Remembering the 146 young women workers who died today – March 25 – in 1911 in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist fire, a transformative event witnessed by Frances Perkins who dedicated her life to fighting for safe working conditions and workers’ rights. I first visited the memorial at the site while writing my biography of Perkins, who became the first woman in a presidential cabinet (1933-1945) and was the architect of some of the most far-reaching reforms and social legislation ever enacted in America, including the establishment of Social Security. Every year a memorial service is held at the site. The photo shows me and my granddaughter Sophie, then four years old, visiting the site in 2008. (Originally the Asch Building, now the Brown Building, part of New York University, the site is located at 23-29 Washington Place, New York, NY)
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