On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire smoldered red hot for a few seconds and, like lightening became an inferno—it was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of New York City and one of the deadliest in US history.
In this video, Ai-JePoo, Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, shares the importance of protecting and not marginalizing our domestic workers today. #AFLCIO
To learn more about the life of a Shirtwaist worker Clara Lemlich, the Uprising of 20,000, and the legacy of the Shirtwaist makers, visit the AFL-CIO website.
Update, September 2, 2023.
Remembering the Triangle Fire Coalition (RTFC) recently announced the official opening of the long-awaited Triangle Fire Memorial. Honoring the victims and legacy of the 1911 fire, the installation will be unveiled and dedicated on October 11, 2023, at the site of the historic fire in New York City. Rising nine stories high, the Memorial is being installed on the actual building that housed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place in New York’s Greenwich Village.
Here is the list of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire victims:
Lizzie Adler, 24 Anna Altman, 16 Vincenza Bellotto, 15 Vincenza Benanti, 23 Yetta Berger, 18 Essie Bernstein, 19 Jacob Bernstein, 38 Morris Bernstein, 19 Gussie Bierman, 22 Abraham Binevitz, 30 Caterina Bona Giannattasio, 22 Rosa Bona Bassino, 33 Rosie Brenman, 23 Sarah Brenman, 17 Ida Brodsky, 15 Sarah Brodsky, 21 Ada Brucks, 18 Laura Brunetti, 18 Josephine Cammarata, 17 Francesca Caputo, 16 Josephine Carlisi, 34 Albina Caruso, 20 Anna Ciminello, 36 Rosina Cirrito, 18 Anna Cohen, 25 Anna Colletti, 36 Sarah Cooper, 16 Michelina Cordiano, 30 Bessie Dashefsky, 25 Josie Del Castillo, 20 Clara Dockman, 19 Kalman Donick, 24 Nettie Driansky, 21 Celia (Civia) Eisenberg, 17 Dora Evens, 18 Rebecca Feibisch, 20 Yetta Fichtenholtz, 18 Daisy Lopez Fitze, 26 Grazia (Maria) Floresta, 30 Max Florin, 23 Concettina Franco, 15 Rose Friedman, 18 Diana Gerjuoy, 18 Masha Gerstein, 17 Celia Gitlin, 17 Esther Goldstein, 20 Lena Goldstein, 22 Mary Goldstein, 18 Yetta Goldstein, 20 Rosa Grasso, 14 Bertha Greb, 25 Rachel Grossman, 18 Mary Herman, 40 Esther Hochfield, 21 Fannie Hollander, 18 Pauline Horowitz, 19 Ida Jukofsky, 19 Ida Kanowitz, 18 Tessie Kaplan, 18 Beckie Kessler, 19 Jacob Klein, 23 Beckie Koppelman, 16 Bertha Kula, 19 Tillie Kupferschmidt, 16 Benjamin Kurtz, 19 Marianna (Annie) L’Abbate, 16 Fannie Lansner, 21 Jennie Lederman, 21 Max Lehrer, 18 Sam Lehrer, 19 Kate Leone, 14 Mary Leventhal, 22 Jennie Levin, 19 Pauline Levine, 19 Nettie Liebowitz, 25 Rose Liermark, 19 Bettina Maiale, 18 Francesca Maiale, 19 Caterina Maltese, 39 Lucia Maltese, 20 Rosarea Maltese, 14 Rose Mankofsky, 22 Rose Mehl, 15 Yetta Meyers, 19 Gaetana Midolo, 15 Annie Miller, 16 Maria Miraglia, 30 Beckie Neubauer, 19 Annie Nicholas, 18 Michelina Nicolosi, 23 Sadie Nussbaum, 18 Julia Oberstein, 19 Rose Oringer, 19 Beckie Ostrovsky, 20 Annie Pack, 18 Provvidenza Panno, 42 Anna Pasqualicchio Ardito, 28 Antonietta Pasqualicchio, 15 Ida Pearl, 20 Jennie Pildescu, 18 Vincenza Pinello, 30 Emilia Prato, 21 Concetta Prestifilippo, 22 Beckie Reines, 18 Fannie Rosen, 21 Israel Rosen, 17 Julia Rosen, 35 Louis (Loeb) Rosen, 33 Yetta Rosenbaum, 22 Jennie Rosenberg, 21 Gussie Rosenfeld, 22 Emma Rothstein, 22 Theodore Rotner, 22 Sarah Sabasowitz, 17 Santina Salemi, 24 Serafina Saracino, 25 Teresina Saracino, 27 Gussie Schiffman, 18 Theresa Schmidt, 32 Ethel Schneider, 20 Velye Schochet, 21 Golda Schpunt, 19 Margaret Schwartz, 24 Jacob Seltzer, 33 Rosie Shapiro, 17 Ben Sklover, 25 Rose Sorkin, 18 Annie Starr, 30 Jennie Stein, 18 Giovanna Stellino, 17 Jennie Stiglitz, 22 Sam Taback, 20 Clotilde Terranova, 23 Isabella Tortorelli, 17 Maria Giuseppa Tortorelli (Lauletta), 33 Meyer Utal, 23 Catherine Uzzo, 22 Frieda Velakofsky, 20 Bessie Viviano, 15 Rosie Weiner, 23 Sarah Weintraub, 17 Tessie Wiesner, 21 Dora Welfowitz, 21 Bertha Wendroff, 18 Joseph Wilson, 22 Sonia Wisotsky, 17
From Cornell University: “The changes in codes and labor laws generated in the aftermath of the Triangle Fire had obvious beneficial effects on the safety and the working conditions of workers in New York State and across the country. Unfortunately, sweatshops and unsafe factory conditions persisted, and many factory owners continued to lock the doors of their shops. The reform impulse of the Progressive Era could not eliminate the resistance of real estate interests and manufacturers to the implementation of codes and safety devices. In some instances, these interests successfully obtained exemptions to such rules and neglected to comply with regulations. In addition, funding problems often plagued government agencies, especially during economic downturns, when budgets for inspectors were slashed. As a result, industrial accidents, often with loss of life, continued to occur. The ILGWU understood the challenges of enforcement very well, and insisted that workers themselves, through their labor movement, would have to incorporate safe conditions in their demands to their employers.”
