Triangle: The Fire That Changed America is a book by David von Drehle that tells the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that occurred on March 25, 1911 in New York City. The fire resulted in the deaths of 146 garment workers, most of whom were young immigrant women.
The book begins by introducing the reader to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which was owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris. The factory was located in the top floors of the Asch Building in Greenwich Village and produced women's blouses, or "shirtwaists," for the rapidly growing clothing industry in New York City.
Von Drehle then introduces the readers to the workers at the Triangle factory, most of whom were poor immigrants who had come to America in search of a better life. Many of these workers were young women who worked long hours in crowded and dangerous conditions for low wages.
On the day of the fire, a small fire broke out on the eighth floor of the Asch Building. The fire quickly spread and trapped the workers on the upper floors, as the factory had no fire escapes and the exits were locked to prevent theft. The workers were forced to either jump to their deaths or be burned alive. In the end, 146 people died in the fire, making it one of the deadliest industrial disasters in American history.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire sparked outrage and led to significant changes in labor laws and factory safety regulations. It also became a rallying point for the growing labor movement and helped to bring about the formation of labor unions and the creation of safety standards for the workplace.
In conclusion, Triangle: The Fire That Changed America is a powerful and poignant reminder of the importance of worker safety and the impact that one tragedy can have on the entire nation. It is a testament to the bravery and sacrifice of the workers who lost their lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the lasting legacy they left behind.
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He includes details about the workers — where they came from, how they lived, how they worked, and how they died. Unions were just beginning to gain strength, but not nearly enough to obtain needed safety reforms. Another sad chapter in the history of America, and one where greed triumphed over humanity. I'm grateful for the light that von Drehle was able to shed on those that lost their lives, escaping the Mt. In this book, Von Drehle begins by explaining the terrible working conditions that existed in New York in 1911.
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
The book has unexpected twists and turns throughout it. Every individual is thoroughly reviewed so that the reader completely understands why they make the choices they do. Fire code laws, factory inspection laws, and workers compensation all came to fruition as a result of this tragedy; the 146 workers who sacrificed their lives paved the way for the lives of workers across the country to dramatically improve for many years, which has continued into the present. Von Drehle sets the story up nicely, focusing on several different people who ended up dying in the fire: why they immigrated to America, what types of problems they were leaving across the ocean, what types of problems confronted them in New York, their living and working conditions, and the different languages that they spoke. The authors themselves compound the differences. On March 25, 1911 a spark in a waste receptacle exploded into an inferno, fed by combustible cloth and cotton remnants and raced through the top two floors of the Asch Building in a matter of minutes. I couldn't help, however, but to compare the book to Stewart O'Nan's The Circus Fire, which tells the story of the Hartford Circus fire in the mid-1940s.
Summary of "Triangle: The Fire that Changed America"
Too many recent immigrants and impoverished citizens were willing to work under these horrible conditions for unfair pay because they were desperate for any type of compensation. This gives nonfiction books a bad name. In addition to giving a terrifying minute-by-minute account of the fire, Von Drehle puts the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire into its larger social context of strikes, socialism, Tammany, and labor reform. One hundred and forty six people died, the majority being young immigrant women. I feel I ought to like this book.
Triangle The Fire That Changed America Summary
Both the photos and diagram exist, but you have to click on the link the author supplies to Cornell University, who makes this information about the Triangle fire available to the public. Shortly after finishing, I had a trip planned for New York. The first is the prologue, in which the author gives a brief summary of the Triangle Waist Company fire and introduces some key players who show up later in the book. And then it happens again, several years later! Female garment workers were dismissed in large numbers for strikes and union activity. You mean politicians on both sides were corrupt even two centuries ago? And you better find politics fascinating.
