The Fire That Changed America: Disaster at the Triangle Waist Company
Taught by Glenna A.
By day, Glenna teaches social studies at a high school in downtown Brooklyn. In her spare time, she likes “Jeopardy,” needlepoint, trivia, rock climbing, and captive audiences. She especially loves talking about history.
In the late afternoon of March 25, 1911, a fire broke out in a factory owned and operated by the Triangle Waist Company. In less than an hour, over one hundred people were dead and the country was shaken by what could have easily been a preventable loss of life.
Yet, despite the horrors of the fire, its aftermath spurred the labor reform movement to achieve rights for workers that still affect our lives a century later. Together, we’ll explore the history of the factory, a timeline of the fire, reactions from both New York City and the nation as a whole, and finally, the fire’s implications for the United States today.
(Feel free to buy tickets at the door for this one! We'll have some drinks too!)
