Aim: How did the 1911 Triangle shirtwaist factory fire incident help improve workers safety?

1. Aim: How did the 1911 Triangle shirtwaist factory fire incident help improve workers safety? Do Now: What was the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire?

2. The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire • March 25, 1911 • Most workers consisted of young women • 146 casualties in which the average age was 19 • Union formed in 1909 as workers went on strike for higher pay and shorter work week. • Most factory owners around the country gave in except the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory which remained on poor condition for the workers.

3. Impacts of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire • Economic Impact- The factory was not getting any money because the fire slowed things down while repairs were being made and the country was also trying to change the ways of sweatshops and help them repair fire escapes. • Social Impact- A turning point for immigrant employees while protesters strike on economic security and equal treatment. • Political Impact- Strikes were being held to improve the working conditions. • Cultural Impact- At the time a lot of immigrants were coming in looking for a job and because of all the factory jobs with poor conditions available they had to take it causing them to rebel and it gave immigrants second thoughts on coming to America.

4. Background Research • My First Job By: Rose Cohen • A story of a young girl going to work for the first time in a factory with poor condition and low pay- Survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. • http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/primary/audio/index.html • "Speaking For Ourselves" by Amy Goodman and Kathy Dobie, WNYC, March 28, 1987 • News interview on a Triangle Shirtwaist Fire survivor (0:22-1:57) • Girls Jump To Sure Death • 141 Men and Girls Die in Waist Factory Fire; Trapped High Up in Washington Place Building; Street Strewn with Bodies; Piles of Dead Inside New York Times, March 26, 1911, p. 1. • Fire Nets Prove Useless Firemen Helpless to Save Life. The fire which was first discovered at 4:40 o'clock on the eighth floor of the ten-story building at the corner of Washington Place and Greene Street, leaped through the three upper stories occupied by the Triangle Waist Company with a sudden rush that left the Fire Department helpless.

5. Workers and Working Conditions This image shows how adults work at home and have their kids assist in the hand making of clothes. This image shows how even though the adults and children work endlessly at work they have to work at home as well trying to maintain food on the table and support the family. The factories were always littered with scraps of clothing making it a safety hazard for the workers.

6. Answer to Aim • How did the 1911 Triangle shirtwaist factory fire incident help improve workers safety? • The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Incident helped improve workers safety by installing fire extinguishers, having open fire escapes and keeping doors unlocked for fast emergency exits.

7. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/presence-aug06.html?c=y&page=2http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/presence-aug06.html?c=y&page=2 • http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081019125555AAajUeX • http://history1900s.about.com/od/1910s/p/trianglefire.htm • http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/primary/testimonials/ootss_RoseCohen.html?sto_sec=sweatshops • http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/primary/survivorInterviews/leonSteinInterviews.html