Description: "Candid and intimate accounts of the factory-worker tragedy that shaped American labor rights. On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the eighth floor of the Asch Building in Greenwich Village, New York. The top three floors housed the Triangle Waist Company, a factory where approximately 500 workers, mostly young immigrant women and girls, labored to produce fashionable cotton blouses, known as "waists." The fire killed 146 workers in a mere 15 minutes but pierced the perpetual conscience of citizens everywhere. The tragedy of the fire, and the resulting movements for change, were pivotal in shaping workers' rights and unions. This book is a collection of stories from writers, artists, activists, scholars, and family members of the Triangle workers. Nineteen contributors offer a collective testimony: a written memorial to the Triangle victims"--
Brief description: Edvige Giunta is a professor of English at New Jersey City University. She is the author of Writing with an Accent: Contemporary Italian American Women Authors and co-editor of five anthologies, including The Milk of Almonds and Embroidered Stories. Born in Sicily, she first became interested in the Triangle fire as a young activist. She has trained scores of students in the art of memoir and created the first course devoted to the Triangle fire.
Review Quotes: "This work brings labor's history to life with stories and voices that have echoed down through generations. Apropos in these times as we are reminded of the horror of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire that fueled union organizing and union demands for enforceable occupational safety standards. As we learned then and painfully know now, workplace safety doesn't just happen. The essays create a rich, unique view of our past while calling us to stand in solidarity today."--Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO