The book was not really what I had expected. I had looked for a more personal account of the people who died and those who survived. My husband's grandmother was an Eastern European immigrant to New York shortly after the time period of the Triangle Fire. She came alone to this country, lived with relatives already here, and worked in one of the garment factories. With the great exception that she escaped the Fire, her early life in this country was the life that had been lived by the Triangle victims, and I think I had expected to learn more about this life.
Mr. von Drehle makes clear that the book I had expected is just not possible because of the great scarcity of source material. He does what he can in general terms: he tells where the majority of these women came from and the circumstances most of them escaped. He details the incredibly long hours they worked, the incredibly small wages they received, and the fact that many still managed to help support families in this country or The Old Country. He explains that, because of the horrific over-crowding of the tenements in which they lived, their lives away from work were spent on the streets. Here they found community with people of their own background, language, and age; intellectual stimulation in the many near-by free courses offered by NYU and various associations; and exposure to the social and political thought of the day. But these generalities are pretty much as far as he is able to go.
The real subject matter of this book is political change; in particular, the liberalization of New York. In this context, the Triangle Fire was no more than a tremendous spur to this change. His enduring characters are less the women of Triangle and more the reporters, business people, public officials, and primarily the politicians who, willingly or not, took part in this change. He chronicles the fall of Tammany Hall and the rise of the Democrats. Once I got past the realization that the book was other than what I had expected, I grew to appreciate it for what it is. It is a well-documented and compelling account of a time of change and the people (certainly including the victims of the Fire) who combined to bring it about.
ISBN-13:
978-0871138743
ISBN-10:
0871138743
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