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Learning Exercise

The Triangle Factory Fire

This site contains information about the March 25, 1911, fire in the New York City factory of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company and the resulting investigations and reforms.
Material:
The Triangle Factory Fire
Date last modified:
January 2, 2004
Created by:
William Paquette
License:
creative-commons creative-commons by
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The Triangle Factory Fire

The Triangle Factory Fire

This site contains information about the March 25, 1911 fire in the New York City factory of the Triangle Shirtwaist... see more

Material Type:
Collection
Author:
Patrizia Sione, Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University
User Rating:
5 stars

Exercise

This assignment requires viewing and reading the Triangle Factory Fire web site sections: Introduction, Sweatshops and Strikes, Fire, Mourning, and Protest, Relief Work, Investigation, Trial, and Reform, Comentaries, and List of Victims. It is essential that the photographs of the fire and its aftermath be viewed. This assignment uses original photographs, contemporary accounts, and oral histories.

Write a 6-8-page paper answering the following questions:
1. What are sweatshops?
2. Who was employed at the factory and who were the owners?
3. What caused the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory?
4. What were the results of the fire?
5. What are the demographics of the victims?
6. Who was responsible for the fire?
7. How did this tragedy affect the people of New York City? of the United States?
8. Could this tragedy been averted?
9. How did this fire affect future laws affecting the workplace? Be specific.
10. Could something like this happen today?

Disciplines

Audience

Technical Notes

None.

Requirements

Basic computer skills. Basic knowledge about United States labor and urban history.

Topics

United States Labor History
United States Women's History
United States Urban History

Type of Task

Learning Objectives

To inform students about a major national urban labor diaster.
To inform students about a major milestone in women's history.
To educate students about working conditions among the urban poor.