The Conversation - Remembering a fire that shamed America

One hundred and twelve years ago, on a Saturday afternoon just before closing time, a New York City factory building burst into flames. The Triangle Shirtwaist fire was brief but deadly. It remains one of the worst workplace disasters in U.S. history – and one of the most iconic.

Many Americans have seen the black and white photos of young women crumpled along West Village sidewalks: workers who felt they had no choice but to leap.

Far more might have survived had better safety rules been in place and followed – a tragic reality that kicked labor reform efforts into high gear. The movement was largely led by young Jewish activists determined not to let history repeat itself, as University of Michigan Judaic Studies scholar Karla Goldman explains. Their anguish and outrage helped spur nationwide change.

Earlier this month, a new memorial was unveiled at the site of the fire. Its message is conveyed in Yiddish, Italian and English – the first languages of the women who perished. It offers “a bold and graceful reminder not only of the fire,” Goldman writes, “but of its imprint on the world we inhabit today.”

This week we also liked articles about promising plastics recycling research, the poet Louise Glück and college credits that students earn in high school.