The Triangle Factory Fire Trivia Quiz

Answer: A fire that occured in 1911 which killed almost 150 workers.

The exact number of deaths caused by it was 147, though if you were to look it up on the internet, you would find some articles saying 144, some 146, and some 143, because for the first few months after the fire they had not even found all the bodies, some of which had, in effect, to be pieced together. Over seventy people were also injured.

Answer: It was one of the worst industrial disasters in the history of New York City up to that point.

It happened in New York City, in southern Manhattan - which was, at that point in time, the most industrial part of the the city and home to many sweatshops.

Answer: A part of a college campus.

Now called the Brown Building of Science, it serves as the chemistry and biology building for the New York University. It is a National Historic Landmark as well as a New York City Landmark. It has two plaques, both commemorating all of the lives lost in the fire.

Answer: The doors to the stairwells and exits were locked.

This is part of the reason that the managers of the factory were largely responsible for the lives lost - they locked the doors because they were afraid workers would steal the materials from the factory or go home early. The fire led to improved factory standards as well as the growth of organizations fighting for better and safer working conditions.

Answer: A human bridge from the Asch building to the building beside it

Three heroic male workers decided to try and help their fellow workers escape by using their bodies as a chain between the Asch building and the building across the narrow alleyway. They managed to save the lives of quite a few employees until the weight on the man in the middle grew too much from the crowd of people on top of him, and his back broke, sending the three men and all the workers on them plummeting down to their deaths in the alleyway below.

Answer: About 125

The factory made shirtwaists (a garment rather like a blouse). As this did not require intense physical work in the way other jobs did, most garment workers were women. Also, it paid much less, therefore men tended to seek better jobs elsewhere. The factory had extremely bad working standards - nine hours a weekday and seven hours every Saturday.

It was repetitive work where the workers were treated as cogs in a machine, and were exposed to the noxious fumes, therefore many died of sicknesses - all for a tiny amount of pay.

Answer: The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union

In the weeks following the fire, people all around the country were shocked as they read in the newspapers about this horrifying episode. The disaster, while tragic beyond measure, gave birth to a wave of action against poor treatment of manual workers.

Answer: The owners were acquitted

Their defense attorney, Max Steuer, brought in Kate Alterman, one of the survivors of the fire, and asked her to give her testimony many times in a row. He made the case that her using the same exact words in all of her testimonies proved that she was just reciting testimony that the prosecution had given her. This was enough to sway the jury.

Answer: $75

Their insurance company paid them much more than that: instead of paying them $75 for each victim, they paid them about $400 for each victim, so even though they gained about $60,000 because of the court ruling.

Answer: They were arrested for once again locking the doors in their factory during working hours

They were fined only a mere $20 for this, but it was broadcast all over the media and they were made the laughing stock of the country as a result.