“Re-membering Immigrant Women and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire,” which will be held on Thursday, Oct. 20 in the Center for the Arts (Building 1P) Williamson Theatre from 1:30pm to 4:00pm, will provide a window into the experience of working-class new Americans whose dreams for a better life were challenged by the demands of labor. It will focus on the union-resistant Greenwich Village sweatshop where a fire broke out on the afternoon of March 25, 1911 that shattered the lives of hundreds of workers, mostly Italian and Jewish immigrant women, leaving 146 dead.
The event will begin with an introduction to the topic by Prof. Maryann Feola, a student reading from Mario Puzo’s The Fortunate Pilgrim, and a poetry reading by Prof. Alyson Bardsley and Prof. Cate Marvin. A panel discussion including Prof. Dalia Kandiyoti (CSI), Dean Richard Greenwald (St. Joseph’s College, Brooklyn Campus), Prof. Mary Anne Trasciatti (Hofstra University), and Prof. Ellen Goldner (CSI) and will be followed by a question-and-answer period and a viewing of the PBS film Triangle Fire: The Tragedy That Forever Changed Labor and Industry.
Refreshments will be served. The event is free of charge and is open to the CSI and the Staten Island community.
Students will be provided with CLUE credit. The event is sponsored by the President’s Office, the Master of Arts Program in English, the Women’s Center, and the WGS Program
