Today in History: March 25, factory fire in New York kills 146 workers

Guy54435

This March 1911 photo shows fire debris in a burned-out room of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory after a fire killed 146 people, mostly immigrant girls and women, when a fire started at the clothing company in New York. (AP Photo/File)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
March 24, 2025
Today in history:
On March 25, 1911, 146 people, mostly young female immigrants, were killed when a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. garment factory in New York; the tragedy led to legal reforms for workers’ rights and workplace safety.

In 1894, Jacob S. Coxey began a march from Massillon, Ohio, leading an “army” of as many as 500 unemployed workers to Washington D.C. to demand help from the federal government.

In 1931, in the so-called “Scottsboro Boys” case, nine young Black men were taken off a train in Alabama, accused of raping two white women; after years of convictions, death sentences and imprisonment, the nine were eventually vindicated.

In 1947, a coal-dust explosion inside the Centralia Coal Co. Mine No. 5 in Washington County, Illinois, killed 111 miners; 31 survived.

In 1965, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 people to the Alabama state capitol in Montgomery, completing a five-day march from Selma to protest the denial of voting rights to Black Americans.

In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid. (Faisal bin Musaid was executed for the killing three months later.)

In 1990, 87 people were killed when fire raced through the Happy Land social club in New York City. (An arsonist, Julio Gonzalez, set the fire after being thrown out of the club following an argument with his girlfriend; Gonzalez died in prison in 2016.)

In 1996, an 81-day standoff by the Montana Freemen, an anti-government militia, began at a ranch near Jordan, Montana.

Today’s Birthdays: Film critic Gene Shalit is 99. Former astronaut James Lovell is 97. Activist and author Gloria Steinem is 91. Musician Elton John is 78. Actor Bonnie Bedelia is 77. Actor Marcia Cross is 63. Author Kate DiCamillo is 61. Actor Lisa Gay Hamilton is 61. Actor Sarah Jessica Parker is 60. Baseball Hall of Famer Tom Glavine is 59. Melanie Blatt of All Saints is 50. Comedian-actor Alex Moffat (TV: “Saturday Night Live”) is 43. Actor-singer Katharine McPhee is 41. Comedian-actor Chris Redd (TV: “Saturday Night Live”) is 40. Rapper Big Sean is 37. Actor Mikey Madison is 26.

Gene Shalit At 98 years old

takeahike

Guy54435 On March 25, 1911, 146 people, mostly young female immigrants, were killed when a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. garment factory in New York; the tragedy led to legal reforms for workers’ rights and workplace safety.

See: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire:

Although the floor had a number of exits, including two freight elevators, a fire escape, and stairways down to Greene Street and Washington Place, flames prevented workers from descending the Greene Street stairway, and [obviously preventing escape] the door to the Washington Place stairway was locked to prevent theft by the workers; the locked doors allowed managers to check the women’s purses. Various historians have also ascribed the exit doors being locked to management’s wanting to keep out union organizers because of management’s anti-union bias. The foreman who held the stairway door key had already escaped by another route.

Watch on Daily Motion: PBS.American.Experience.2011.Triangle.Fire.720p.HDTV.x264 HD Documentary

Sparkchaser

Guy54435 On March 25, 1911, 146 people, mostly young female immigrants, were killed when a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. garment factory in New York; the tragedy led to legal reforms for workers’ rights and workplace safety.

Most of the victims were recent Italian or Jewish immigrant women and girls aged 14 to 23
Interesting read - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire

This hit home as my wife is an Irish immigrant who worked in a clothing factory when she came over.