The Triangle fire was a horrific landmark disaster that occurred on March 25, 1911, killing 146 factory workers. David Von Drehle depicts the accounts of the harsh conditions and circumstances that the women in the garment industry, specifically at the Triangle Shritwaist Company, had to endure that led up to the fire. As well as the aftermath and the court case rulings. In Triangle: The Fire That Changed America, he touches on the strike in 1909 igniting a labor movement versus the unethical greedy business owners, and the politicians and police that sided with them. At the cost of many innocent people, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire sparked a pivotal moment in history moving towards fundamental changes as demonstrated by the new deal,
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Even though the new deal was established twenty-five years after the Triangle incident, the New Deal’s purpose was to help with economic recovery, job creation, investment in public works and civic uplift. Frances Perkins is the women behind the New Deal. She stood there and witnessed the madness caused by the fire: the smoke, the screams, the instant deaths. The tragedy impacted her a great deal that it motivated her to make a difference. So, she became an active voice in the city of New York. She landed herself on the front page because she challenged the Hoover Administration and the New York Bureau of Labor; by bringing awareness to New York’s actual increasing unemployment data that was wrongfully depicted to be declining. This drive eventually led to her becoming the Secretary of Labor for Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), soon to be the 32nd President of the United States. Working together and taking her advice about unemployment, FDR used that to help him win his presidential campaign. They continued to work together. Upon offering her the position, Secretary of Labor, Perkins had a few requests from FDR if she were to join his team. “She ticked off the items: a forty-hour workweek, a minimum wage, worker’s compensation, unemployment compensation, a federal law banning child labor, direct federal aid for unemployment relief, Social Security, a revitalized public employment service and health insurance” (Downy, p. 1). A major accomplishment that they had achieved was the adoption of the Social Security
Even though the new deal was established twenty-five years after the Triangle incident, the New Deal’s purpose was to help with economic recovery, job creation, investment in public works and civic uplift. Frances Perkins is the women behind the New Deal. She stood there and witnessed the madness caused by the fire: the smoke, the screams, the instant deaths. The tragedy impacted her a great deal that it motivated her to make a difference. So, she became an active voice in the city of New York. She landed herself on the front page because she challenged the Hoover Administration and the New York Bureau of Labor; by bringing awareness to New York’s actual increasing unemployment data that was wrongfully depicted to be declining. This drive eventually led to her becoming the Secretary of Labor for Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), soon to be the 32nd President of the United States. Working together and taking her advice about unemployment, FDR used that to help him win his presidential campaign. They continued to work together. Upon offering her the position, Secretary of Labor, Perkins had a few requests from FDR if she were to join his team. “She ticked off the items: a forty-hour workweek, a minimum wage, worker’s compensation, unemployment compensation, a federal law banning child labor, direct federal aid for unemployment relief, Social Security, a revitalized public employment service and health insurance” (Downy, p. 1). A major accomplishment that they had achieved was the adoption of the Social Security