03-25-1995 Women of Achievement and Herstory

      E. 03-25-1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, New York City.
In 18 minutes it left 146 dead, mostly young immigrant women workers
who were said to be traditionally locked inside the building by their
employers allegedly to prevent the women from leaving their work
stations, but others said only one door was kept open so the girls
could be searched for stolen lace or material.   
      The fire occurred in the top three stories of a 10-story building
and the city's fire ladders only reached to the seventh floor.  Most of
the women jumped to their death hand-in-hand from the upper story
windows rather than be burned alive.  
      How the fire started is not definitely known but investigators
found that in spite of work regulations, the male cutters were allowed
to smoke since "You would get little work out of your men if you
would prevent it," according to the company owner afterwards.  
      The tight aisles had been choked with discarded scraps and
papers. The loft buildings such as housed the Triangle company avoided
the New York fire and health codes which stipulated that there be 150
cubic feet of air for each worker by having ceilings 12 feet or more 
so the air was above was counted while the workers themselves were
packed in unsanitary conditions that spawned brown lung.  
      A photograph taken after the fire shows the one fire escape made
of inferior steel twisted and broken from the weight of the women
attempting escape who fell to their deaths. 
      None of the Triangle managment or owners were ever punished.
Except for a VERY minor wrist slapping, they were back in business
shortly afterwards.

03-25 Anniversaries ...............................................

      B. 03-25-1347, Saint Catherine of Sienna, Italian mystic who helped
persuade the pope to return the papacy to Rome from France.

      B. 03-25-1872, Higuchi Ichiyo, Japanese poet and novelist.

      B. 03-25-1921, Mary Douglas, English social anthropologist
authority on the meaning of symbols, rules, and patterns of social
behavior.

      B. 03-25-1921, Nancy Kelly, actress won 1955 Tony Award for her
performance in _Bad Seed_.

      B. 03-25-1921, Simone Signoret, French actress, writer. Appeared
in the classic _La Ronde_, 1950, and won the 1958 Academy Award for
her work in _A Room at the Top_.

      B. 03-25-1922, Eileen Ford, model agency executive.

      B. 03-25-1934, Gloria Steinem, author, journalist, feminist, strong
voice of the feminist movement; referred to by the media during the 70s
as "the pretty one."  Co-founder of _Ms_. magazine (1972).

      B. 03-25-1940, Anita Bryant, singer, was Miss Oklahoma (1958) and
Miss America finalist, married a Miami Beach disk jockey who was
rumored to have ambiguous relations with Bryant's minister and
together they had a Svengali effect on her so that she turned right-
wing religious activist and spearheaded a vicious anti-gay campaign.
After her divorce she mellowed somewhat and moved to NW Arkansas
where a lot of white aryans live.

      B. 03-25-1942, Aretha Franklin, singer, multi Grammy award
winner.  A national treasure.

Quotes du jour ...............................................

      "God only knows...and She isn't telling."   
            -- Paul A. Wilson               


(C) 1995 Irene Stuber, PO Box 6185, Hot Springs National Park, AR
71902, irenestuber@delphi.com. Distribute verbatim copies freely with
copyright notice for non-profit use. Don't let anyone tell you there
weren't notable and effective women throughout history.  They were
always there, but historians failed to note them in our histories so that
each generation of women has had to reinvent themselves.