“It was the deadliest workplace accident in New York City’s history. On March 25th, 1911, a deadly fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York’s Greenwich Village. The blaze ripped through the congested loft as petrified workers — mostly young immigrant women — desperately tried to make their way downstairs. By the time the fire burned itself out, 146 people were dead. All but 17 of the dead were women and nearly half were teenagers….”
— “Triangle Fire”
PBS American Experience, 2011
Page one news from the New York Tribune:
See Also:
The New York Times on March 26, 1911.
Additional examples can be found on their
Times Topics page: “Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.”
CBS News looked back at the fire in 2011:
A story excerpt from the Chicago Tribune:
“One hundred and forty-eight persons nine-tenths of them girls and young women are known to have been killed in a fire which burned out the ten story factory building at the northwest corner of Washington place and Green street, just off Washington square, this afternoon.
One hundred and forty-one of them were instantly killed, either by leaps from the windows and down elevator shafts, or by being smothered. Seven died in the hospitals.”
(Here is a link to the rest of the story.)
The New York Evening World two days after the fire:
The Library of Congress has compiled a page of archived articles about the fire.
Visit their resource page for the following stories:
“142 Die when Shirtwaist Factory Burns.”
The Washington Herald (Washington, DC), March 26, 1911.“More than 140 Die as Flames Sweep through Three Stories.”
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), March 26, 1911.“Criminal Action to Follow Fire Horror.”
The Tacoma Times (Tacoma, WA), March 27, 1911.“Cigarette Caused Factory Fire.”
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), March 27, 1911.“Labor Condemns Horror.”
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), March 27, 1911.“New York Horror to be Probed.”
The Democratic Banner (Mt. Vernon, OH), March 28, 1911.“Girls Swear Door Locked, Another Block.”
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), March 29, 1911.“Not a Chance for the Girls.”
The Yakima Herald (Yakima, WA), March 29, 1911.“Only Fire Escape in New York Sweatshop Fire was a Fire Trap.”
The Tacoma Times (Tacoma, WA), April 4, 1911.“Jury Indicts Two for Factory Fire.”
The Washington Herald (Washington, DC), April 12, 1911.“Pictures Showing Scenes at Waist Factory Fire Horror in the Heart of New York City.”
The Logan Republican (Logan, UT), April 20, 1911.“Inquiry Planned to Stop Factory Fires.”
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), May 9, 1911.“Saw Factory Door Open,”
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), December 20, 1911.“Harris and Blanck Acquitted by Jury.”
The New York Tribune (New York, NY), December 28, 1911.
