Commemoration Events for March 16 – March 23
March 16
remembrance . response . reform
Presented by the Fashion Institute of Technology First year students in the Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design program will design and install an exhibition at FIT — remembrance . response . reform — to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Students will create display vignettes to tell the Triangle Factory story that include events that lead up to the fire and the reform that took place after. The exhibit will provide viewers an appreciation of the women, men and children who lost their lives in this tragic event. The exhibit will highlight their contributions, gives a sense of their lifestyles and the conditions under which they worked. The Triangle Fire exhibition will be on view from March 16-March 29th in the Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design, 27th and Seventh Avenue. Free to the Public. This exhibit was made possible through funding provided by the PAVE Organization—The Planning and Visual Education Partnership.
March 16 – March 29
Fred P. Pomerantz Art and Design Center Building D, in Lobby
Seventh Avenue at 27th Street, New York
Phone: 212-217-5489
Workplace Dangers: Tales of Advocacy and Mourning
Presented by the United University Professions, the public is invited to attend a free lecture, “Workplace Dangers: Tales of Advocacy and Mourning.”Authors from Herstory Writers Workshop and Latina Herstory Writers Workshop read memoires of women in the workplace who, like the immigrant workers a century ago, must deal with dangerous working conditions.
March 16, 2011 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Stony Brook University, Charles B. Wang Center, Room 301
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY
Phone: 631-632-7921
Fabric, Flames, and Fervor: Girls of the Triangle
One Night Only — Benefit Performance
Looking for Lilith Theatre Company’s originally-devised performance piece, “Fabric, Flames, and Fervor: Girls of the Triangle,” explores the lives of the women and girls who were tragically killed in the garment factory fire, the ensuing trial against the owners, and how the labor rights movement was galvanized by this event shortly thereafter, drastically changing labor laws in the U.S.
For more information: http://www.beetnik.com/
March 16, 8:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Cost: $18
Natasha’s Bar and Bistro 112 Esplanade, Lexington, KY
Phone: 347-228-6438
March 17
Theater for the New City: Birds on Fire
“Birds on Fire” portrays what might have been the lives of four unknown victims of the Triangle Factory Fire. Two women, friends from Eastern Europe in America for five years, dream of a better life beyond the factory. They help a recent Eastern European arrival adjust to her new life in America. A young Italian seaman who saw her on the dock jumps ship to find this woman he loved “at first sight.” The lives of these four converge in the Triangle Factory. The fire steals from them their future as well as their past.
Theater for the New City, Crystal Field, Executive Artistic Director, proudly presents the world premiere of “Birds on Fire,” this historical musical drama written and directed by Barbara Kahn. Performances are 8 pm Thu-Sat, 3 pm Sun. Tickets are $12. For more information and for online ticket purchase
March 17 – March 20
Theater for the New City 155 1st Ave, New York, NY
Phone: 212-254-1109
Open Monthly Meeting – Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition
Last open meeting before the centennial.
Every third Thursday the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition hosts an open meeting. Stop by and get linked in.
March 17, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute (CUNY)
25 West 43rd Street, Suite 1700, New York
Triangle Factory Fire Project – Rochester
The JCC Center Stage of Rochester will host a production of the Triangle Factory Fire Project by Scott Alan Evans in March. Performances run Thursday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. Purchase tickets on the JCC Center Stage website.
March 17, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
JCC Center Stage 1200 Edgewood Avenue, Rochester, NY
Phone: 585-461-2000
March 18
Women’s Rights and Women’s Clothes
Hosted by the United College Employees of FIT and the Fashion Institute of Technology
Come discuss how women have used clothes, from the shirtwaist to the shoulder pad, to win dignity and respect in the workplace. Bring your own stories and share them with Kathy Peiss (UPenn, author of Cheap Amusements and Hope in a Jar), Daniel Cole (FIT), and Janie Bryant, the costume designer for Mad Men.
March 18, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
FIT: Katie Murphy Amphitheater D Building
Northwest corner of 7th Ave and 27th street, New York
Phone: 212 217-4327
Italian American Writers’ Association: Triangle Literary Reading
The Italian American Writers’ Association presents a Triangle Literary Reading. The reading will include several authors with poetry or prose that relates to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire or hazardous work conditions, ongoing or righted. The event is being held courtesy of SEIU 1199, Bread and Roses Gallery.
March 18, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
SEIU 1199 Bread and Roses Gallery
310 West 43rd St, New York City
Phone: 718-777-1178
Reading of new poetry anthology “Walking Through a River of Fire: One Hundred Years of Triangle Fire Poetry”
The Los Angeles LaborFest presents: A reading of new poetry anthology “Walking Through a River of Fire: 100 Years of Triangle Fire Poetry.” Edited by Julia Stein. The poetry in this anthology have already won major American poetry prizes: Chris Llewellyn’s book won the Whitman Award for Poetry, Mary Fell’s won the National Poetry Series. These poems capture this major turning point in 20th century American history. These poets attack the sweatshop, recapture the lives of immigrant women and of women workers, and inscribe workers’ lives and tragedies into literature.
With Julia Stein, editor/poet/anti-sweatshop activist. For more information: [email protected].
March 18, 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Skylight Bookstore
1818 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles
Phone: 323-660-1175
March 19
Soliloquy for a Seamstress: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Soliloquy for a Seamstress: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire is a three character, one-person play, written and performed by LuLu LoLo in a continuous, one day street performance on site at three historic locations:
Site 1 – 11:30 am in East Harlem/El Barrio (site of the Saracino home):
Site 2 – 1:00 pm at the NYU Brown Building (site of the Triangle Factory)
Site 3 – 2:30 pm at Collect Pond Park (site of the Criminal Court Building)
Time of performances:
Site 1 – 11:30 a.m.
Site 2 – 1:00 p.m.
Site 3 – 2:30 p.m.
Performance will end at 2:45 p.m.
March 19, 11: a.m. – 2:45 p.m.
25th Police Precinct (118 East 119 St.),
Asch/Brown Building (Washington Place & Greene St.),
Collect Pond Park (Lafayette & Franklin St.), New York City
Phone: 917-519-4827
Rain date: Sunday, March 20
Greater Astoria Historical Society Monthly History Roundtable Commemorative Event with Authors of “The New York City Triangle Fire”
As part of its monthly History Roundtable discussion series, the Greater Astoria Historical Society will host an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire with authors Leigh Benin, Rob Linne, Adrienne Sosin and Joel Sosinsky, who will make a presentation on their new book, The New York City Triangle Factory Fire and work on the upcoming HBO documentary, Triangle: Remembering The Fire. Discussion will also focus on continued relevance of the fire and the importance of workplace safety issues today.
March 19, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Quinn’s Gallery
35-20 Broadway, Long Island City, NY
Free for GAHS members, $5 for non-members
Joyce Gold Walking Tours: Notorious Women of Washington Square and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Centennial
Joyce Gold Walking Tour: From the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory workers to high society aristocrats, remarkable women left their imprints on this neighborhood and beyond.
March 19, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Washington Sq. Arch
Fifth Avenue and Washington Square North, New York
Cost: $15; $12 for ages 62+
Triangle Factory Fire Project – Rochester
The JCC Center Stage of Rochester will host a production of the Triangle Factory Fire Project by Scott Alan Evans in March.
March 19, 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
JCC CenterStage
1200 Edgewood Avenue, Rochester, NY
Phone: 585-461-2000
March 20
Walking Tour: The Flamboyant and the Bohemian – Greenwich Village and How it Became Famous
Hosted by Joyce Gold Walking Tours. This historical walking tour will explore the Essentials of the Village—history, culture, architecture, personalities, and “The Fire That Changed America.”
March 20, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Phone: 212-242-5762
Washington Sq. Arch, Fifth Ave., New York City
Cost: $15; $12 for ages 62+
Triangle Factory Fire Project – Rochester
The JCC Center Stage of Rochester will host a production of the Triangle Factory Fire Project by Scott Alan Evans in March.
March 20, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
JCC CenterStage
1200 Edgewood Avenue, Rochester, NY
Phone: 585-461-2000
Making it Political: Triangle Factory Fire and the Radical Response to a Capitalist Catastrophe
A free walking tour with historian Lawrence P. Rockwood Ph.D. Sponsored by the Socialist Party of NYCLearn about the political response to the great fire and that led to the heyday of American radicalism of the early 20th century. Learn about the culture that gave us the very concept of the intellectual. Hear about the lives of New York City’s most famous radicals. For more information please visit Radical History Tour.
March 20, 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Washington Square Park – Fountain, New York
The Waistmaker’s Opera
The Waistmaker’s Opera is an original music-theater work, performed by 16 teen girls and a live band, which tells the history of the shirt waistmaker’s struggle with the Triangle Factory owners in the first women’s strike in New York to improve their working conditions, a year prior to the devastating fire.
Act 1 takes place outdoors, starting at the corner of Washington and Greene Streets and ending outside Cooper Union. Act 2 takes place indoors at Millennium Film Workshop, 66 East 4th Street, NY, between Bowery and 2nd Avenue.
March 20, 2:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Downtown Art
Corner of Washington and Greene Streets, New York
Phone: 212-479-0885
Cost: $15 adults, $10 seniors and students
Henry Street Settlement: Triangle Tea & Reception
Tea and reception (featuring the foods of 1911) in the historic dining room of Henry Street Settlement, an organization that has championed the rights of workers, women and children since 1893. Hear historian Joyce Mendelson talk about life on the Lower East Side (where many Triangle workers lived) in 1911 and the role of settlement houses in protecting the rights of new immigrants. Space is extremely limited and reservations are essential. To make a reservation, please contact Susan LaRosa at [email protected]
March 20, 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Henry Street Settlement
265 Henry Street, New York
March 21
Celebrating Unsung Activists: The Clara Lemlich Awards
The Clara Lemlich Awards ceremony honors some of the amazing women who have spent their lives fighting to allow working men and women have their rightful place in our nation.
March 21, 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Rubin Foundation Gallery
17 West 17th Street, 8th fl, New York
Phone: 212-998-2637
West 4th New Music presents a Tribute to the Triangle Shirtwaist Workers
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the tragic fire, the West Fourth New Music Collective presents a concert to commemorate those who died in the fire and the eternal nature of their struggle. Each contrasting piece is joined together by the voices of the survivors in archival interviews. The concert features eight composers, twenty performers and two video artists.
March 21, 8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Galapagos Art Space
16 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY
Phone: 917-623-3663
HBO – Triangle: Remembering the Fire
Blowback Productions has made a new documentary on the Triangle Fire directed by Daphne Pinkerson. Triangle: Remembering the Fire marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire, an event that changed the course of history and stands as a cautionary tale for today.
March 21, 9:00 p.m. – 9:40 p.m.
HBO
March 22
HBO – Triangle: Remembering the Fire
Blowback Productions has made a new documentary on the Triangle Fire directed by Daphne Pinkerson. Triangle: Remembering the Fire marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire, an event that changed the course of history and stands as a cautionary tale for today.
March 22
HBO On-Demand
146+ Craft Action Deadline
Created by Microrevolt, 146+ is a Craft Action to commemorate the 146 victims of the 1911 Triangle Waist Factory fire in New York City and to connect that history to the contemporary crisis in the global garment industry. Participate by crafting a numbered armband and standing with Workers United as we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the tragedy that catalyzed an international labor movement. The “deadline” for the crafted armbands is to receive them by post mail at the above address by March 22. On March 25, 2011 participants/volunteers can meet at the Great Hall at Cooper Union at 11:00 a.m. to receive armbands and walk to the Commemoration at Washington Place and Greene Street.
March 22
Microrevolt
15 Channel Center Street, #502, Boston
Fire Escape Presented by the Lower East Side Tenement Museum
America-in-Play, a theatre company, creates a new play consisting of scenes, monologues and songs inspired by the real people who endured the fire, those who survived, those who died. These lives collide with a popular iconic fictional character of the same era: Bertha the Sewing Machine Girl, who appeared in newspaper serials and melodramas. She was always rescued: what happen when she encounters the people of the fire? The play is built by a company of playwrights and composer and performed by a company of women in multiple roles.
March 22, 6:30 p.m – 8:00 p.m.
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
108 Orchard Street, New York
March 23
Opening News Conference, 40-hour fast on the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Factory Fire
The Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State’s 40-hour fast will open at the home of Kate Mullany, who in 1864 organized the Collar Laundry Union, the first female union in the country. She took to the streets to bring about safer working conditions and higher pay as did her sisters from the International Ladies Garment Workers Union in 1909-10. Union members were among the 146 workers killed in the Triangle factory fire on March 25, 1911.
The fast calls to reflect on what kind of workplaces we want for all who labor and to take action to end today’s sweatshops. Speakers include NY Senator Neil Breslin, LRCNYS Co-chair Richard Iannuzzi, president of NYSUT, and Brian O’Shaughnessy, LRCNYS Director.
March 23, 9:30 a .m. – 10:00 p.m.
Kate Mullany National Historic Site
350 8th Street, Troy, NY
Lower East Side History Project: Women Movers & Shakers Walking Tour
Presented by the Lower East Side History Project Women Movers & Shakers Walking Tour is a special tour, covering about 15 blocks, that will conclude at the site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. From breaking new ground in music, art, literature, fashion and medicine, to advancements in working conditions and women’s rights, the women of the Lower East Side played an invaluable role in shaping politics and culture in America and around the globe.
March 23, 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Lower East Side, New York City
Phone: 347-465-7767
RSVP for meeting location
Cost: $20.00
Stony Brook University Campus Commemoration of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The commemoration will feature students reading the names and ages of the victims of the fire. Campus and local dignitaries will speak. There will be videos, historic photographs, and other displays. Sponsored by United University Professions.
March 23, 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Stony Brook University, Charles B. Wang Center, Chapel
Stony Brook, NY
Not One More Fire: Finding Solutions to Today’s Sweatshops
Panelists will discuss challenges facing the global garment industry, and present concrete solutions from the perspectives of workers, manufacturers, and legislators. Garment workers from Bangladesh will be featured presenters. A runway show will illustrate historical and contemporary challenges for the garment industry and showcase solutions that focus on the “sweatshop-free” government purchasing strategy. Participants will be invited to join local campaigns to end sweatshops and child labor.
March 23, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Fashion Institute of Technology – John E. Reeves Great Hall
227 West 27 Street, New York, NY
“Triangle: The Fire that Changed America” with David Von Drehle
The Lower East Side Tenement Museum presents — “Triangle: The Fire that Changed America” with David Von Drehle. The author of the definitive text joins us for the centennial of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire — the tragedy that killed 146 workers on a spring day in March 1911. Seating begins at 6:00 PM. To guarantee a seat, pre-buy a book by calling 212-431-0233 ext 259. Otherwise, seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis.
March 23, 6:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Tenement Museum
108 Orchard Street, New York
Phone: 212-431-0233 ext. 259
Lecture: Hand-Sewing in the 1850s – 60 Years before the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
Hosted by Merchant’s House Museum Before sewing machines and factories revolutionized clothing production in the second half of the 19th century, most garments were made entirely by hand. Learn about forgotten hand-sewing methods used at home and in dressmaker’s workshops during the mid-19th century in this “hands-on” presentation.
March 23, 7:00 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.
Merchant’s House Museum
29 East 4th Street, New York
Cost: $15, $10 students & seniors
Triangle Fire Cantata
Hosted by the Workmen’s Circle/Arbeter Ring The “Triangle Shirtwaist Fire” will be a composition for instruments and voices. This original composition by composer Yale Stromwill commemorate the lives of the Jewish and Italian immigrants (through music and song) who lived in the Lower East Side and tragically died on March 25th 1911 in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, which until 9/11, was the worst workplace disaster in NYC history. The composition will include motifs from well known Yiddish and Italian folks songs.
March 23, 7:00 pm – 9:00 p.m.
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Way, San Diego
Phone: 619 255-1651
New Filmmakers: LES Remembers the Triangle Fire
New Filmakers presents a screening of Gianfranco Norelli’s “Pane Amaro” (Bitter Bread), a comprehensive depiction of the Italian American experience in the United States that traces their social, economic, and political transformation. The film also covers how Italian migrant garment workers also perished in the Triangle Fire of 1911. The screening will also be accompanied by several other shorts films whose main topics cover the Triangle Fire history and legacy.
March 23, 7:00 pm – 10:00 p.m.
Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue (at 2nd St.), New York
Cost: $6
“From the Fire” created by Elizabeth Swados, Cecilia Rubino and Paula Finn
From the Fire a new work created by the Tony nominated composer, Elizabeth Swados, writer/director, Cecilia Rubino, the poet, Paula Finn, and designed by Bonnie Roche-Bronfman, will dramatize the history of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and bring the event into the 21st century. This dramatic oratorio/physical theater piece, sponsored by Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts, will be performed two blocks from the site of the fire at the historic Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square during the week of Triangle’s 100th Anniversary, March 23rd through March 27th, 2011.
March 23, 7:30 pm – 9:00 p.m.
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South, New York
Phone: 212-229-5488
Cost: $15 Admission $5 Student
HBO – Triangle: Remembering the Fire
Blowback Productions has made a new documentary on the Triangle Fire directed by Daphne Pinkerson. Triangle: Remembering the Fire marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire, an event that changed the course of history and stands as a cautionary tale for today.
March 23, 8:00 p.m. – 8:40 p.m.
HBO2
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