HIST 1025 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, Timothy Sullivan, Settlement Movement
February 15
Song for today- Bread and Roses by James Oppenheim- anthem of the labor movement
Beginning of Part II: 1900-1945
Progressive Era
WWI
1920s
1930s
WWII
The Progressive Era (1890-1920)
I. Introduction: An Era of Reform
II. Reform and Radicalism from Below: Movements and Organizations
III. Reform from Above: Political and Business Initiatives
The Progressive Era: 1890-1920
Progressivism deals with social issues- it’s progressive with lower-case ‘p’.
Progressive referrs to people and organizations that seek to reform America and American
society. Progressives are hopeful about the future, developed in a good economic period.
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (1911)- factory employed mostly young immigrant women, located on
the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors. No large amounts of people were allowed to be
By law: no doors can be locked during working hours, doors must open out in case of fire, no
fire escapes. Doors were systematically locked during working hours. Worker girls jumped out of
the windows, 146 women died- average age 19.
Gilded age roots of progressive reform:
Edward Bellamy, Nationalist movement
Henry George, Single Tax movement
Jane Addams, settlement house movement
Populism: 1892 People’s Party platform
Municipal reform movements (1890s)
Characteristics of progressive reformers:
1) Middle-class, professionals: teachers, business leaders, ‘new professions’:social
workers, journalists, city planners, etc.
2) order/efficiency vs. laissez-faire
3) environmental view of social problems: people are poor because they were raised in a
poor environment, not because of laziness as previously argued
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Document Summary
Song for today- bread and roses by james oppenheim- anthem of the labor movement. Reform and radicalism from below: movements and organizations. Progressivism deals with social issues- it"s progressive with lower-case p". Progressive referrs to people and organizations that seek to reform america and american society. Progressives are hopeful about the future, developed in a good economic period. Triangle shirtwaist fire (1911)- factory employed mostly young immigrant women, located on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors. No large amounts of people were allowed to be. By law: no doors can be locked during working hours, doors must open out in case of fire, no fire escapes. Worker girls jumped out of the windows, 146 women died- average age 19. Labor oriented politicians- big tim sullivan- supported shorter working days for women. Robert wagner- headed investigative committee of the triangle shirtwaist fire, eventually ended up in the senate and wrote national labor reform.
