A devastating fire erupted at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, killing 146 people including many female employees. Outcry over the factory’s conditions led to factory safety reform.
Overview
Dramatic change characterized the rapid industrialization of nineteenth-century America. The economy, politics, society and specifically women were all affected. In the early stages of this economic revolution, manufacturing was moved to factories in newly developing urban areas. Young women began working in the textile industry as early as 1820. Later on as goods were increasingly produced by machines run by unskilled labor, the number of women in the industrial workforce grew. Women entered the ranks of...