Watch the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Segment of Ric Burns’ “New York”

Today is the 100th anniversary of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which took the lives of 146 garment workers and led to reform in building safety and working conditions in New York City.

A couple new documentaries have been released this year, one an episode of PBS’ “American Expeience” titled “Triangle Fire,” the other an HBO production titled “Triangle: Remembering The Fire,” which premiered earlier this week (and appears to already be on YouTube).

But I’d like to share the segment on the incident from Ric Burns’ classic miniseries “New York: A Documentary Film.” Re-watching it now is choking me up. David Ogden Stiers should narrate all of history, by the way. Here is part 1 of the segment, followed after the jump by part 2.

Seen in this section — which comes from Episode 4, “The Power and the People (1898 – 1918)” — are historians Robert A. Caro, Mike Wallace, Joshua Freeman and Christine Stansell, among others.

 

A century gone by and it’s no less sad today, nor any less an important event, which triggered great change in labor rights and union growth. Remember those accidental martyrs with thanks.

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