Near closing time on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 1911, in New York City a fire broke out on the top floors of the Asch Building in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. This came to be one of the worst fire incidents in American History; it was know as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. It was a disaster that took the lives of 146 young immigrant workers. It was a fire that broke out in a cramped sweatshop that trapped many inside and killed 146 people.
This tragedy pointed out the negatives of sweatshop conditions of the industrialization era. It emphasized the worst part of its times: the low wages, long hours, and unsanitary working conditions symbolized what sweatshops were all about. These conditions were appalling, and no person should ever be made to work in these conditions.
Before this tragedy occurred the suffering of the workers was very evident. Take for instance this first hand account by Sadie Frowne.
"My name is Sadie Frowne. I work in Allen Street (Manhattan) in what they call a sweatshop. I am new at the work and the foreman scolds me a great deal. I get up at half-past five o'clock every morning and make myself a cup of coffee on the oil stove. I eat a bit of bread and perhaps some fruit and then go to work. Often I get there soon after six o'clock so as to be in good time, though the factory does not open till seven.
At seven o'clock we all sit down to our machines and the boss brings to each one the pile of work that he or she is to finish during the day?what they call in English their "stint." This pile is put down beside the machine and as soon as a garment is done it is laid on the other side of the machine. Sometimes the work is not all finished by six o'clock, and then the one who is behind must work overtime. The machines go like ...