Happy Land Social Club March 25 1990 87 people died (79 years to the day after Triangle)

[niyad]

Did you know? Exactly 79 years to the day after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, another tragic fire occurred in New York City. The blaze, at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx, killed 87 people, the most deadly fire in the city since 1911.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. I had forgotten about the anniversary of Triangle Shirtwaist. Thanks.

Hit DU's archives for March 2011 to find a few threads posted around the 100th anniversary. Here's one that has a lot of links:

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911

From the Department of Labor, this link takes you to many pages about this fire, which happened on March 25, 1911.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911

I am going through David Von Drehle's book about it now too.

I first learned about the Triangle fire from an article in American Heritage. It must have been published in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

[niyad]

2. thank you for those links.

I seem to remember that there was--not a march, but a walk that included the residences of each of the victims on the 100th anniversary.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Frances Perkins, who was FDR's one and only Secretary of Labor, was a

witness to the fire.

Happy 86th anniversary, Frances Perkins's first day on the job as Secretary of Labor

On this day in 1880, Frances Perkins was born.

#OTD in 1880, Frances Perkins was born, 1st female Sec of Labor and 1st woman in the US Cabinet. Her legacy still benefits Americans today.

Link to tweet

Frances Perkins

Frances Perkins Wilson (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American sociologist and workers-rights advocate who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet. As a loyal supporter of her friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt, she helped pull the labor movement into the New Deal coalition. She and Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes were the only original members of the Roosevelt cabinet to remain in office for his entire presidency.

During her term as Secretary of Labor, Perkins executed many aspects of the New Deal, including the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration and its successor the Federal Works Agency, and the labor portion of the National Industrial Recovery Act. With the Social Security Act she established unemployment benefits, pensions for the many uncovered elderly Americans, and welfare for the poorest Americans. She pushed to reduce workplace accidents and helped craft laws against child labor. Through the Fair Labor Standards Act, she established the first minimum wage and overtime laws for American workers, and defined the standard forty-hour work week. She formed governmental policy for working with labor unions and helped to alleviate strikes by way of the United States Conciliation Service. Perkins dealt with many labor questions during World War II, when skilled manpower was vital and women were moving into formerly male jobs.
....

Life and career before the cabinet position

She achieved statewide prominence as head of the New York Consumers League in 1910 and lobbied with vigor for better working hours and conditions. Perkins also taught as a professor of sociology at Adelphi College. The next year, she witnessed the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, a pivotal event in her life. It was because of this event that Frances Perkins would leave her office at the New York Consumers League and become the executive secretary for the Committee on Safety of the City of New York.
....

Cabinet career

....
In 1939, she came under fire from some members of Congress for refusing to deport the communist head of the west coast International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Harry Bridges. Ultimately, however, Bridges was vindicated by the Supreme Court.

She became Secretary of Labor on March 4, 1933, which was the last of the late inaugurations. She served through June 30, 1945.

Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, March 4, 1933 to June 30, 1945

[niyad]

4. yes, I remember seeing that.