Marking a tragedy

[kambriel]

100 years ago today, on March 25, 1911 in New York City was the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Fire:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire

Managers kept the doors to the sewing rooms locked during working hours, so many of the young women (mostly Jewish and Italian immigrants*) couldn't escape ~ leading to a number of them finding no better option than to leap out of 8th, 9th, and 10th floor windows onto the sidewalks below. I remember watching a documentary on it some years ago, and how some thought the other dead ladies bodies would somehow "cushion" their fall, but it didn't really work that way... Others crowded on to a flimsy fire escape which ended up weakening in the heat, ultimately collapsing and bringing with it those who'd sought their hopeful escape. There are other incidents as well, but honestly, I find it hard emotionally to go through them all ~ read the link above to get the full story.

I think today I'm going to remember the spirits of these young ladies by taking a few hours off away from all things sewing/fabric related, go outside and breathe in some fresh air.

A list of names for all whom fell victim to the tragic blaze at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory:
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/triangle/trianglevictims2.html

*My great grandfather who emigrated from Sicily was a tailor in NYC in that era, so this strikes very close to heart.

~ Kambriel


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Comments

[mb2u]

When people ask why we need unions, I want to take them back in the TARDIS to this moment and say "This is why."

[miss-adventure.livejournal.com]

Precisely. Had the management not chained those doors shut to prevent the seamstresses from taking breaks, imagine how many of those women killed would have survived. Nobody should have to make the choice between burning alive or jumping to their death.

I have (small) hopes that the Wisconsin situation might help to revitalise the labour movement in the U.S.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

I thought of what you experienced a decade ago when envisioning what this must have been like to bear witness to, the dire vs. dire choices those young workers had to make...

And yes, it's amazing how some people don't think through what they think they're "fighting for", the real events of history they don't seem too worried about repeating; working against their own interests, in favour of the interests of those who'd nonchalantly walk over them in the process of deepening their already seemingly bottomless pockets.

At 4:45 today? You can bet we'll be outside. Simple things like safely walking out an opened door of our own volition is something never to be taken for granted.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And the son of the great-grandfather I mentioned in my post? A Teamster.