This fire, which happened before people's eyes and was witnessed by many people in new york, awakened new york's conscience, shook the whole United States and triggered a series of social reforms. Although Roosevelt came to power 20 years later, the Labor Minister of Roosevelt's government later said,1911March 25th, when the New Deal began? .
The triangle factory incident was later written into American high school history textbooks and became a part of modern American mainstream values: the value of life is more important than wealth.
When we sort out history, which events will become milestones or watersheds in history? Sometimes it's war, sometimes it's conference, sometimes it's declaration, sometimes it's scientific discovery, sometimes it's war? Disaster.
In new york, a city full of skyscrapers, two catastrophes changed American history. Once at 200 1? 9? 1 1? The twin towers of the World Trade Center in the United States were attacked by terrorists and collapsed. Once, Washington Plaza Building caught fire on March 25th, 19 1 1. The time difference between the two disasters is exactly 90 years.
Between Broadway and Sixth Avenue in the south of Manhattan, there is a rectangular green space called Washington Square. There is a ten-story building next to the square, which now belongs to new york University. A hundred years ago, many young girls walked through the narrow streets and walked into this building every day, but instead of going to class, they went to work in a factory called Triangle Underwear Factory. This underwear factory is on the top three floors of this building? The eighth, ninth and tenth floors.
1911On March 26th, the headline of new york Times was extremely long, with 24 words:? 14 1 male and female workers died in the underwear factory fire; Trapped on the top floor of Washington Square Building; The streets are full of bodies; There are piles of bodies in the building? . Below the title is a lead:? The third floor of the ten-story building at the corner of Green Street and Washington Square was burned down yesterday. 14 1 Young men and women workers in the fire? At least 125 girls? Burn to death or fall to death while jumping on the sidewalk downstairs? .
This fire, which happened before people's eyes and was witnessed by many people in new york, awakened new york's conscience, shook the whole United States and triggered a series of social reforms. Although Roosevelt came to power 20 years later, the Labor Minister of Roosevelt's government later said,1911March 25th, when the New Deal began? .
What's the name of the fire in the triangle underwear factory? Change the fire in America? .
? Most of the victims lying in the morgue waiting to be identified by a tooth or a burnt shoe are 16 to 23 years old girls. They are employed by Triangle Underwear Company to sew blouses. Most of these girls can't speak English. Almost everyone is the main source of income for his hardworking family. ? The New York Times's report describes the characteristics of * * * and the dead? Yes, they came from backward areas to work in developed areas? Foreign girl? . And from the mainland to Guangdong and other coastal areas in the 1980s? Foreign girl? The difference is that they come from foreign countries. They came to new york from Polish, Italian, Irish, Russian and other places to find their own American dream. Most of them haven't got to America yet? Hukou? The youngest is 14 years old.
? At 4: 40, the fire broke out Some people ran down the stairs and survived, but after a minute or two, the passage was blocked by fire. The girls rushed to the window and began to jump. People in the crowd shouted not to jump. They jumped up, went through the broken glass and squeezed each other to death on the sidewalk. As for those who didn't jump, not to mention? Some bodies are just a pile of ashes? . The New York Times described the horror at that time.
When looking up information on the internet, you got it from a screen name? Jiang Yue? I saw a more detailed description on my blog. These details come from a book published in recent years called "Triangle Factory? A fire that changed America.
? No one knows how the fire started. There are many large wooden cutting tables in the workshop on the eighth floor. The table is full of cloth, and rags are everywhere on the ground. The fire spread rapidly through the flammable materials on the ground, and the flame ran from one table to another, quickly engulfing the eighth floor and then rushing to the ninth floor. The air was filled with smoke, and hundreds of female workers ran in panic, crying and screaming in the suffocating smoke and fire, and the glass was broken. ?
? A group of women workers managed to escape to the fire escape, trying to escape through the fire escape. However, the dilapidated escape ladder has been seriously corroded. Under the weight of the girls, the fire escape collapsed and the female workers screamed and fell from the tall building. ?
? People under the building looked at the burning floor in despair and could do nothing. In an instant, several girls' faces appeared on the smoky window. They climbed onto the windowsill and stood on the high windowsill. Behind them is a hellish flame, which approaches them and licks their hair and clothes. In the thick smoke, people can't see their faces clearly, and they can't see the desperate expression on their faces. However, the raging fire branded their figure into American history. ?
? Under the gaze of countless pairs of anxious, painful and desperate eyes, the girls, like firebirds, jumped from the 24-meter-high building with fireworks in their skirts and landed on the hard sidewalk. Their limbs spread out like dolls falling from the sky, and blood poured out of their broken bodies. Then, another female worker jumped from the upstairs, covered in blood. Another one, another one.
? Downstairs, people spread sheets, blankets and quilts, trying to catch the jumping female workers. However, the quilt blanket could not bear the impact force, and the body that jumped from the tall building passed through the quilt blanket and fell heavily on the sidewalk. The bodies of young girls were scattered on the ground, and the streets were covered with blood. The water in the hose is sprayed on the fire, and then falls from the air to the ground, where it flows into the blood and into the sewer.
When reading and quoting these words with a great sense of picture, my tears kept pouring out of my eyes.
It happened to be Saturday, the payday, and the girls had put on their dresses and beautiful clothes and stood in line to get paid. Then they worked hard for a rare weekend for a week, and the tragedy happened at this time.
1911On March 25th, their blood flowed on the streets, and their twisted bodies were lying on the streets of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. At the same time, the fashionable and beautiful women's shirts they made were hung in the fashion shop on Fifth Avenue only one block away, showing the beauty to the world. The tragic reality behind beauty needs them to show it with their young lives.
Just a year ago, workers working in hundreds of sweatshops in new york held a large-scale strike, demanding higher wages, shorter working hours and better working conditions. Women workers in the triangle factory are also active participants. They especially demanded to improve the fire prevention facilities in the factory, but the strike ended in failure. Because of the pressure of life, the girls have to go back to the factory where they have realized that there will be a fire at any time.
Just a few months ago, new york City Fire Chief Crocker testified in the New York State Assembly that the fire escape ladder can only reach the height of seven floors, while in new york City, thousands of people work on floors above seven floors, and in case of fire, these people will have nowhere to escape. Afterwards, he complained bitterly that the meeting held by the owners' association hindered the passage of the bill requiring them to strengthen fire prevention measures.
On a gloomy afternoon on April 5, 654.38+0.2 million workers formed a long, silent river, which bore the pain of the cone heart and ran through the heart of Manhattan. This is a silent parade, with no slogans except crying.
Before that, new york people didn't care about the situation of the workers in these sweatshops. But this disaster has awakened the conscience of new york people. ? I looked down and said to myself, I have a responsibility. Yes, every man and woman in this city is responsible. ? A scholar wrote this in the article. People's guilt is finally implemented into concrete measures step by step.
New york set up a 25-member committee? Committee for improving workplace safety? . In the first year, the committee inspected 65,438+0,836 workplaces in new york and heard the testimony of 222 people. The first four-year term of this Committee is recognized? The golden age of factory legislation? . It was during this period that the labor law was passed.
The fire tragedy of Triangle Company became the legislative basis. The labor law stipulates that fire prevention training must be conducted in the workplace every three months. 19 12 legislation stipulates that automatic sprinkler systems must be installed on floors with more than 200 people above the seventh floor. An automatic alarm system must be installed in any workplace with more than two floors and more than 25 employees.
According to the Committee's recommendation, by 19 14, New York State has passed 34 laws to improve workers' working conditions and labor safety. The passage of these laws is regarded as? Progressive era? The most important achievement.
In 1980s, the manufacturing industry began to shift to China. 1993165438+1October19, a similar fire broke out in Shenzhen Kwai Chung Town Zhili Toy Factory. Eighty-seven women workers were unable to escape because the factory locked the doors and windows, and were buried in the sea of fire. Many years later, some non-profit organizations in Hong Kong finally got hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation from the Italian company, but now because of local cooperation, they can't find the list of all the victims and the contact information of their families. And this tragedy, only in the past ten years, has disappeared from public view for many years.
Francis was one of the people who witnessed the fire? Perkins' youngest daughter. 1961March 25th is the 50th anniversary of the triangle blouse factory fire. A group of old women came to the building where they escaped from the fire to mourn their sisters who died in the fire. That little girl has become the Secretary of Labor of the United States? The first woman in the cabinet of the United States government. At the memorial ceremony, Francis? Perkins recalled how the fire awakened American conscience and sowed the seeds of her struggle to change the fate of workers and defend women's rights.
2001February 15, the last survivor of the triangle blouse factory fire, Ross? Ms freeman passed away at the age of 107. The news of her death was reported by all major media in the United States.
On 2001March14th, new york City Council passed an anti-sweatshop proposal by an overwhelming majority. According to this proposal, the government should not use taxpayers' money to buy sweatshop products, such as uniforms for police and firefighters. Mayor Giuliani vetoed the proposal, but the city Council abolished the mayor's veto with an overwhelming majority of 44: 4.
The triangle factory incident was later written into American high school history textbooks and became a part of modern American mainstream values: the value of life is more important than wealth.
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Source: Business Value Magazine? Author Liu Ge