Last night I watched Triangle: Remembering The Fire, an HBO documentary which commemorates the 100 anniversary of NYC's Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
The filmmakers interviewed many of the descendants of the victims/survivors of the fire - a tragedy that still haunts New Yorkers to this very day. Most memorable for me was a firefighter who responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11/01 and witnessed people jumping from the towers - just as his grandfather (also a NYC firefighter) had witnessed when his grandfather responded to the Triangle fire back in 1911.
Also interesting was the discussion of how relevant this century-old tragedy is today. Because of what happened in Greenwich Village on that horrible day, the labor movement was able to grow and increase their advocacy for worker's rights. The same rights that wingnut conservatives are trying to do away with at this very moment.
BTW - the building which housed the Triangle factory still stands (below) and is owned and used by New York University. Every year a remembrance ceremony is held at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place (outside the building), where local schoolchildren read the names of the victims and place flowers at a makeshift memorial.
Great history lesson! I had never heard of that specific event, but I do know that, for that day and age, those kind of events were common- although probably not generally as large. As we take workers rights away, become more like the 3rd world countries to which our jobs have been outsourced. Vicious cycle, no?
ReplyDeleteExcellent post that utilizes that quote I'm probably paraphrasing: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I'm so upset with what the greedy bastards are doing to teachers and other public workers. Pick the easy targets first and then destroy the strong unions. The middle class is almost gone. We're about to be living in an oligarchy and need to have a revolution. Bill Maher said the top 400 have more money than the bottom 150 million.
ReplyDeleteI heard it was a great show. I will have to try and catch it!
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