About the Triangle Fire Website

Exhibit Credits

Sources for the Triangle Fire Online Exhibit

This web exhibit presents original documents and secondary sources on the Triangle Fire, held by the Cornell University Library. They are housed in the Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Cornell University Library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections also contributed to the exhibit. The bulk of the primary sources were drawn from the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Archives which, along with the records of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, form the basis for the archives of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE!) which reside at Cornell.

The exhibit includes most of the Triangle Fire-related sources available at the Kheel Center. Not posted on the site is a partial but extensive transcript of the trial, and documents on subsequent commemorations of the fire.

If you have additional information or resources or are interested in donating Triangle Fire-related original documents, please contact the Kheel Center.

What You Can Find On This Site
This site includes selected information on a terrible and unnecessary tragedy involving the death of many young working women in a New York City sweatshop at the beginning of the 20th century and the resulting investigations and reforms. You will find original documents, oral histories, and photographs. You can hear and read first-hand accounts by survivors and others that will provide a glimpse into the lives of workers and a sense of the horrors of a factory fire that claimed the lives of 146 young workers. A selected bibliography of sources on sweatshops and the Triangle Fire includes sources for teachers of history. The bibliography is called "selective" because it is not comprehensive. We have attempted to provide a thorough selection of fire-related sources but an enterprising student will be able to locate many more sources on sweatshops, conditions of work, investigative practices, and protective legislation.

A Brief History of the Site
The site was originally inspired by, and was a response to, a steady flow of requests for information on the Triangle Fire that the Kheel Center was receiving from middle and high school students. It was designed to provide an easily used resource to assist in the writing of class papers. Individuals wishing to undertake in-depth research will find it to their benefit to contact the Kheel Center.

Last Update: 14 Apr 2008