On March 25, 1911, a catastrophic fire swept the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, in lower Manhattan.  Nearly 150 workers--most of them young immigrant women, some of them only teenagers--died in the fire.  Outrage over the tragedy moved the city. How did this fire start?  Whose fault was it?  How did different groups and individuals understand it at the time?   

1.  To build understanding of a dramatic event, its causes and its effects.

2.  To develop skills in examining primary documents and historical photographs and other historical source materials presented in digital archives.

3.  To advance students’ abilities to understand and compare individual perspectives on historical events, and personalize their understandings and presentations.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (Cornell University): http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire

Activity: (60 minutes total)

Step 1 - Reading/research.  (25 minutes)   Choose a partner and briefly review all of the instructions for this activity.  Then, prepare yourself to write a fictional first-person account of the event by working with your partner to explore the Cornell University web site on the Triangle Fire (http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire).  Start by skimming the Introduction, than explore what interests you in the press accounts, oral histories, photographs and political cartoons. 

Step 2 -  Review and analysis.  (10 minutes)  Review and discuss with your partner the information you have read.  Please be sure to consider the following:

• When did this tragedy occur? 

• How was it possible?  Why was it possible? 

• How did different types of people respond to this tragedy?  Why did these responses occur at this time and place in history? 

• What can you learn from the different types of resources available on the site?  What resources or combination of resources helps you a) understand what happened, and/or b) place yourself within the context of the historical event?

Step 3 - Individual Writing. (15 minutes)  Working as an individual, sketch TWO accounts of the tragedy, each from a different perspective.   You may choose from the following perspectives or create one of your own:

• The owner of the Triangle factory, or a different garment factory

• A survivor of the fire, or the parent of a fire victim

• A trade union organizer

• A women's suffrage organizer

• A Tammany Hall politician

• A modern social historian

(If you are a man, please write at least once as a woman; if you are a woman, please write at least once as a man.)

Small Group Discussion: (45 minutes).

1. Gather with others who did this activity. Take turns briefly sharing one of your sketches.  Then reflect on and discuss this activity with your small group, using the following sequence of questions as prompts.  At the end of this time, prepare one member of the group to share some of your thoughts with the larger group. 

2. What could students learn from this activity about the Triangle Fire and its impact on NYC?  What other kinds of writing or presentation outcomes could this activity support? 

3. What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the activity?   Was it interesting to write two accounts, instead of just one?  Is this activity a good vehicle for developing student skills in inquiry, the exploration of primary sources, first person writing, and the construction of historical meaning? 

4. How would you describe the pedagogy that informs this activity? What aspects of the activity help to make it effective?  What skills and modes of thinking does this activity support?  Do the electronic materials being engaged suit the assignments pedagogy and methodological goals? What can we learn from this activity about the kinds of inquiry assignments that work best when using new media resources?

5. How does the inquiry approach used in this activity compare with inquiry approaches you have used in your classes?  What is similar?  Different? What are the advantages and disadvantages of inquiry learning, in your experience? Where does it fit in the repertoire of teaching in your field?

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