First published 2003
The Triangle Shirtwaist factory occupies the top floors of a ten-story building in Greenwich Village. On March 25, 1911, flames tear through the cramped workspace where hundreds of immigrant women and young girls sew blouses for New York's garment trade. Locked exit doors trap workers on the upper floors. Fire escapes collapse under desperate crowds trying to flee. Some jump from ninth-story windows rather than burn alive. In eighteen minutes, 146 people perish in what becomes one of America's deadliest industrial disasters. Von Drehle reconstructs the tragedy through the experiences of workers, factory owners, and city officials who failed to enforce safety codes. The catastrophe galvanizes labor organizers and reformers who transform workplace safety laws across the nation.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, non-fiction, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: true-story
Setting: Greenwich Village, New York
Period: 1911
340 pages · Hardcover · Atlantic Monthly Press
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence