1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,320 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves and Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that on covers a little 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 1: bit more about history. Every day. Today is March. The 5 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: day was March nine eleven. A little before five in 6 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: the afternoon that Saturday, a cutter named Isadore Abrahma Witz 7 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:37,800 Speaker 1: at the Triangle Shirt Waist Company factory in New York 8 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:42,480 Speaker 1: noticed a fire in his scrap bin. In a matter 9 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: of moments, the fire was blazing, and unfortunately, the safety 10 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: standards in the factory were terribly poor, so a lot 11 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: of workers didn't make it out alive. The chaos lasted 12 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: about eighteen minutes, and the fire was under controlled by 13 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: about a half hour after its arted, but one hundred 14 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: and forty six workers died, largely because workplace safety was 15 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: so neglected at the factory. The danger of conditions and 16 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: factories like Triangle Shirtwaist was no secret and plenty of 17 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: people died every day in the workplace back in those days. 18 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: As devastating as the fire was, it did lead to 19 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: labor reforms. In the early nineteen hundreds in New York, 20 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: factories were known for the low wages they paid their workers, 21 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: the long hours employees were on the clock, and how 22 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: unhygienic and dangerous working conditions could be, And it was 23 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,759 Speaker 1: common knowledge that fires posed a huge risk in factories. 24 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: The Triangle Waste Company factory was no exception. The factory 25 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: at twenty three to twenty nine Washington Place in the 26 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: Ash Building was owned by Max Blanc and Isaac Harris. 27 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: Another factory the pair owned, the Diamond Waste Company, had 28 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: burned twice before and the Triangle Shirt Waste Factory had 29 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: burned before two. Working conditions in the Triangle Factory were miserable. Also, 30 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: mostly young Jewish and Italian immigrants and young women worked 31 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,240 Speaker 1: at the factory making shirtwaists or button down blouses that 32 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: were modeled on menswear shirts. The workers were packed in 33 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: rows at sewing machines. They worked fifty two hours a 34 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: week and made from seven to twelve dollars for that 35 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: week's worth of work, which is about one six to 36 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: nineteen dollars per week in today's money. They got basically 37 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: no breaks. Bins full of clothing material made perfect kindling 38 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: for fire, and if a fire did happen, exit options 39 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: were dangerously limited. Workers had to leave at the Green 40 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: Street exit so they could be searched for any stolen 41 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: items one by one. The fire escape was narrow and unstable. 42 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: The fire coat was pretty much ignored here. In nineteen 43 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: o nine, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union led a 44 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: strike protesting the poor pay in long hours and factories. 45 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: When workers at shirt waste companies walked out, the Women's 46 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: Trade Union League advocated for them. Blonc and Harris, though 47 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: weren't into the idea of paying workers more and giving 48 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: them better hours. The garment industry had made some gains 49 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,119 Speaker 1: during this time, like getting a grievment system, but workers 50 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: rights and conditions and factories were still subpar so. In 51 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: the afternoon of Saturday, March eleven, a fire broke out 52 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: on the top floors of the ash building where the 53 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: Triangle factory was located. It's not exactly clear how the 54 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: fire started, but it was determined to have been sparked 55 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: by a cigarette or a cigar that was thrown in 56 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: the scrapin where the fire originated. The fire safety measures 57 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: that were willfully ignored in the factory could have saved 58 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: a lot of people from being caught in the blaze, 59 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: but the ninth floor door to the Washington Place stairs 60 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: was locked, possibly on purpose by the owners to prevent theft. 61 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: Some workers escaped on the elevators, and some slid down 62 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: the elevator cables to exit, while some sadly fell down 63 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: the elevator shaft as they tried to get out. After 64 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: many people had fell off the fire escape, which stopped 65 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: before the ground anyway, the whole stairway fill, killing the 66 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: people on it. Some people jumped from windows to escape 67 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: the fire after they found no other way to exit 68 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: the burning building. The safety net firefighters set up below 69 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: the windows broke, and the firefighters ladders were too short 70 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,480 Speaker 1: to rescue people as they stopped at the seventh floor 71 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,920 Speaker 1: and the fire was on the eighth. In a twisted 72 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: illustration of the class division and suppressed rights of industrial workers, 73 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: Harris Blank, blanks daughters and all the other workers on 74 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: the tenth floor, which was the executive floor, made it 75 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: out alive by taking the elevator or taking the stairs 76 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: to the roof. The whole horrible ordeal lasted for about 77 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: eighteen minutes. One forty six of the approximately five hundred 78 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: workers died. Martha Bisley brew Air wrote in the paper 79 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: Life and labor that may Harrison Blanch the Triangle Company 80 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: have offered to pay one week's wages to the families 81 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: of the dead girls as though it were summer, and 82 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 1: they are giving them a vacation. The Triangle Waste Company 83 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: had moved to a new location and quote good working 84 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: order after the fire, though it was found that the 85 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 1: new location wasn't fireproof and a fire escape exit was 86 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: already blocked. In the wake of the disaster, people mourned 87 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: the loss of the workers, protested the unsafe conditions and factories, 88 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: and demanded Harris and Blanc go to trial. Progressive organizations 89 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: helped give out pensions and helped place injured workers in 90 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: jobs and homes. Blanc and Harris were charged with manslaughter 91 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,719 Speaker 1: in the second degree under section eighty of the Labor Code, 92 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,040 Speaker 1: which said that doors should not be locked during working hours. 93 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: They went to trial in December, but the owners were 94 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 1: acquitted as the jury doubted that the owners knew the 95 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,720 Speaker 1: doors were locked, even though a bunch of people testified 96 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: that they couldn't open the doors to the Washington Place exit. 97 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,160 Speaker 1: Twenty three civil suits were brought against Blanc and Harris, 98 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: but in the end they only paid seventy five dollars 99 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: for each person who died after the fire, the Factory 100 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: Investigating Commission was established. Workplace safety mandates like sprinklers and 101 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: high rises and outward swinging exit doors spread across New 102 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,119 Speaker 1: York into the rest of the US. In the years 103 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: to follow, politicians began incorporating labor reform into their platforms 104 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: and the emergence of more labor unions, and the New 105 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: Deal was on the horizon. I'm Eve Steff Coote and 106 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 107 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you'd like to learn more about 108 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: the fire, you can listen to the episode of Stuff 109 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: You Missed in History class called Fire at the Triangle 110 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: Shirtwaist Factory. If there's something that I missed in an episode, 111 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: you can share it on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at 112 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: t d i h C podcast. Thanks for joining me 113 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: on this trip through history. See you here, same place tomorrow. 114 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I 115 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 116 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.