An Update on Our New Home at 103 Orchard

Dedicated readers may remember that we posted pictures of the groundbreaking ceremony for our new Visitor and Education Center at 103 Orchard Street last year--on March 30, 2010, to be precise. So how are things progressing exactly one year later? Well, major structural work is now completed, and the interior spaces are beginning to take shape. We’ve uncovered some interesting evidence of the building’s past, including the stories of its residents (to read some of them, click on the “103 Orchard St.” label on the righthand column). And thanks to our talented architects and contractors, we’re excited to say that we expect to open our doors to the public in July!

If you’ve been following the project, you know that our new home will be located directly across the street from our current visitor center. It will have a lot to offer—a demonstration kitchen for culinary programs, a theater, dedicated classroom and gallery space and of course our ticket counter and book shop.

Lana Bortolot from the Wall Street Journal recently toured the new space. Her article discusses the renovation of the building from an architectural perspective, while also explaining the importance of the project for us and the neighborhood as a whole. Click here to read the story.

A vintage sign uncovered during the renovation of 103 Orchard Street will be preserved.

Image Courtesy the Wall Street Journal 

Yu-Hwa Lin of Perkins Eastman Architecture, who previously worked on the rear yard exhibit at 97 Orchard Street, is the Project Architect. He shared some thoughts on the project with us recently.

We develop individual design concepts and strategies for every project at the museum, so the special needs of each one can be fulfilled. I think there is one constant, which is to find and define the very delicate balance between the past and present.

This project has been a personal challenge for me. As a new immigrant to New York who grew up overseas with modern architectural training, I knew almost nothing about early American history and life in New York. I started by learning about the lives of early immigrants so I could put myself in their shoes while planning the space.

103 Orchard was originally three individual adjacent buildings in the middle of the block back in 1880. Over time, the facade of the building was altered and the structure was modified to combine three buildings into one. The design team wanted to create a space that reveals the past, in keeping with the Museum’s mission. We plan to show the evolving history of the building, bearing in mind that what we do today will become part of its history in the future.

Typically, museum design requires very fine detail and material, but that’s not the case in this project. That’s not to say that we don’t want to do the best we can, but the nature of this project requires certain amount of roughness to be revealed so visitors can feel the spirit of the building.

By replacing the existing rundown storefront with floor-to-ceiling windows, we’ll open up the space to create a welcoming atmosphere for visitors. Our goal is that the Center will merge with neighborhood itself, emphasizing that the museum’s work is deeply rooted in its location.

Can You Guess the Artifact?

“Guess the artifact” is back by popular demand! Thank you for patience.

Today’s object is a permanent fixture in one of our current exhibitions. It's bound in leather, it's heavier than it looks, and it's shaped a little bit like a baseball bat.

 
Tell us what you think, and check back this Friday to find out the answer!

Place Matters: Landmarking the Site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Guest Post by Marci Reaven

Marci Reaven is the Director of Place Matters, a project of City Lore and the Municipal Arts Society.  She was influential in the process to designate the Brown Building a New York City Landmark in 2003.  Reaven also collaborated with NYU graduate students on the exhibit Art/Memory/Place: Commemorating the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire at the Grey Art Gallery.  In this guest post, Marci discusses the resources she uses when studying and researching the Triangle fire.

One terrific source of information about the Triangle fire focuses on the building where the fire took place. It’s the report created in 2003 by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission as part of the process of designating the building a New York City landmark.

Getting to the online document takes some clicking and scrolling: http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/home/home.shtml

Forms & Publications, Designation Reports, Manhattan, Individual Landmarks, Brown Building.



Brown Building (originally the Asch Building)
Photo by NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission



The report is particularly interesting because the writer, Gail Harris, not only discusses the events leading up to and following the fire, but also the creation of manufacturing lofts like the one occupied by the Triangle Company and their importance to the garment industry. She helps us understand why the fire “happened here.” The garment unions and the NYC Fire Department have been holding regular commemorations at the now-named Brown Building (on the corner of Washington and Greene Streets) since the 50th anniversary of the fire in 1961. Their longstanding attention to the building has made it a critical support in sustaining public memory of the fire. This prompted the Place Matters project and many historians and labor and community activists to propose it for landmark designation.



Rather surprisingly, it was the first local building designated for its association with labor history! Since landmark designation not only protects buildings but also makes them part of an official NYC history, it would be great to now get some other labor landmarks protected as well.

Posted by Marci Reaven

Director, Place Matters, a project of City Lore and the Municipal Art Society

Art/Memory/Place: Commemorating the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: A Collaborative Project Between the Grey Art Gallery and NYU Graduate Students

When I first moved to New York, I didn’t know much about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. What I did know could be summarized by several key words: locked door, trapped workers, and fire. I’ve only lived in NYC for two years, I moved here for New York University’s Museum Studies graduate program. Many of the Museum Studies classes have been held in the Silver Center, the building adjacent to the Brown Building – formerly known as the Asch Building. Last fall, a course was offered to Museum Studies and Public History graduate students to create an exhibit on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire for the Grey Art Gallery – NYU’s fine art museum. I jumped at the chance to learn more about the workplace tragedy that occurred only steps away from my classes.

Firefighters spray water on the Asch Building
trying to put out the Triangle factory fire blaze,
March 25, 1911
Photo from ILGWU Archives,
Kheel Center, Cornell University 

This was my first experience researching and developing an exhibit from start to finish. This was also the first time students collaborated on an exhibit for the Grey Art Gallery. On the first day of class, we all sat expectantly, as our two professors, Lucy Oakley – the Head of Education and Programs at the Grey Art Gallery, and Marci Reaven – the Director of Place Matters and a collaborator on the NYC Landmarking of the Brown Building, introduced themselves. Marci pointed out how remarkable it was that a class of sixteen women was going to create an exhibit about the Triangle fire, which affected mostly young immigrant women. The content and themes of the exhibit were going to be multifaceted. First, we were to examine the events leading up to the fire, a chronicle of the fire itself, and the occurrences after the fire. Then we were to record the fire’s legacy through the New Deal era, and to follow the commemorative efforts from the fiftieth anniversary in 1961 to the present. We wanted to conclude the exhibit with a call for continued vigilance and political reform for the protection of workers’ rights both in the United States and internationally.

The most practical approach to creating an exhibit with sixteen students was to break up into four teams, with each team tackling one of the four sections of the exhibit. I was part of section one. Section one focuses on the years 1909 to 1919, and it explores the strike of 1909, the Triangle fire, and the aftermath that ensued in the days and years following the fire. Over the course of the semester, we did extensive research, chose objects, and wrote text for the panels and labels that were to be mounted in the exhibit. Selecting objects was one of my favorite aspects of the exhibition process. One of the women in my group had a friend who constructed a shirtwaist for the exhibit. My group felt it was extremely important for visitors to see a representation of a shirtwaist. Lawn, a highly flammable material, was the fabric used to make the shirtwaists at the turn of the twentieth century. The flammability of the material was one of the major reasons the fire spread so quickly on that fateful day in March.

Shirtwaist
Photo by Huffington Post

When creating the exhibit we had to be considerate of the different stakeholders that are involved in the commemoration efforts, and we had to respect the policies and aesthetics of the Grey Art Gallery. One of the greatest challenges was working together as a class. Of course each of us had a vision of what the exhibit should look like, but we were able to work together so our ideas became compatible.

Working on this exhibit was a wonderful experience. I learned more about myself in the process, such as understanding my strengths and weaknesses when working in a large group. Art/Memory/Place: Commemorating the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire has received an amazing response from the public, which makes the experience all the more valuable, because people are responding to our work.  If you want to learn more about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire or become involved in the commemorative events for the 100th anniversary, make Art/Memory/Place at the Grey Art Gallery your first stop.

Art/Memory/Place: Commemorating the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire will run until March 26, 2011 and will re-open on April 12 to July 9, 2011. The Grey Art Gallery is located at 100 Washington Square East, NYC 10003. For more information, visit the Grey Art Gallery website.


Posted by Alana Rosen

Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Fire with the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, Guest Post by Ruth Sergel

The Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition grew out of the Chalk project, a commemorative and collective action of inscribing the names and ages outside of the homes of the Triangle fire victims.  Ruth Sergel is the founder of the Chalk project and the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, the organization that has put together the most comprehensive list of events related to the Triangle fire.



On March 25, 1911 a fire broke out on the 8th floor of the Triangle Waist Company located just one block east of Washington Square Park. The workers ran to the fire escape. It collapsed, dropping them to their deaths. On the 9th floor, a critical exit was locked. People on the street watched in horror as the workers began jumping out the windows. Fire trucks arrived but their ladders only reached the 6th floor. One hundred forty-six people - mostly young immigrant women - perished. There was a trial but the owners, long known for their anti-union activities, were acquitted.

March 25, 2011 is the Centennial of this infamous fire. In concert with over 200 organizations and individuals across the country, the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition is networking commemorative events – activism, education, the arts – and coordinating the establishment of a
permanent public art memorial.

Please join us!

March 25, 11:00am Workers United Centennial Commemoration: Washington Place and Greene Street, just one block east of Washington Square Park. For more information on this and other centennial events please visit our website: www.rememberthetrianglefirecoaltion.org

Posted by Ruth Sergel
Founder of Remember the Triangle Fire Coaltion

Recommended Reading on The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Over the last 100 years, there have been countless works of literature, art, theater, and even movements of political reform that were inspired by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.  The following is the Tenement Museum's recommended reading list of books that explore both the events that occurred on that fateful day in March, and the causes and effects of the Triangle fire tragedy.


1. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America by David Von Drehle

2. The Triangle Fire by Leon Stein

3. The Triangle Fire, The Protocols of Peace, and Industrial Democracy: In Progressive Era New York by Richard A. Greenwald

4. Triangle: A Novel by Katherine Weber

For Young Adults
5. Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin

6. Fire at the Triangle Factory by Holly Littlefield -- suitable for children ages 9-12

Of Related Interest
7. The Diary of a Shirtwaist Striker: A Story of the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike in New York by Theresa Serber Malkiel

8. Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars by Elizabeth Ewen

9. From the Folks Who Brought you the Weekend: A Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States by Priscilla Murolo

10. Daughters of the Shtetel: Life and Labor in the Immigrant Generation by Susan A. Glenn

"Piecing it Together" and the Impact of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire on Immigrant Life: An Educator's Perspective

I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t remember learning about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire growing up in Tennessee. Maybe it wasn’t taught at my school. Maybe I tuned out during that unit.

I’m even more embarrassed to admit that, despite 4 years in college as a history major, it was not until I became an educator at the Tenement Museum that I had more than a superficial understanding of what had happened at 19 Washington Place on March 25, 1911. Since I first began working with the Museum, virtually every "Piecing It Together" tour I lead has begun with a visitor asking, “Are you going to talk about the fire? The Triangle fire?”

I have been at the museum now for almost two years, yet I still marvel at how many of our visitors know about the fire - parents, kids, teachers – and not just those from New York. They know about the locked doors. They know about the fire as a watershed moment in this country’s movement towards labor regulations and the support of unions.

And now the answer to the question is of course, “Yes. I will be talking about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.”

New York Evening Journal headline from March 28, 1911
Image Courtesy Kheel Center at Cornell University

In keeping with the countless articles, television specials on PBS and HBO, and hundreds of events around the country commemorating the 100th anniversary of the fire, educators at the museum present the tragedy within the historical and political context of the labor movement.  We also draw connections between this history and the precarious position of unions today as evidenced by the recent events in Wisconsin.

What I think the museum does best, however, is to paint a picture of how the fire and its aftermath was experienced by the people living within the community and who were most impacted by the tragedy. We do this by examining the fire from the perspective of the Rogarshevsky family, an Eastern European Jewish immigrant family that arrived in the United States in 1901. The Rogarshevskys moved into 97 Orchard Street by 1910, and by the time of the fire in 1911, at least three family members were working in the garment industry: Abraham, the father, at a small tenement sweatshop in the neighborhood, and Ida and Bessie, the two daughters, at a big factory like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory further up town.




Rogarshevsky Parlor
Photo by Tenement Museum

 

We imagine how the mother, Fannie, must have felt when word of the fire reached the neighborhood. Perhaps initially without the name of the specific factory, Fannie feared the worst for her two daughters.

We look at the front page of the Jewish Daily Forward from Sunday, March 26, 1911, the day after the fire. The headline reads, “The Morgue is Filled With Our Sacrifices” – OUR sacrifices, the sacrifices of an entire community. Together, visitors imagine the eight members of the Rogarshevsky family poring over the paper together, looking for names of friends and neighbors in the preliminary list of victims.

Perhaps Abraham, the most religiously observant of the family, looked up from the paper and announced to his family that it was not a mere coincidence that the fire broke out on a Saturday, the holiest day of the week within the Jewish tradition. Perhaps he viewed the fire as a punishment for those Jews breaking their commandment with God by working on the Sabbath.

Did his children share his view or did they voice opposing opinions over the parlor table? Maybe they reminded him that the majority of factories were dark on Sundays, so that despite the imposition on religious traditions (and despite the unsafe and unhygienic conditions, the low pay and poor treatment, and the exploitation by foremen and bosses), immigrants like themselves had no choice but to work Monday through Saturday, regardless of the Commandments.

For me, this kind of approach breathes life into an event that has become synonymous with immigrant issues, women’s issues, workers’ issues, and resonates primarily on a political level. It illuminates the personal at the heart of the political.

Posted by Clare Burson