The Triangle Fire
by Leon Stein
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Description
"On March 25, 1911, 146 employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City were killed in the span of a few minutes because no provision had been made for their safety in the event of fire. The Cornell edition of Leon Stein's 1962 account features 16 illustrations, some never before published. A new introduction by the journalist William Greider makes clear that accounts of dangerous workplaces and sweatshop conditions are still all-too-relevant today, ninety years after the fire. show more The story of the catastrophe and the doomed Triangle Shirtwaist workers, as told by one of the great labor journalists, will not soon be forgotten. Praise for the 1962 edition? "Stein ... recreate[s] the tragic events of the fire in all their dramatic intensity. His moving account is a work of dedication."?New York Times Book Review"With commendable restraint, [Stein] uses newspapers, official documents, and the evidence of survivors to unfold a story made more harrowing by the unemotional simplicity of its narration."?Library Journal"Stein ... suggests that the fire alerted the public to shocking working conditions all over the city and helped the unions organize the clothing industry, but his good taste keeps him from selling the reader any silver lining. A by-product of the careful research that has gone into this excellent narrative is an interesting sketch of the hard lives and times of working girls in the days when the business of America was business."-- show lessTags
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Member Recommendations
oregonobsessionz David von Drehle used Leon Stein's book as a reference for his 2003 book on the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.
Also recommended by AnnaClaire
Member Reviews
Just 11 years after the Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago killed 600 people, a fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York City again showed the impact of inadequate exits.
Leon Stein is a less talented writer than David von Drehle, who used this book as a source for his 2003 book, Triangle: The Fire that Changed America. But Stein, writing 40 years earlier, was able to interview survivors and onlookers who were not available to von Drehle.
Leon Stein is a less talented writer than David von Drehle, who used this book as a source for his 2003 book, Triangle: The Fire that Changed America. But Stein, writing 40 years earlier, was able to interview survivors and onlookers who were not available to von Drehle.
Ratings
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Lists
Disaster Books
74 works; 19 members
Good Nonfiction about New York City
62 works; 10 members
Accidents, Disasters, and Tragedies
175 works; 7 members
Author Information
10 Works 183 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1962
- Important places
- New York, New York, USA; Manhattan, New York, New York, USA; Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, New York, New York, USA
- Important events
- Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911-03-25)
- Epigraph
- Judge M. Linn Bruce (counsel): How high can you successfully combat a fire now?
Edward F. Croker (Chief, New York City Fire Department): Not over eighty-five feet.
Bruce: That ... (show all)would be how many stories of an ordinary building?
Croker: About seven.
Bruce: Is that a serious danger?
Croker: I think if you want to go into the so-called workshops which are along Fifth Avenue and west of Broadway and east of Sixth Avenue, twelve, fourteen or fifteen story buildings they call workshops, you will find it very interesting to see the number of people in one of these buildings with absolutely not one fire protection, without any means of escape in case of fire.
--Before the New York State Assembly Investigating Committee on Corrupt Practices and Insurance Companies Other Than Life, City Hall, New York City, December 28, 1910 - Dedication
- To
No. 46
No. 50
No. 61
No. 95
No. 103
No. 115
No. 127 - First words
- The first touch of spring warmed the air.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)She gripped me by the wrists and shaking me demanded with anger and despair: "What good have been all the years? The fire still burns."
- Original language
- English
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 974.7 — History & geography History of North America Northeastern United States (New England and Middle Atlantic states) New York
- LCC
- HD9940 .U5 .N717 — Social sciences Industries. Land use. Labor Industries. Land use. Labor Special industries and trades Manufacturing industries
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 122
- Popularity
- 263,854
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.31)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 6
