Changes To Sentiment
Response to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
"Near closing time on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the top floors of the Asch Building in the Triangle Waist Company. Within minutes, the quiet spring afternoon erupted into madness, a terrifying moment in time, disrupting forever the lives of young workers. By the time the fire was over, 146 of the 500 employees had died"
-Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations [2011]
The media reaction to the fire reflected a drastic change in public sentiment regarding working conditions for young laborers.
"Down came the bodies in a shower, burning, smoking, flaming bodies...the floods of water from firemen's hoses that ran into the gutter were actually red with blood" -William Gunn Shepherd, eyewitness reporter for the United Press [1911]
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was located on the top floors of the Asch Building; when the fire broke out, many workers could not be rescued because the ladders reached only to the sixth floor--here the firefighters are shown attempting to at least put out the fire [American Federation of Labor, 1911]
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Bodies of workers lie on the sidewalk as onlookers watch the fire consume the factory and policemen tag the bodies of the fallen [American Federation of Labor, 1911]
Reporter William Shepherd watched as policemen tied numbered tags to the bodies, and remarked:
“I recall their great strike of last year in which these same girls had demanded more sanitary conditions and more safety precautions in the shops. These dead bodies were the answer" [1911] |
Newspaper headlines and political cartoons published the day following the fire revealed the outrage of the public.
"This incident has had great significance to this day because it highlights the inhumane working conditions to which industrial workers can be subjected. To many, its horrors epitomize the extremes of industrialism"
-Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations [2011]
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Cartoon published by the New York Evening Journal the day after the fire. The obvious criticism of the causes of the tragedy reflected the shift in public opinion towards child labor issues. [Library of Congress NCLC Collection, 1911]
Cartoon portraying an oppressive factory owner preventing the young workers from escaping the burning factory. The fact that this cartoon and many others like it were drawn indicates that the public was becoming more aware of oppressive employers. [Library of Congress NCLC Collection, 1911]
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"Across the nation, people read about the triangle fire. Other states changed their laws too. Numerous factory safety codes, building codes, and fire prevention laws with stiffer penalties were passed during the next few years. Upset about the young ages of many workers, people worked harder to change child labor laws" -Historian Victoria Sherrow [1995]
Popular Culture Addressing Child Labor
Cartoons, poems, songs, and articles dated after the formation of the NCLC illustrated a negative attitude towards child labor.
[Northern Illinois University Historical Society, 1916]
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"Sandburg [author of poem] shows a special sensitivity to the plight of little children who are abused by the factory system" -Northern Illinois University Historical Society [2006] If not for the leadership and initiative of the NCLC, the author of this poem may not have even been aware of the cruelties of child labor.
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Article published in local newspaper from Washington, commending the work done by the NCLC [n.d.]
The children all grew up unlearned, they never went to school |
As a result of the NCLC's leadership and their commitment to exposing child labor, society no longer tolerated such blatant abuse of children, and this changed sentiment is reflected in it's media and popular culture.