A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History : Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Cornell University This Cornell website is dedicated to the Triangle Factory Fire. It contains information regarding sweatshops, strikes, the fire itself, and the subsequent reforms. Display a political cartoon with some ambiguous meaning. Have students inductively determine what the topic of the lesson will be based on what they see in the cartoon. Display the song, Uprising of 20,000 and have students react. What are the women speaking of? How is your life different because of this song? Imagine you were locked in this school from 8:30 to 3:30. You could not leave for food or a breath of fresh air. There were no windows. How would you feel? Listen to audio testimonials. Have students reflect on what they are hearing as they listen by drawing or writing in their notebooks. Then discuss their reactions. How might these reactions be similar or different to a progressive or a factory owner? Let students re-enact the skit, The Story of the ILGWU. The teacher may want to divide students into groups, or assign one of the six episodes. Read the Committee's suggestions to prevent such a tragedy from happening in the future. Do you think they were sufficient? Do you see any similarities to work environments today?

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Cornell University: ILR School

Description: This Cornell website is dedicated to the Triangle Factory Fire. It contains information regarding sweatshops, strikes, the fire itself, and the subsequent reforms.

Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestions

Display a political cartoon with some ambiguous meaning. Have students inductively determine what the topic of the lesson will be based on what they see in the cartoon.
Display the song, Uprising of 20,000 and have students react. What are the women speaking of? How is your life different because of this song?
Imagine you were locked in this school from 8:30 to 3:30. You could not leave for food or a breath of fresh air. There were no windows. How would you feel?

Suggestions for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

Listen to audio testimonials. Have students reflect on what they are hearing as they listen by drawing or writing in their notebooks. Then discuss their reactions. How might these reactions be similar or different to a progressive or a factory owner?
Let students re-enact the skit, The Story of the ILGWU. The teacher may want to divide students into groups, or assign one of the six episodes.
Read the Committee's suggestions to prevent such a tragedy from happening in the future. Do you think they were sufficient? Do you see any similarities to work environments today?