The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911: The Locked Doors That Changed America

On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the upper floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City's Greenwich Village. Within 18 minutes, 146 garment workers — most of them young immigrant women — were dead. The exits had been locked by management to prevent theft and unauthorized breaks. When the flames came, there was nowhere to go. The Triangle fire remains one of the deadliest industrial disasters in American history — and one of the most consequential. The public outrage that followed transformed the American labor movement, triggered dozens of new factory safety laws, and helped lay the groundwork for the New Deal. Frances Perkins, who witnessed workers leaping from the windows, later became FDR's Secretary of Labor. She called March 25, 1911 "the day the New Deal was born." If you're new here — When Worlds Fall covers historical disasters, catastrophes, and forgotten events that shaped the world we live in. New videos every week. 🔔 Subscribe so you don't miss the next one. 💬 What disaster should we cover next? Let us know in the comments. 📖 CHAPTERS 0:00 The Hook 1:11 The World They Came From 2:20 Inside the Factory 3:33 A Strike That Almost Changed Things 4:26 The Fire Begins 5:27 The Ninth Floor Trapped 6:35 The Windows 7:51 Eighteen Minutes 8:38 A City in Mourning 9:52 The Trial of Blanck and Harris 10:59 The Laws That Followed 12:15 What It Still Means #TriangleFire #TriangleShirtwaist #HistoricalDisasters #WhenWorldsFall #AmericanHistory #LaborHistory #WorkplaceSafety #DisasterDocumentary #HistoryDocumentary #ImmigrantHistory #NewYorkHistory #ProgressiveEra #LaborMovement #GarmentWorkers