Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing Ann Arbor Michigan www cherrylakepublishing com Consultants Gerald Markowitz Distinguished Professor of History John Jay College and Graduate Center City University of New York Marla Conn ReadAbility Inc Editorial direction Red Line Editorial Book design Sleeping Bear Press Photo Credits Library of Congress cover left cover middle cover right 1 left 1 middle 1 right 4 Bettmann Corbis 6 12 30 Public Domain 8 George Grantham Bain Collection Library of Congress 10 17 25 H W Sierichs Library of Congress 14 Underwood Underwood Corbis 19 26 Kirn Vintage Stock Corbis 22 Copyright 2015 by Cherry Lake Publishing All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bailey Rachel A The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire Rachel A Bailey pages cm Perspectives library Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-63137-620-7 hardcover ISBN 978-1-63137-665-8 pbk ISBN 978-1-63137-710-5 pdf ebook ISBN 978-1-63137-755-6 ebook 1 Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire 1911 Juvenile literature 2 New York N Y History 1898-1951 Juvenile literature 3 Clothing factories New York State New York Safety measures History 20th century Juvenile literature 4 Labor laws and legislation New York State New York History 20th century Juvenile literature I Title F128 5 B247 2014 974 7’1041 dc23 2014004587 Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills Please visit www p21 org for more information Printed in the United States of America Corporate Graphics Inc July 2014
Table of Contents In this book you will read about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire from three perspectives Each perspective is based on real things that happened to real people who witnessed or experienced the fire As you’ll see the same event can look different depending on one’s point of view Chapter 1 4 Anna Goldstein Factory Worker Chapter 2 14 Mary Robbins New York Socialite Chapter 3 22 Daniel Jones New York City Firefighter Look Look Again 30 Glossary 31 Learn More 31 Index 32 About the Author 32
1 4 For months my dreams have haunted me Night after night I relived March 25 1911 the day the fire nearly killed me But I was one of the lucky ones The fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory killed many others It is a tragedy I will never forget My family and I were strangers in this land recent Jewish immigrants from Russia Anna Goldstein Factory Worker
5 Father came first to the United States He worked as a shoemaker It took him a year to save enough money to send for us In February 1909 we joined him in New York City We lived in a Jewish tenement building in the city’s Lower East Side It didn’t take Father long to realize that he couldn’t support us all Although Mother cleaned a few houses her income was not enough Father still felt that she should be at home cooking cleaning and taking care of Ester who was seven and Aleksander who was only two Since I was almost 14 my parents felt that I should work to help pay the bills and rent We decided that a job in the garment industry would be fitting for me Mother taught me how to sew when I was very young There were many jobs available because Determine the main point of this paragraph Pick out one piece of evidence to support it Think about It
