Note to researchers: This exhibit presents mainly primary documents, with a selection of secondary documents. If you are new to research of this type, please review the difference between primary sources and secondary sources under Tips for Students.
Below you will find resources as they relate to specific pages in the Story of the Fire section.
Sweat Shops and Strikes before 1911
Testimonials
Selections from Leon Stein's Out of the Sweatshops
- My First Job, by Rose Cohen
- Days and Dreams, by Sadie Frown
- Among the Poor Girls, by Wirt Sikes
- Life in the Shop, by Clara Lemlich
- The Cooper Union Meeting of 1909 (with Samuel Gompers), The Call
The Kheel Center would like to thank Mrs. Miriam Stein and Barbara Ismail for granting permission to use selections from the late Leon Stein's book.
Letters
-
Letter to Michael and Hugh-Pauline Newman
Pauline Newman was active in sweatshop reform. She had worked at the Triangle Factory, but quit before the disaster.
Songs and Plays
Fire!
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
- New York Times, March 26, 1911, p. 1. "141 Men and Girls Die in Waist Factory Fire; Trapped High Up in Washington Place Building; Street Strewn with Bodies; Piles of Dead Inside."
- Chicago Sunday Tribune, March 26, 1911, p. 1. "New York Fire Kills 148."
- New York Times, March 26, 1911, p. 4. "Stories of Survivors. And Witnesses and Rescuers Outside Tell What They Saw."
- New York Times, March 26, 1911, p. 4. "Lived Amid Flames, But Nearly Drowns."
- New York Times, March 26, 1911, p. 4. "Crowd At Police Station; Mercer Street is Turned Into an Emergency Hospital"
- New York Times, March 26, 1911, p. 4. "Death List Shows Few Identified"
- Chicago Sunday Tribune, March 28, 1911, p. 2. "Thrilling Incidents in Gotham Holocaust That Wiped Out One Hundred and Fifty Lives."
- Ladies' Garment Worker, April 1911. [notice of the fire]
Testimonials
Selections from Triangle Fire, by Leon Stein
- Fire, pp. 12-14
- Ladder, p. 18
- Trap, pp. 23-24
- Warnings, pp. 26-28
- Eighth [Floor], pp. 37-39
- Ninth [Floor], pp. 54-55
- Escape, pp 70-71
Selections from Out of the Sweatshop, by Leon Stein
The Kheel Center would like to thank Mrs. Miriam Stein and Barbara Ismail for granting permission to use selections from the late Leon Stein's book.
Letters
-
Letter To Wm, from Charles Willis Thompson, journalist.
A journalist and member of the Washington Bureau of the New York Times and of the New York World, Thompson wrote a letter providing a witness account of the events surrounding the Fire.
Songs and Plays
- Ballad of the Triangle Fire
- My Little Shirtwaist Fire
- Episode V, The Triangle Fire from The Story of the ILGWU: A Radio Play in Six Episodes
Mourning and Protest
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
- American Federationist, May 1911, "Hostile Employers See Yourselves as Others Know You"
- Ladies' Garment Worker, September 1911, "Echoes from the Triangle Fire"
- Ladies' Garment Worker, Oct. 1911, "Agitation Among the Ladies' Waistmakers, Local 25."
- Outlook, April 15, 1911. "The Factory Girl's Danger."
Songs and Plays
The Kheel Center would like to thank Manny Rubenstein for granting permission to use these documents ©2003.
Testimonials
Selections from Out of the Sweatshop, by Leon Stein
Selections from Triangle Fire, by Leon Stein
The Kheel Center would like to thank Mrs. Miriam Stein and Barbara Ismail for granting permission to use selections from the late Leon Stein's book.
Relief Work
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
Reports
Investigation and Trial
Newspaper and Magazine Articles
- New York Times, March 28, 1911, p. 1. "Blame Shifted on All Sides for Fire Horror."
- Outlook, April 22, 1911, "Indictments in the Asch Fire Case"
- Outlook, April 29, 1911,"Placing the Responsibility"
- Literary Digest, January 1912, "147 Dead, Nobody Guilty"
Lectures
Reports
- Preliminary Report of the Factory Investigating Commission, 1912
- New York (State) Factory Investigating Commission (excerpts)
- Report to the Legislature of the State of New York (pp. 13-20)
- The Fire Hazard in Factory Buildings (pp. 28-34)
- Recommendations of the Commission (pp. 38-47)
- Results of the Data (pp. 128-130)
- Notes on Some Trades in Which Women are Employees, "Clothing (Women's waists)"( pp. 277-278)
-
Testimony of Edward F. Croker, Fire Chief (pp.14-21, 35-36, 39-40)
the Triangle Fire, the Asch Building, and who was responsible -
Testimony of G.I. Harmon, Inspector, Labor Department (p. 242-249)
inspection of Asch Building prior to the Triangle Fire -
Testimony of William L. Beers, Fire Marshal, City of New York (p. 571, 580-82)
interrogated about the Asch Building -
Fourth Report of the Factory Investigating Commission, 1915.
Includes summary of work of the commission and laws passed as a result of the commission's work.
