100 Years Later

Tomorrow, March 25th, marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire. The fire broke out in the Asch Building at the corner of Washington Place and Greene Street in lower Manhattan. By the time it was extinguished, 146 young Jewish and Italian immigrant workers were dead, almost all of them women. Their average age was 19, the youngest 13 and the oldest 23.

The high death toll was due in large part to the poor working conditions in the factory, although they were hardly the worst in the city at the time. The factory did not have automatic sprinklers, although they were available at the time. There had been no fire drills. Many of the factory doors swung inward, making it impossible to open against the press of workers trying to flee. On top of that, several doors had been locked to prevent worker theft. The owners were charged with manslaughter and acquitted. For the grim account of the fire: Triangle Fire: A Half-Hour of Horror.

The fire produced a public outcry, and the New York Legislature responded by enacting the strongest worker protection laws in the country at the time. Many other states followed by strengthening their own labor laws.

Today, we hear this complaint from the Right often enough: over-taxation and over-regulation. Well, with some real regulation, Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire never would have happened.