Fire in the Heart of the City: The Triangle Shirtwaist Tragedy and the Origins of Modern Charity

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911 is often cited as the cause for an overhaul of labor protections in the United States. Less universally acknowledged is the role of the tragedy in creating the concept of the modern American charity. Historian David Conrad-Peréz explores the story of the fire’s aftermath, when publisher Adolph Ochs and labor organizer Rose Schneiderman entered into an epic struggle over who should be responsible for responding to the crisis: the unions and activists or the financial and civic elites that made up the growing charity sector.