woman to be elected to a US Cabinet position – the U.S. Secretary of Labor – happened to be having tea on the other side of Washington Square Park. She was at the scene just in time to witness workers jumping from the windows to escape the flames. No doubt, experiencing the tragedy that day influenced a great deal of Frances Perkins life work, including much legislation that was passed as a result of the fire.
The fire claimed 145 victims that day, and one survivor died on March 30, 1911, bringing the death toll to 146. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were indicted on manslaughter charges, with the reason being that they locked one of the exit doors. After a lengthy trial, the two were acquitted for lack of evidence. That day, nearly 150 people unwillingly gave their life so that we could have the labor reforms that we have today. While labor and union movements were gaining momentum in 1911, it was the death of the Triangle Fire workers that really brought the movement together, and changed the landscape of workers rights. The fire brought to life the fact that workers were tolerating practices that no one should have to tolerate. Public policy and regulations have an important place in protecting employees. It is a shame that so many women had to burn that day, in order for reform to take place.
A complete list of the victims can be found here. Extensive coverage by the NY Times can be found here.
On this 100th anniversary, one organization is honoring the victims. Check out Remember the Triangle Fire at http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/
Resources:
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire of 1911 by Gina De Angelis
Cornell University / Kheel Center resources: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/story/introduction.html
Women’s History Month – Part One – Celebrating My Grandmothers(s)
02 Mar 2011 1 Comment
The theme for Women’s History Month this year, according to the National Women’s History Project, is Our History is Our Strength. The subject of Women’s history is important to me, not only in the sense that women, in general, do not know enough about our women fore-mothers (myself included!), but that our own histories sometimes are not written down, or not much detail is known about our grandmothers and great-grandmothers. To that end, I’d like to spotlight my maternal Grandmother, Edna.
My grandmother was one of the most amazing people I have ever known, for a million different reasons. What stands out most was her good nature towards everyone. I never ever knew of an enemy that my grandmother had – she was kind to all, and went out of her way to help whomever she could afford to. As a child, I remember how she was always sponsoring children from other countries, proudly displaying the pictures and letters from the children she had adopted next to the pictures of all her grandchildren.
In addition to being a wife and mother to four children, my grandmother always dreamed of being a secretary! Born before women had the right to vote, she was a child when women were granted that right and as far as I know, used her voting power whenever she could (although I couldn’t tell you if she was a Democrat or Republican!). My grandparents never owned a home, living in apartments their entire lives. My grandmother never finished high school, dropping out at age 16 to work to help support her family. She worked in other people’s homes – helping with cleaning and cooking. One story my mother shared with me was from an incident when my grandmother was helping serve food at one of these homes. My grandmother’s boss came looking for her, wondering what was taking her so long to get the food. She found my grandmother in the kitchen, picking all of the mold out of the blue cheese she was asked to serve! I can only imagine that blue cheese was not as readily found then as it is today, and she thought she was helping save the “bad” cheese! She also worked for many years as a waitress, in the Park Jersey Diner in Elizabeth, NJ. One of her famous recipes was for rice pudding that came from the diner. She was given the recipe – and if I recall correctly, the amount it made was huge – she needed to pare the recipe down to a reasonable size and thereby perfected the recipe and made it her own. When she passed away in 1989, my grandfather took over the family duty of making this rice pudding. He had seen her make it so many times, that he knew exactly when it was done – timing is everything for this recipe. Such sweet memories. This photo of her working in the early 1950’s was just recently found in some old family photos.
The memories I have of my grandmother are special and dear to me. She never worked when I knew her – she was a wonderful, loving grandmother who had “mad money” that she loved to spend on us, taking us to Woolworth’s to buy some special little toy. It was a cherished item then and a cherished memory now. In addition to shopping with her mad money, she loved to take us to the park. My brother and I spent every weekend with her for several years while my parents were busy selling pizza at a local flea market. She was in charge of the two of us for the weekend, and usually alone, as my grandfather was out driving cars for various livery services – earning said mad money. She would take us to the park in Edison where we could run around, play on the equipment and she always packed a picnic. To this day, Hunts Snack Pack puddings will forever remind me of her. Thinking about her on this first day of Women’s History Month makes me miss her terribly. It has been nearly 22 years since she passed away. Here is a favorite photo of mine of the two of us.
Women’s History Month continues the entire month of March. Consider taking some time to document a special woman in your life that may have stories and keys to the past. These are important pieces of our herstory that need to be recorded. I will be back shortly with the second installment on my paternal grandmother.
For more information on Women’s History Month, check out http://www.womenshistorymonth.gov/
Oscar Nominations Overlook Foreign Film that Highlights Honor Killing
04 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
Here is the post I did for The New Agenda today….
It’s awards season, and for many of us, that means watching the red carpet festivities and compiling our list of movies that we must see. Each year, with every nomination, it is also a reminder of what actors and films have been overlooked, and those who are not even allowed a seat at the table. This year is no exception.
One such film that was overlooked is Die Fremde or When We Leave. This is the first film from Director Feo Adalag, an Austrian-born filmmaker who now resides in Germany. This film is the official entry from Germany, for consideration in the Best Foreign Film category at the 83rd Academy Awards. It seems to me that perhaps the subject matter of the film has kept it from gaining wider coverage here in the U.S.
In a recent interview with NPR, the film is described:
Discrimination against Germany’s largest ethnic minority, 2.7 million people of Turkish descent, is just the backdrop for When We Leave. The movie focuses on a young woman, Umay, who leaves a suffocating marriage in Turkey, and flees with young son Cem to her family in Berlin. Her parents and siblings are not supportive and even assist Umay’s husband in an attempt to kidnap Cem. Ultimately, Umay’s father and brothers are pressured to cleanse their reputations by slaying the defiant woman.
Honor Killings, like most violence against women, are not something that people want to acknowledge or discuss. Honor Killings, by definition, are the murders of women who have brought supposed shame to their families. Men of those families seek to “restore honor” by killing the woman in question. It could be that her husband has left her and that in and of itself brings shame to the family. In other scenarios, there are accusations of adultery, or in more rare circumstances, the woman leaves her husband. In many parts of the world, Honor Killings are tradition, and often overlooked by the court systems and seldom punished.
The best way to shed light on the terrorized lifestyle that these abandoned women face is to get their stories out in the media. When We Leave does just that. The film is a critical success all over Europe, garnering many awards over the past several months. While the Academy has only 5 nominations for Best Foreign Film, this film certainly seems worthy. The power that the Academy holds to bring issues to light is enormous. Honor Killings are a subject that needs much discussion here in the “West”. When We Leave opened last week in New York and Los Angeles, and I hope you have the chance to check it out.
Welcome!
03 Feb 2011 4 Comments
Welcome to my blog. I am a student, mother and feminist. In no particular order. I am passionate about all three. This space will be an ongoing journey as I explore women’s issues and the path for equality for women. Will the ERA be ratified this year? Will “Stupak on Steroids” get passed? Will the glass ceiling disappear for women in the workforce? Will the number of women who are in charge in Hollywood increase this year? What about exploitation of women? I am passionate about this – how exploitation of girls via sex trafficking affects our culture, but also how do networks like MTV and their “programming” affect millions of tweens and teens that watch the shows and are inspired by them. How do advertisers affect our young girls? Why do women suffer from so many eating disorders? I could go on and on…and I intend to in this blog. These are just a few of the areas that I am interested in discussing. I hope you will grab a cup of coffee, sit down and enjoy my posts. Please comment, I would love to hear your thoughts, and would love to debate with you on these issues.
As much as possible, I also intend to include information on where you can find out more, and what you can do to change these inequalities towards women. As women who are seeking change, we need to strategize our future…without a vision and a strategy, we will get nowhere.
Peace,
Denise
