[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 60 (Tuesday, March 29, 2011)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 17327-17328]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7497]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 76 , No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2011 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 17327]]

                Proclamation 8639 of March 24, 2011

                
100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist 
                Factory Fire

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                On March 25, 1911, a fire spread through the cramped 
                floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in lower 
                Manhattan. Flames spread quickly through the 8th, 9th, 
                and 10th floors--overcrowded, littered with cloth 
                scraps, and containing few buckets of water to douse 
                the flames--giving the factory workers there little 
                time to escape. When the panicked workers tried to 
                flee, they encountered locked doors and broken fire 
                escapes, and were trapped by long tables and bulky 
                machines. As bystanders watched in horror, young 
                workers began jumping out of the windows to escape the 
                inferno, falling helplessly to their deaths on the 
                street below.

                By the time the fire was extinguished, nearly 150 
                individuals had perished in an avoidable tragedy. The 
                exploited workers killed that day were mostly young 
                women, recent immigrants of Jewish and Italian descent. 
                The catastrophe sent shockwaves through New York City 
                and the immigrant communities of Manhattan's Lower East 
                Side, where families struggled to recognize the charred 
                remains of their loved ones in makeshift morgues. The 
                last victims were officially identified just this year.

                A century later, we reflect not only on the tragic loss 
                of these young lives, but also on the movement they 
                inspired. The Triangle factory fire was a galvanizing 
                moment, calling American leaders to reexamine their 
                approach to workplace conditions and the purpose of 
                unions. The fire awakened the conscience of our Nation, 
                inspiring sweeping improvements to safety regulations 
                both in New York and across the United States. The 
                tragedy strengthened the potency of organized labor, 
                which gave voice to previously powerless workers. A 
                witness to the fire, Frances Perkins carried the 
                gruesome images of that day through a lifetime of 
                advocacy for American workers and into her role as the 
                Secretary of Labor and our country's first female 
                Cabinet Secretary.

                Despite the enormous progress made since the Triangle 
                factory fire, we are still fighting to provide adequate 
                working conditions for all women and men on the job, 
                ensure no person within our borders is exploited for 
                their labor, and uphold collective bargaining as a tool 
                to give workers a seat at the tables of power. Working 
                Americans are the backbone of our communities and power 
                the engine of our economy. As we mark the anniversary 
                of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, let us resolve 
                to renew the urgency that tragedy inspired and recommit 
                to our shared responsibility to provide a safe 
                environment for all American workers.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim March 25, 2011, as 
                the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist 
                Factory Fire. I call upon all Americans to participate 
                in ceremonies and activities in memory of those who 
                have been killed due to unsafe working conditions.

[[Page 17328]]

                 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth. 
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2011-7497
Filed 3-28-11; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-W1-P