In the early 1900s, fires or industrial accidents were commonplace; The injuries and loss of life may have outraged a few people, but like all tragedies, the outrage would quickly pass and business would resume as usual. One such tragedy occurred on Saturday, March 25, 1911, while the Triangle Shirtwaist factory was closed and hundreds of employees were preparing to leave when a fire broke out on the 8th floor, trapping the Jewish immigrants and Italians, mostly young women. . One hundred and forty-six people died in futile attempts to escape the burning ten-story building. During the day, the main doors were locked and only one door was opened so the hundreds of employees could exit, one by one, while their belongings were searched for stolen goods. Blanck and Harris, owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, faced no consequences regarding the unsafe work environment and the deaths of their employees. David von Drehle, in his book Triangle, The Fire That Changed America, argues that this particular fire changed the political and industrial landscape of the United States; it was no longer ignored by the working masses or quickly dismissed by the public - the public consisted of a huge immigration population from Europe, the "transfer of labor power and brains" which ultimately led to women's strikes in the garment industry and setting a precedent in New York (Triangle, 3, 4). Several groups like wealthy, educated elite women, muckrakers, unions, and the political machines that controlled New York's neighborhoods pushed for political, economic, and legal changes in industrial systems - in a period of democratic social reform - they were like a welcome rain ...... middle of paper ...... users from dangerous environments. Changes after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire involved 4 main groups and public voters. No single group has had such profound effects as the politically liberal, socially democratic Progressive movement. Without the pressure from the four groups on the legal system, without the media revealing the flaws of the current industrial and political system, and without the uprising that marked the beginning of women's suffrage, labor laws would not have undergone the radical changes that constitute the backbone of women's right to vote. modern labor laws. The fact that all doors must remain open and unlocked during business hours, in 21st century America, rose from the ashes of the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist fire. To the departed, American manufacturing workers are grateful, even if they may not fully know the origins of their current labor laws.