The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire occurred in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, a borough of New York City, on Saturday, March 25, 1911. The fire was the deadliest industrial disaste
Image of Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25 1911
A horse-drawn fire engine on the way to the burning factory
A photograph of the building's south side, which ran the day after the disaster in the March 26, 1911, issue of The New York Times. Windows marked by an X are those from which 50 women jumped.
62 people jumped or fell from windows.
Frances Perkins
Videos
Frances Perkins was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the fourth United States secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of the Democratic Pa
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
…in particular in the ILGWU, believed that political reform could help. In New York City, a Committee on Public Safety was formed, headed by eyewitness Frances Perkins—who 22 years later would be appointed United States Secretary of Labor—to identify specific problems and lobby for new legislation, such as the bill…
Perkins, 1905–1945
Perkins at her desk c. 1919
Secretary of Labor Perkins on the cover of Time (August 14, 1933)
President Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act into law on August 14, 1935, with Perkins among those witnessing the signing (third from right)