Episode Details

On March 25, 1911, flames tore through the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, claiming the lives of 146 workers in just eighteen minutes. Most were young immigrant women trapped behind locked exit doors, with no safe escape. As horrified crowds watched from below, many made the impossible choice to jump.

The tragedy shocked the nation. Although the factory owners were acquitted of manslaughter, public outrage transformed grief into action. Sweeping labor reforms followed, establishing new standards for fire safety, working conditions, and worker protections. Among those forever changed was Frances Perkins, who witnessed the disaster firsthand and later became Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor, helping shape many of the workplace safeguards Americans still rely on today.

In this episode of History Shorts, we tell the heartbreaking story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—and how one of America's greatest industrial tragedies changed the workplace forever.

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