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1911 - Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

The Asch building -- known as the Brown building today -- was the home of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and site of both the first large scale strike of women workers in the country and of one of the worst industrial disasters in American history.

Hazardous working conditions were the rule in early 20th-century American industry, and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was no exception. Overcrowding, poor ventilation and dangerous machinery caused the local union to declare a strike against Triangle, and national labor and feminist figures such as Samuel Gompers and Lillian Wald spoke in support at local rallies. A spirit of solidarity grew throughout New York's clothing factories and when a general strike was called in the fall of 1909, over 20,000 workers--4/5 of them women--walked off their jobs.

What was once a strike limited to one company became the first large scale strike of women workers in American history. A settlement establishing a slight wage increase was reached, but union demands for increased fire safety were not addressed, a failure that had tragic consequences.

On 25 March 1911, fire spread through the cramped Triangle Waist Company garment factory on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors of the Asch Building in lower Manhattan. Workers in the factory, many of whom were young women recently arrived from Europe, had little time or opportunity to escape. The rapidly spreading fire killed 146 workers. Many leapt to their deaths in a vain effort to avoid the flames.

The building had only one fire escape, which collapsed during the rescue effort. Long tables and bulky machines trapped many of the victims. Panicked workers were crushed as they struggled with doors that were locked by managers to prevent theft, or doors that opened the wrong way. Only a few buckets of water were on hand to douse the flames. Outside, firefighters' ladders were too short to reach the top floors and ineffective safety nets ripped like paper.

The catastrophe sent shockwaves through the city, beginning in the communities of immigrant workers on Manhattan's Lower East Side, where families struggled to identify their lost in makeshift morgues. Family grief turned to citizen anger as the causes of the fire – including the abhorrent working conditions at the time – were exposed.

The public outcry over what was clearly a preventable tragedy brought a renewed sense of urgency to the labor movement and to other groups working to improve women's and immigrants' rights in the workplace.

Frances Perkins, who became the Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, witnessed the horror from Washington Park, recalling later that what she saw convinced her that "…something must be done. We've got to turn this into some kind of victory, some kind of constructive action." Perkins and other leaders with direct experience of the Triangle fire, like New York Governor Al Smith, soon helped marshal new workplace safety standards into law in the State of New York, setting an example for the rest of the country.

Public outrage swept the city and women progressives led by Florence Kelley joined with Tammany Hall leaders to create the New York State Factory Investigation Committee (FIC). The FIC conducted hearings and inspections which led to a series of state laws that dramatically improved safety conditions within factories.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Building, a National Historic Landmark, is located at 23-29 Washington Place in New York City, NY. The property is now used as classrooms and offices by New York University and is not open to the public.