A Tragic Piece of History

I learned about this event, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, from a book Mom sent me. This was the largest workplace tragedy in the history of New York before 9/11. 146 people, most of them teenaged immigrant girls, died--over 50 from jumping out of windows to get away from the fire...gruesome shades of 9/11.

I consider myself to be pretty well-informed about history, especially since I have relatives coming through Ellis Island right at this time, but I had never heard of this. It was only after this event that laws were passed mandating basic safety requirements--things the unions had been pressing for for years. To our shame, it seems to take a tragedy of terrible proportions to get us to do more than we absolutely have to.

Here's a very short (2 min) documentary on it. If that doesn't work, you can cut and paste this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9GVbzf7Q4