Remember the Triangle Fire 

On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory located one block east of Washington Square Park. Beginning on the eighth floor, the fire burned through three floors of the Asch Building, now NYU’s Brown Building. There were over 500 employees -- mostly young women and recent immigrants. Because the owners had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits -- a then-common practice to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks -- many of the workers could not escape and jumped from the high windows. Fire trucks arrived, but their ladders reached only the sixth floor. The elevators ran as long as they could as workers pressed into the cars; some tumbled down the elevator shaft. In the end, 146 people died. There was a trial, but the owners -- long known for their anti-union activities -- were acquitted. The fire became a rallying cry for the international labor movement. Many of our fire safety laws were created in response to this tragic event and improved safety standards.
Panelists include:
Robin K. Berson, historian, researcher, librarian and quilter. She has been on the editorial staff of The History of Education Quarterly and is the author of three books, including Jane Addams: A Biography.
Eileen Follano, Hofstra University, social media intern for Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition Inc.
LuLu LoLo, international performance artist, playwright, actor, historian and activist. She has written and performed eight one-person plays Off-Broadway that evolve from her passion for historical research and social justice, especially as pertaining to the dramatic struggle of women in New York City’s past.
Mary Anne Trasciatti, associate professor of rhetoric at Hofstra University and president of Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition Inc. She is spearheading the effort to build a permanent memorial at the site of the 1911 fire.