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Poetry Contest Winners
The Forverts’s coverage of the fire and public outcry was graced by poet Morris Rosenfeld. In honor of the centenary and Rosenfeld’s writing about it, the Forward Association ran a prize poetry contest for original poems in English and Yiddish. The winner of the Yiddish section was Alec (“Leyzer”) Burko of New York City. In…
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Heroes and Villains, Key Players Who Made a Difference
Clara Lemlich In November 1909, thousands of New York City garment workers convened a mass meeting at Cooper Union to protest sweatshop conditions. The norm in the burgeoning garment industry included 60- to 80-hour work weeks, flammable scraps strewn around the shops, child labor and providing your own supplies, such as scissors and thread. During…
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After the Fire, Jewish Struggles Became America’s, Too
Amid the hundreds of commemorations of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that are taking place this month in New York City alone, there is something worth pondering before it gets lost: The Triangle fire turned what was considered “a Jewish problem” into a national symbol of reform, and helped move Jews from the margins of…
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The Jewish Bosses Were Exploiters — and Role Models
The circumstances surrounding the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the conflagration of 1911 that figures so prominently in shared narratives of American women’s history, labor history and Jewish history, forces us to acknowledge a “dirty little secret” that tends to get glossed over in the retelling of the history of that event. Indeed, this widely known but…
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For Bangladeshi Garment Workers, It Is Still 1911
The details sound eerily familiar. A fire on the ninth floor of a garment factory. Workers trapped behind exits locked by their employers. Cornered by flames that began raging after a pile of clothes caught on fire. And the horrific choice: jump to their death or be burned alive. The only big difference was the…
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The Lesson of the Triangle Trial
Originally published in the Forverts, December 29, 1911 Even a child could understand the lesson of the Triangle trial. It’s so clear—clearly detailed from top to bottom. It’s this: the workers under current conditions cannot be helped other than through their unions, meaning, through their own means. The city, in the Triangle case, went as…
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Around the Nation, a Rebirth of Jewish Social Justice
Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the most pre-eminent rabbis and theologians of the 20th century, was a Jewish leader who insisted that our faith be linked to the struggle for social justice in America. He lived this conviction by actively supporting causes such as the Civil Rights Movement and serving as an adviser to the…
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The 147 Immolated Have No Effect on the Jury
Originally published in the Forverts, December 29, 1911 The Triangle Bosses Are Freed—Jury Deliberates For One and A Half Hours—Over One Hundred Relatives Of The Victims Gather On The Street—But Dozens Of Police And Detectives Don’t Permit Demonstrations—“You’re Murderers” Shouts Out One Brother Of An Immolated Girl, Racing Over To The Triangle Bosses With Clenched…
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Ladies Waist Maker Union Takes On the Task of Disclosing Fire Traps
Originally published in the Forverts, April 7, 1911 Firetraps, such as those at the Triangle Company, are still frequently found, and the Ladies Waist Makers Union has disclosed such traps to various municipal departments. The union made a disclosure to the Department of Labor, among others, which subsequently dispatched inspectors to the “Eureka Waist Co.”…
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Confessions of a Triangle Juror
Originally published, December 29, 1911 Another juror from the Triangle trial regrets the verdict he gave. The Forverts published an account yesterday regarding juror No. 2 who stated that the verdict was ‘unjust.’ He regretted the fact that he let himself be convinced by others to acquit the bosses. Another juror Victor Shteynman, juror No….
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Triangle Case Goes to Jury Today
Originally published in the Forverts, December 27, 1911 Both lawyers have two hours in which to speak and then the Judge will address the jury. A witness swears that Harris told him: “The dead are already dead but the living must live: It’s certain the doors were locked: I didn’t want to enable the theft…
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