International Women's Day

Today, March 8th, is designated as International Women's Day. It is observed officially or unofficially in many countries throughout the world. In the U.S., it has been a basis for commemorating the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York City in which 146 garment workers, most of them women, lost their lives as a result of the fire and 70 others were injured. Most of the factory's 500 workers were young Italian and Jewish immigrant women who normally worked nine hours a day during the week and seven hours a day on Saturdays. It was the worst workplace disaster in New York City until the horrific events of September 11, 2001.

People and horses draped in black walk in a procession of 100,000 in memory of the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of March 25, 1911 in New York City.

International Women's Day is not officially celebrated in the U.S. Yet, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire brought the increased political involvement of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, and it helped inspire Frances Perkins, who had actually witnessed the fire from the street below, to push for comprehensive safety and workers' compensation laws as the future U.S. Secretary of Labor in Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidential administration and an early woman leader in U.S. government.

(The above is taken from Jennifer Brunner's email of the same date. Jennifer hopes to be the first female senator from Ohio.)