Krysti Libby
Came for Hope, Left to Die
	During the early 1900’s many people made their way to America in search of something that they could hope for, something that would make them feel like their dreams and aspirations could be met.  America was that land that held such promise for those early immigrants.  Unfortunately, life was still hard, even on American soil.  Language barriers and little to start a new life with left immigrants desperate and susceptible to being taken advantage of.  More often than not, jobs were first found in sweatshops such as those at the Asch Building in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company.  It was a hard life for those that worked there.  Their hours were long, and working conditions were dangerous despite the Cloakmakers’ Strike of 1910 (Cornell University, online).  This paper will discuss a photograph found on Cornell University’s website about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.
	There were several photographs to choose from, from the specified site.  The photos were old making it difficult to tell what was being seen in some of them.  Emotion was made raw as I flipped through trying to find the one that stood out to me.  I chose “photo 13” where it shows bodies strewn about on the sidewalk, buckets, and the hose from the fire truck amid smoke and water.  I chose this picture because it just seemed so tragic and desolate.  It is earie to look at this photograph and the only people you see are deceased.  It shows a battle that was fought and lost. 
	One inference that I can make regarding this photo is that it seems like the battle to fight the fire is still ongoing in a different area or recently ended.  The fire was fought with fire engine hoses which could only reach a certain length.  The hoses in this picture are lying on the ground with no one manning them. The building was saturated as much as possible, and in the photo among the misshapen bodies on the sidewalk, water can be seen raining down upon them.  No live person is in the photo, which leads me to believe that there was no one left to try to rescue, and those struggling to extinguish the fire went to aid another area.  There are empty buckets lying on the ground, and in the air next to the building, it almost looks like paper is falling from the building.  It looks like silence amongst chaos.  The workers were left with two choices: burn in the fire, or jump and die.  The ladders and the hoses could not save them so they ended their suffering the quickest way they could, and jumped. 
	There are several places to look online for more information regarding the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire.  To understand more about how the fire was fought, and about the last moments of those lying on the sidewalk, the Cornell University site is a great resource.  Within the Cornell site there are several newspaper articles that coincide with the events of that day.  There was an article publish in the New York Times on March 26, 1911.  The article gives very detailed descriptions of what some people witnessed in such a short period of time. In the article there was an account of a student by the name O.S. Smith who was on his way from the Subway station to the law library.  He said “I saw an arm raised and I knew that one of the women was alive. I called out to a policeman standing near.  His only answer was ‘Get back there and mind your own business.’ I pointed out the woman to him and told him something ought to be done, as the water was pouring down upon her.” (“Stories of Survivors, and Witnesses and Rescuers Outside Tell What They Saw”)  This article gives insight to the last moments that the victims of this fire had.  It has many different eye witness accounts of watching those who jumped to their death.
	In the text The Unfinished Nation by Alan Brinkley there is a very small section that describes the tradgedy.  Brinkley states that of the workers “Many of them had been trapped inside the burning building because management had locked the emergency exits to prevent malingering” (Brinkley 2010, 532).  I believe that “photograph 13” shows just how desperate these workers were to get out of the burning building.  Since all there exits were locked, they were left with no other alternative, except to burn.  They had to jump.  The workers were trapped like animals in a cage.  A large number of the workers jumped, that the sidewalk in “photo 13” was covered with the deceased.  
	The Triangle Shirtwaist fire was a devastating event.  It stole the lives of those who had hoped for something better in their lives.  It is tragic when it takes an incidence such as this one to show people how we need to change and improve regulations.  Those workers who lost their lives were left lying on the sidewalk as the remains of this crisis rained down on them. To preserve the last bit of dignity that they had, some jumped, while others were burnt.  The historical photographs, the story and the articles on Cornell University’s online site greatly benefit us.  Not only as historical preservation, but so that we can remember that everyone came to America for a better life, for hope.  Mistakes were made by many, and some were left for dead, but the changes that followed this event helped shape a better work environment.  Hope will always survive.