Join ILR Professor Nick Salvatore, Artist Ruth Sergel, and Cornell ILR Catherwood Library, Kheel Center Director Cheryl Beredo in a discussion about:

– 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: American labor laws, women’s rights, building codes, factory guidelines, generations of inspired social activism

– Jewish & Italian immigrant experiences on NYC’ dense, shared Lower East Side.

Date: March 26, 2018
Time: 6:30 p.m. (a reception will follow)
Location: Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011

To register click here. 

A Moment in History: Saturday, March 25, 1911

In New York City, 146 young immigrant women (and a few men), arrived at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory for their long work day.
Conditions at the “modern” Asch building were crowded; fabrics strewn, tables lined up, mannequins stationed, little aisle.  A ninth floor door to outside stairs was locked.

At 4:30 p.m., fire filled the factory, resulting in the loss of their 146 lives – forever changing American laws and the lives of workers.
A young Frances Perkins, future Secretary of Labor and the first woman in the U.S. Cabinet, watched from across the street.

The Archives of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire reside at Cornell, at ILR’s Catherwood Library, Kheel Center.
Cornell students, world scholars and elementary school children are among the many who access files daily, in person and online.

100 years later, thousands traveled to NYC, gathering at the site to mark the fire’s centennial.  Since 2004, “CHALK” – street-writing community commemoration – annually honors the Triangle Dead, inscribing the names of the 146 young workers onto the sidewalks in front if their tenement homes.

CO – SPONSORS
The ILR School – Cornell University
Center for Jewish History (Bruce E. Slovin ’57)
American Jewish Historical Society