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What a Creep “The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire NYC 1911”

by | Jul 25, 2022 | Podcast

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire NYC March 25, 1911) Creepy History Ep. – What a Creep

What a Creep Season 16, Episode 5 The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire March 25, 1911 One of the biggest workplace disasters in New York City happened on March 25, 1911, in a factory on the Lower Eas

What a Creep

Season 16, Episode 5

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

March 25, 1911

One of the biggest workplace disasters in New York City happened on March 25, 1911, in a factory on the Lower East Side which would be described as a “sweatshop.” Hundreds of women jammed together in one large room at sewing machines creating the fashionable “Shirtwaist” blouses that were made on the cheap to make them affordable to the masses.

The fire began on the 8th floor and eventually took over several floors in the building with doors locked, no sprinkler system in place, and fire ladders that could not reach higher than the 6th floor—146 people died, most of the women and young girls. The youngest victims were two girls–14 years old.

The deaths of these people led to some of the most important worker’s rights legislation in the history of the U.S. (things we are still arguing about over 100 years later.)

Trigger warnings: Death by fire, death at the workplace

Sources:

History.com

History.com video

Triangle Fire Memorial

AFLCIO

Britannica

New York Public Library

1979 TV Movie: The Triangle Factory Scandal

CBS News

Smithsonian

The 1911 Triangle Fire Cornell University

US Department of Labor

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle

HBO: Triangle, Remembering the Fire

PBS American Experience Triangle Fire

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