Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Progressive Era

The 146 people that died during the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire sparked a workplace reform movement that quickly spread across America like a wildfire. These reforms were some that were drastically needed. During the Progressive Era, employers were getting away with child labor, long hours that kept mothers away from their children and terrible work conditions that killed thousands every year. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire impacted society during the Progressive Era by drawing attention to the dangerous working conditions in factories, leading to the passage of safety laws that improved American lives forever. During the Progressive Era (1890-1920’s) working conditions in factories were considered inhumane, child labor laws were
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Manhattan, New York City on March 25, 1911 was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in US history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers 123 women and 23 men who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling or jumping to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent Jewish and Italian immigrant women aged 16 to 23 of the victims whose ages are known, the oldest victim was Providenza Panno at 43, and the youngest were 14-year-olds Kate Leone and "Sara" Rosaria Maltese. The factory was located on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors of the Asch Building, at 23–29 Washington Place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, now known as the Brown Building and part of New York University. Because the owners had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits – a then-common practice to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft many of the workers could not escape and jumped from the high windows. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers. In the book Fresh & Blood so Cheap by Albert Marrin, first-hand witness of the fire, Miss Frances Perkins says,” We got there just as they started to jump… I shall never forget the frozen horror which came over us as we stood with our hands on our throats watching that horrible sight, knowing there was no help.” She later describes how this incident shocked America and started a movement that would soon be