Author: Khurshid Ahmad Qureshi
Professor: Triston Young
Course: History 1302-Y001
November 29th, 2017
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America, by David Von Drehle, Grove Press, 2004. 352 pages. Reviewed by Khurshid Ahmad Qureshi
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America, written by David Von Drehle, recounts the dreadful incident of fire that broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory on March 25, 1911, and its aftermath. In the earlier part of nineteenth-century, New York City saw Triangle Shirtwaist factory running a lucrative business in a multi-story building. The factory was owned by two businessmen Isaac Harris and Max Blank who decided to set it up on the upper three stories of the Asch Building; which was considered and projected as …show more content…
Lemlich was a strong woman who fought back and raised her voice over and over against the injustice and cruel behavior. Von Drehle claims that the beating of Lemlich inspired many other women at Shirtwaist factory to stand up and fight for their rights and the poor working conditions which lead to the horrendous fire (10). Multiple of such violent beating incident, arrests of woman strike leaders and assault by police, strengthen the stance of the position of the women workers. These incidents also caught the attention of business elite which was already leaning towards the progressivism. During that era, the president of United States, Theodore Roosevelt and the governor of the New York, Charles Evans Hughes both had the progressive ideology but on the contrary New York also had Tammany Hall who was a complete opposite of progressivism.
People from different religions, races and professions were affected by the fire of Triangle Shirtwaist factory but they all had surprisingly one thing in common, they were all immigrants. These immigrants were the people who mostly packed the streets of New York and becomes became an inexpensive labor for garment factories. If we are to divide the people who were afflicted by the fire we can easily divide them in into two different groups: first, the immigrant …show more content…
This book The Triangle Fire historically supports the diligent investigative report put by Von Drehle. The other most prominent source that Von Drehle used in this book was the complete transcript of the trial of Issac Harris and Max Blanck who were the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. The transcripts of People of New York v. Isaac Harris and Max Blanck case were missing for a long time until Von Drehle found the well-preserved copy of this trial in New York County Lawyers’ Association Library. It was due to this transcript that the trial and the life of the victims came to life. The chapters “Three Minutes” and “Inferno” were completely based on the information that was found in the manuscript of the trial which Von Drehle discovered. These chapters allow the readers to visualize the pain, struggle and panic that the works of the Triangle factory have to go through during the fire. The transcript provides complete details of the clothes, people, tables, roofs, exit doors and elevators of the Shirtwaist
Professor: Triston Young
Course: History 1302-Y001
November 29th, 2017
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America, by David Von Drehle, Grove Press, 2004. 352 pages. Reviewed by Khurshid Ahmad Qureshi
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America, written by David Von Drehle, recounts the dreadful incident of fire that broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory on March 25, 1911, and its aftermath. In the earlier part of nineteenth-century, New York City saw Triangle Shirtwaist factory running a lucrative business in a multi-story building. The factory was owned by two businessmen Isaac Harris and Max Blank who decided to set it up on the upper three stories of the Asch Building; which was considered and projected as …show more content…
Lemlich was a strong woman who fought back and raised her voice over and over against the injustice and cruel behavior. Von Drehle claims that the beating of Lemlich inspired many other women at Shirtwaist factory to stand up and fight for their rights and the poor working conditions which lead to the horrendous fire (10). Multiple of such violent beating incident, arrests of woman strike leaders and assault by police, strengthen the stance of the position of the women workers. These incidents also caught the attention of business elite which was already leaning towards the progressivism. During that era, the president of United States, Theodore Roosevelt and the governor of the New York, Charles Evans Hughes both had the progressive ideology but on the contrary New York also had Tammany Hall who was a complete opposite of progressivism.
People from different religions, races and professions were affected by the fire of Triangle Shirtwaist factory but they all had surprisingly one thing in common, they were all immigrants. These immigrants were the people who mostly packed the streets of New York and becomes became an inexpensive labor for garment factories. If we are to divide the people who were afflicted by the fire we can easily divide them in into two different groups: first, the immigrant …show more content…
This book The Triangle Fire historically supports the diligent investigative report put by Von Drehle. The other most prominent source that Von Drehle used in this book was the complete transcript of the trial of Issac Harris and Max Blanck who were the owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. The transcripts of People of New York v. Isaac Harris and Max Blanck case were missing for a long time until Von Drehle found the well-preserved copy of this trial in New York County Lawyers’ Association Library. It was due to this transcript that the trial and the life of the victims came to life. The chapters “Three Minutes” and “Inferno” were completely based on the information that was found in the manuscript of the trial which Von Drehle discovered. These chapters allow the readers to visualize the pain, struggle and panic that the works of the Triangle factory have to go through during the fire. The transcript provides complete details of the clothes, people, tables, roofs, exit doors and elevators of the Shirtwaist