Tomorrow, March 25, will mark the 100th anniversary of the worst industrial accident to ever occur in New York City.
It is worth revisiting as a disaster which led to stronger workers’ rights legislation and better organized trade unions in this country, particularly as those same unions and laws have been greatly weakened for the past 20 to 30 years, as America continues to transition away from manufacturing.
One hundred years ago, the Triangle factory was considered a modern building and fireproof, just as the Titanic was considered by many as unsinkable.
In those days before evacuation plans and drills, Fire Control systems, there were a few buckets of water placed in corners.
Buckets which were empty according to at least one survivor. A fire escape which came off its moorings and sent at least twenty tumbling down. Doors which opened inward and therefore prevented escape as panicked workers pressed against them. Floors strewn with flammable fabric, wicker baskets and trash. Stairwell exit doors locked by management to prevent workers from leaving early or taking breaks.
All seemingly little things, choices and decisions*, building to this conflagration which took the lives of 146 young women, mostly between 16 and 23: the dozens who jumped or fell out of windows, down the elevator shafts, were trampled on the crowded 9th floor and burned alive.
Small things, choices and decisions and their legacy.
*One survivor, Rose Hauser, was singing “Every Little Movement Has a Meaning of Its Own” in the dressing room moments before realizing a fire had broken out.
Video of the song:
