Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

          The Triangle Shirtwaist Company was a clothing factory that caught fire on March 25h, 1911. With sweatshop-esque conditions, the factory did not have a sprinkler system, all of the exit doors were locked, and posessed a poor ventilation system. Addictionally, faulty fire escapes were an aspect of the companys layout. Although the building was a so called "fire-proof" building, the premises was littered with flamable cloth. The vast majority of workers in the factory were women immigrants of Italian and Jewish decent. Of these 500 employed people, most were under the age of 25. At 4:30 P.M, the building caught fire. Scrambling for their lives, 146 of the near 500 employees were engulfed in flames. The efforts of the firefighters were overturned when they were inable to reach the top floors of the factory as the collapsing fire escapes forbid the fearful women from exiting. Other attemps, like nets for women to jump into, failed as they were not able to hold the weight of the women jumping into them. The aftermath of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire included the a trial for the two company managers, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck. They were tried for man-slaughter. The bias all male jury claimed the women of the fire were simply in panic, and this wasn't the fault of the two managers. Eventually, the two men were ordered to pay 75 dollars to each of the 23 families effected. Such injustice raised awareness to government officials about labor conditions. Ultimately, New York legislatures response was the passing of multiple laws enforcing better, safer working conditions for labor workers. In a larger sense, New York was a launching point for the progression of labor working conditions that would eventually raise awareness to the entire country.