Friday, January 23, 2009

A photo that changed the world




Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire 1911

The Triangle Shirtwaist Company always kept its doors locked to ensure that the young immigrant women stayed stooped over their machines and didn’t steal anything. When a fire broke out on Saturday, March 25, 1911, on the eighth floor of the New York City factory, the locks sealed the workers’ fate. In just 30 minutes, 146 were killed. Witnesses thought the owners were tossing their best fabric out the windows to save it, then realized workers were jumping, sometimes after sharing a kiss (the scene can be viewed now as an eerie precursor to the World Trade Center events of September, 11, 2001, only a mile and a half south). The Triangle disaster spurred a national crusade for workplace safety.

3 comments:

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Dude, I'm loving how you get all historical on our asses like this. Especially with a piece of labor history.

Brad said...

Thanks Dr. Monmkey. Gotta keep the people informed!

Miss Alex said...

haha you guys dating now or what? ;)