Last night I watched Triangle: Remembering The Fire, an HBO documentary which commemorates the 100 anniversary of NYC's Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
The filmmakers interviewed many of the descendants of the victims/survivors of the fire - a tragedy that still haunts New Yorkers to this very day. Most memorable for me was a firefighter who responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11/01 and witnessed people jumping from the towers - just as his grandfather (also a NYC firefighter) had witnessed when his grandfather responded to the Triangle fire back in 1911.
Also interesting was the discussion of how relevant this century-old tragedy is today. Because of what happened in Greenwich Village on that horrible day, the labor movement was able to grow and increase their advocacy for worker's rights. The same rights that wingnut conservatives are trying to do away with at this very moment.
BTW - the building which housed the Triangle factory still stands (below) and is owned and used by New York University. Every year a remembrance ceremony is held at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place (outside the building), where local schoolchildren read the names of the victims and place flowers at a makeshift memorial.
