On This Day: Triangle Factory Fire

On March 25, 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City killed 146 people. Most of the victims were immigrant women. The tragedy paved the way for sweeping workplace safety laws.

The following web sites, articles, books and documentaries offer a wealth of information about the Triangle Fire.

The Triangle Factory Fire (Cornell) This recently redesigned site provides a variety of sources that document the fire and its aftermath: survivor interviews; photos and illustrations; newspaper and magazine articles; the transcript of the criminal trial; reports; audio of a lecture by Frances Perkins from 1964; and other sources.

Josephine Cammarata

The Cornell site also includes factual information about each of the victims. Josephine Cammarata, one of the final six victims identified, was only 17 and engaged to be married on Easter Sunday. Michael Hirsch's use of newspapers, census records, death and burial certificates, and marriage licenses to identify the six victims is chronicled in 100 Years Later, The Roll of the Dead in a Factory Fire is Complete (New York Times, February 20, 2011).

Chronicling America offers search strategies, key dates, and links to sample newspaper articles about the Triangle Factory Fire. The impact of the photographs in many of these articles is explored in Factory Fire: A Frontier in Photojournalism (New York Times, March 23, 2011).

Preview Dave Von Drehle's Triangle: The Fire That Changed America (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003). Von Drehle discussed the book on Booknotes (August 21, 2003; 58 min.). A number of children's books about the tragedy are also available.

Two documentaries offer additional opportunities for understanding the Triangle Fire from multiple perspectives. One can watch Triangle Fire (PBS) online, and HBO's Triangle: Remembering the Fire will air on CNN on March 26, 2011.