On This Day in History Quilt for March 25:

On this day in 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burned down killing 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women. Many of the victims died due to locked exterior doors, faulty elevators and fire escapes. The workers’ union organized a march on April 5 and some 80,000 people attended it. The disaster compelled the city to enact labor and fire safety reforms. The nonprofit Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition was founded in 2008 to establish a permanent memorial for the victims and promote new collaborations between communities to continue the fight for social justice for all.

Eugenia Mitchell made this quilt, titled “1911 Swatches of Gibson Girl Shirtwaist Batiste” in 1970.  Mitchell made the quilt out of fabric samples from her aunt, Emma Hartmeister, who was a dressmaker in St. Louis, Missouri. This is one of the original 101 quilts donated by Mitchell of Golden, CO, to start the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum.

View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view.

Sources:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/triangle-shirtwaist-fire-in-new-york-city
http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/about-2/about/

Posted by Amy E. Milne
Executive Director, Quilt Alliance
amy.milne@quiltalliance.org