Presidential Documents

17327 

Federal Register 

Vol. 76, No. 60 

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 8639 of March 24, 2011 

100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

On March 25, 1911, a fire spread through the cramped floors of the Triangle 

Shirtwaist Factory in lower Manhattan. Flames spread quickly through the 

8th, 9th, and 10th floors—overcrowded, littered with cloth scraps, and containing few buckets of water to douse the flames—giving the factory workers 

there little time to escape. When the panicked workers tried to flee, they 

encountered locked doors and broken fire escapes, and were trapped by 

long tables and bulky machines. As bystanders watched in horror, young 

workers began jumping out of the windows to escape the inferno, falling 

helplessly to their deaths on the street below. 

By the time the fire was extinguished, nearly 150 individuals had perished 

in an avoidable tragedy. The exploited workers killed that day were mostly 

young women, recent immigrants of Jewish and Italian descent. The catastrophe sent shockwaves through New York City and the immigrant communities of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where families struggled to recognize 

the charred remains of their loved ones in makeshift morgues. The last 

victims were officially identified just this year. 

A century later, we reflect not only on the tragic loss of these young 

lives, but also on the movement they inspired. The Triangle factory fire 

was a galvanizing moment, calling American leaders to reexamine their 

approach to workplace conditions and the purpose of unions. The fire awakened the conscience of our Nation, inspiring sweeping improvements to 

safety regulations both in New York and across the United States. The 

tragedy strengthened the potency of organized labor, which gave voice to 

previously powerless workers. A witness to the fire, Frances Perkins carried 

the gruesome images of that day through a lifetime of advocacy for American 

workers and into her role as the Secretary of Labor and our country’s 

first female Cabinet Secretary. 

Despite the enormous progress made since the Triangle factory fire, we 

are still fighting to provide adequate working conditions for all women 

and men on the job, ensure no person within our borders is exploited 

for their labor, and uphold collective bargaining as a tool to give workers 

a seat at the tables of power. Working Americans are the backbone of 

our communities and power the engine of our economy. As we mark the 

anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, let us resolve to renew 

the urgency that tragedy inspired and recommit to our shared responsibility 

to provide a safe environment for all American workers. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 25, 2011, 

as the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. I call 

upon all Americans to participate in ceremonies and activities in memory 

of those who have been killed due to unsafe working conditions. 

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17328 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2011 / Presidential Documents 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth 

day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the 

Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirtyfifth. 

[FR Doc. 2011–7497 

Filed 3–28–11; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3195–W1–P 


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