Labor History Landmark: No. 5 Asch Building/Brown Building (Triangle Factory)
The Top 11 Labor History Landmarks in New York City is a blog series on Jewesses with Attitude created in honor of Women's History Month and the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Waist Factory fire. Learn more about the series here, or check out JWA's online walking tour.
The 5th of the Top 11 Labor History Landmarks in New York City is the Asch Building/Brown Building (the former Triangle Factory).
Owned by two Jewish immigrants dubbed the “Shirtwaist Kings,” the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was located on the top three floors of the Asch Building on Washington Place. More than 500 workers labored here long hours, six days a week. Late in the afternoon of Saturday, March 25, 1911, a fire started on the eighth floor. Flames soon engulfed the entire factory. Within a half hour, 146 workers, over half of them Jewish women, were dead.
Learn more about the Asch Building/Brown Building and see them "On the Map"
About the online walking tour:
Learn about the events surrounding the Triangle fire with an online tour or, if you are in Manhattan, print out these pages and go for an invigorating walk. You can use a "Google Maps Tour" to organize your tour according to the sequence of events, easiest walking, or "most complete" route. If you want to listen to an audio version of the tour on your computer or cell phone, sign up for a free Travelgoat account and download the Triangle walking tour.
Double your impact to amplify Jewish women’s stories—
All gifts matched up to $35,000
Before you close this article, please consider supporting the Jewish Women’s Archive and uplifting Jewish women’s voices.
At JWA, we preserve the voices of Jewish women and gender-expansive people past and present, share them freely with millions online, and empower a new generation of Jewish feminists to lead with courage, creativity, and conviction.
But none of this happens without you. JWA is an independent nonprofit— we rely on people, like you, who believe that history belongs to all of us and that the voices of Jewish women must remain powerful, and heard.
This month, a generous JWA board member will match every gift dollar for dollar—up to $35,000—through June 30. Your contribution goes twice as far right now.
Every contribution—no matter the size—helps us document, teach, and inspire through Jewish women’s stories.
It takes less than a minute to make a difference.
Thank you for being a part of the JWA community,
Judith Rosenbaum, CEO
