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The fire alarm was pulled at 4:45 PM. People jump or burn, and those who make it out alive go through the elevator and stairs, which were all crowded. The fire claims the lives of 146. The normal reaction was shock, and some police officers who thought they had seen everything were very deeply shaken by what they saw at the event.
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On this day, Rose Schneiderman gives a speech that has now become a classic. In her speech, she talks about the 146 who died in the Triangle Fire, saying "The life of men and women is so cheap and property is so sacred. There are so many of us for one job it matters little if 146 of us are burned to death..."
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On this day, about 400,000 people come and watch the burial of seven unknown bodies. Before the funeral, Morris Rosenfeld writes a poem that is on the entire front page of the Jewish Daily Forward, speaking out against "'you golden princes,' you greedy factory owners, for making such a tragedy possible" In the funeral, 120,000 joined the line of marchers. The crowd was so quiet "you could hear a pin drop."
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On this day, the New York Factor Investigating Commision begins work under the Tammany Twins Al Smith and Robert F. Wagner. They would go until 1915, drafting and passing 34 new laws.
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After serving for four years and taking over 7,000 pages of testimony, the New York Factory Investigation Commission drafts and passes 34 new laws.
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Frances Perkins is named Secretary of Labor until 1945 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Perkins was originally the New York Factory Investigating Commission's chief investigator, and she was "the driving force behind the investigating team."
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Source:
Marrin, Albert. Flesh & Blood So Cheap. Random House, 2011.