After watching the PBS special on Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York’s Greenwich Village , I just thought I’d put a couple of books I read about that here. This fire was the largest workplace disaster in New York City until 9/11. Ironically, this industry and this factory had been picketed for unsafe working conditions. The owners fought the unions.

The will be 2 specials this month since the fire occurred one hundred years ago on March 25, 1911.

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle
is a well-written account of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City in 1911 where 146 workers lost their lives. In addition to covering this event in detail, he discusses the effects of this tragic event on the labor movement and government involvement in labor and safety standards. The author was one of many writers and historian interviewed in the PBS documentary. It has been at least 5 years since I read this but it was an excellent book.

Feel free to check out the reviews on Amazon and look around and see if more recent books look more interesting to you.

Triangle: A Novel by Katharine Weber is a novel based on the Triangle fire which came out a few years back. (See my opinion of a nonfiction account directly above here.) This novel is not just historical fiction about the event, but rather a much more complex tale of memory and human nature. The memory is that of a survivor. But it does cover the actual events, too. A thoroughly enjoyable book.