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Today is the anniversary of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York, which left 146 dead. Ultimately, the Triangle fire was a major catalyst for changes in US labor laws.
It's difficult to write about this, not only because it was a heart-hollowing tragedy, but because of the complexity and sheer volume of contemporary accounts. Once I started reading, it was difficult to stop.
A summary from the Cornell website, which was my starting point:
The fire at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City, which claimed the lives of 146 young immigrant workers, is one of the worst disasters since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
This incident has had great significance to this day because it highlights the inhumane working conditions to which industrial workers can be subjected. To many, its horrors epitomize the extremes of industrialism.
The tragedy still dwells in the collective memory of the nation and of the international labor movement. The victims of the tragedy are still celebrated as martyrs at the hands of industrial greed.
The anniversary of the Triangle fire is marked with events each year, and this year I signed up for a project organized by Tatter. One hundred and forty-six volunteers each embroidered the name and age of one victim on a piece of white fabric. The individual pieces were then stitched together by other volunteers at Tatter, to be displayed as a banner during the annual commemorative event at the site of the fire.
As suggested by the Tatter organizers, I tried to learn a bit about Yetta Rosenbaum to personalize her embroidered panel. She had been in the US for 3 years and 9 months, so I began with her hometown (in current-day Ukraine) and soon got lost in its very complex history. Moving forward, I found maps and street photographs of the lower East Side of Manhattan in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries, and marked the routes Yetta could have taken to the factory. Did she take a streetcar? Or if the weather was nice, or she needed to economize, did she walk? Did she ever catch a glimpse of the Washington Arch before entering the factory? Was she excited when a movie theatre opened in 1910, right down the street from her home at 308 East Houston?
It's a fine line between feeling sympathy for a person one has never known, and feeling empathy for an imagined version of a person one can never know.
Many bits of documentation I found about Yetta Rosenbaum - even her age (21 or 22) and the spelling of her name - were contradicted by another account. Which is why I'm not including all those bits which would certainly add dimension but possibly with false colors. Does it matter? I'm not a 1911 reporter, repeating gruesome details and selling newspapers. Nor am I participating in the subsequent legal proceedings, presenting information with the sole intent to blame or exonerate. But when I found myself imagining the walk to the factory, I felt I was crossing a line into creating a fictional person, not learning more about the real woman who travelled to America and worked long hours at a factory and who died, tragically and horribly, at a very young age.
In fact, I cannot know much about that real woman.
But at least I can say her name.
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I didn't know Tatter had organized this. Thank you for taking part. It was a terrible result of management abuse of workers. I fear when I hear of big employers bosses union busting. It's only by continual alertness and action that ee avoid sliding back into this morass. A****n is there already in its treatment of workers.
ReplyDeleteIf you click the "catalyst" link above, Frances Perkins (first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet and the longest serving US Secretary of Labor) talks about witnessing the Triangle fire and the work that followed. Gains that must not be lost.
DeleteI typed nowadays and textbully turned it into bosses
ReplyDeleteWow, sometimes it's really impossible to see the text-correction "logic."
DeleteI've heard bits and pieces this story. One of the Molly Murphy mysteries (by Rhys Bowen) was loosely based on the factory. How interesting that you could dig into Yetta's history as much as you could. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sally! And thank you for not only advising me on the fabric but very kindly sending me the piece that is now part of the Tatter archive :)
DeleteWhat an excellent project. Your stitching is just beautiful too, very fitting.
ReplyDeleteI hear you about crossing the line between fact and fiction. Yet a good writer of historical fiction is able to take fact from thorough research and write a story that can inform and educate in an interesting way. A good writer of historical fiction will always disclose what is fact and what is artistic license, and for myself, always serves as a jumping off point to further explore historical events.
Than you so much for the compliment on my stitching, Leigh. It didn't hit me until after I had signed up, that I hadn't embroidered anything in about 50 years - back in the days when I sewed entire blouses and long dresses by hand. It was a great relief to find I could still hold a needle. And I agree completely about the value of historical fiction.
DeleteWhat an interesting post! I was unaware of these tragic events. So many lives hard lived through the circumstances of fate. But look at this, remembered too with such attention and consideration. That bit and how remarkable it is brings a tear to my eye. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, Jocelyn!
DeleteI actually came across a post regarding this tragic event earlier in the day. Sadly, there are still horrible conditions and abuse all across this world where factory workers are concerned. And even if it's not happening in the states, most fast fashion brands are involved in the abuse because of their supply chains. Honoring lives lost in such a meaningful and tactile way is of course important and rewarding. There's a woman in Ireland named Mary who organized the embroidery of names of all those killed in Gaza. Each volunteer stitcher did about 180 names per panel along with their age. Unfortunately, like everyone else, she never imagined the genocide would continue for 17 months and the list of the dead would grow even longer. She stopped the project at 30,000.
ReplyDeleteAwareness of the fact that such abuses continue worldwide - including in the US - and in other circumstances such as agriculture, not just factories - is one of the reasons the Triangle fire is so actively commemorated. Many are also aware that current attempts in the US to undermine hard-fought gains of the 1930s and beyond are likely to be yield a cruel and painful setback.
DeleteThis was fascinating to read about Quinn, thank you. I was totally unaware of the fire and this project certainly put a human 'face' on the tragedy. Not much has changed in the years since then, particularly when it comes to the inhumane conditions at many of the garment factories of today.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree. A great deal has changed. It's terrible that not every problem has been eradicated, and I am not speaking for the entire planet, but when I consider even my parents' and grandparents' working lives in the US, it's clear that a great deal has changed.
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