Triangle: The Fire That Changed America

Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were the owners of several shirtwaist manufacturing companies, including the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, which they founded together in 1902 and grew into the largest such operation in New York. Blanck and Harris were the primary opponents, and most aggressive holdout owners, of the industry-wide general strike of shirtwaist makers in 1909. After 146 workers were killed in a fire at their Triangle factory in 1911, the partners faced manslaughter charges due to an illegally locked door during working hours but were ultimately acquitted.

Clara Lemlich was an immigrant from Ukraine who became a leading labor activist for garment workers in the early 20th century. Von Drehle explains that in 1903, Lemlich and her family “joined the flood of roughly two million Eastern European Jewish immigrants who entered the United States between 1881 and the end of World War I” (10). She was a central figure in the industry-wide general strike of shirtwaist makers in 1909. Prior to her role in that strike, Lemlich was severely beaten by hired thugs for her role in helping to organize workers at the Leiserson Company, where she worked.

Born in 1858, Charles Murphy was the longest-serving boss of Tammany Hall, the political machine that dominated New York politics for a century. Von Drehle writes of Murphy that he “stood, as much as any man, precisely poised between past and future, one foot in the stifling tenements and the other in the electrified skyscrapers” (26). Known in the press as “Silent Charlie,” Murphy was responsible for the transformation of Tammany Hall’s image from one of corruption, graft, and patronage to one of reform and progressive policies. Murphy was also responsible for the election of multiple New York City mayors, state governors, and US senators.

Frances Perkins was a workers-rights advocate who served as the United States secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945 under President Franklin Roosevelt. She was not only the first woman to hold a cabinet position but also the longest-serving secretary of labor in American history. Perkins happened to be nearby visiting a friend at the time of the Triangle fire and rushed to the scene. She had already become a fierce advocate for safer workplace conditions as the executive secretary of the Consumer’s League, but what she saw energized her advocacy even more. Perkins was an instrumental figure in many of the workplace reforms that took place after the fire. She was befriended by state senators Al Smith and Robert F. Wagner, and together the three helped to shape the Factory Investigating Commission.

Alfred E. Smith was a Democratic politician from New York who served four terms as the state’s governor from 1918 to 1920, and again from 1922 to 1928 and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for the presidency in 1928. At the age of 38, in 1910, Smith became the state senate majority leader and was instrumental in many of the reform efforts that took place after the Triangle fire. Smith and Robert F. Wagner became known as the “Tammany Twins” after being appointed by boss Charlie Murphy to handle day-to-day legislative business. Both of the men were far more progressive—and younger—than typical Tammany men.

Robert F. Wagner was a United States senator from New York from 1927 to 1949. In the election of 1910, Tammany Hall, the longstanding New York City political machine, won control of state government. Tammany boss Chalie Murphy surprised everyone by bypassing the “old guard” and instead putting the day-to-day business of the legislature in the hands of younger Tammany men, Wagner and Al Smith. Wagner was 33 years old at the time and, like Smith, was far more progressive than typical Tammany politicians. Together the two became known as the “Tammany Twins.” Wagner was instrumental in helping to form the Factory Investigating Commission after the Triangle fire, and he shaped many of its workplace reforms. As a US senator, Wagner was also President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s right-hand man in shaping his New Deal policies.

Charles Seymour Whitman was the district attorney of New York, who Von Drehle argues was among the first to “[weigh] the electoral ramifications of the Triangle disaster” (173). Whitman was a progressive Republican who unified all opposition to Tammany Hall and won the district attorney race at the age of 41 (174). He arrived at the scene of the Triangle fire and immediately knew that someone had to be held responsible for the tragedy. He considered going after the city building department, but eventually decided on indicting Blanck and Harris when he heard the testimonies about the Washington Place doors being locked during business hours.