Stacy Horn

Today is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. I just got back from the ceremonies, but they’ll be continuing all day. I got choked up at one point. I know lots of other people have died in equally and more horrible ways, but this disaster always sadly resonated with me. Those girls fought so hard to have a union, telling everyone that the conditions where dangerous. I remember reading how some people threw things at them when they picketed the year before, and spat on them. They tried to live, but not enough people would listen.

The kids here holding up signs with the names and ages of the people who died look like they’re the same age as those girls who died 100 years ago.

Union members holding up signs.

The building where the 146 garment workers died. The arrow is pointing to the floor where most of the people were killed. Those are the windows they jumped from. In the foreground someone is holding up a shirt. There were a lot of those, with the victims names on them.

A closer look. The banners indicate where the factory was and where the girls jumped.

A shot of the crowd. I didn’t get anywhere near the stage with the speakers, but that’s okay. I didn’t particularly want to.

I haven’t taken a vacation in DECADES. One where I really don’t work at all and just do fun stuff for a week at least.

Meanwhile, I need to find out what it was like to work in a coal mine in the early 1900’s. So, basically, I’m looking for a book titled: What is Was Like to Work in a Coal Mine in the Early 1900’s. I’m sure the cliff notes version has three words. It was hard.

I don’t have any new pictures, so here is one more of the sweetest dog in New York. You can see her face a little better in this one.

I’m trying to do something very tricky with a chapter I’m working on and it’s coming out well. When I was in therapy years ago my therapist said that whatever was the most difficult would turn out to be the thing I did best, because I’d work the hardest at it. It made sense and it’s true.

I don’t want to talk about it, because I want it to be a surprise for the people who read my book, but I’ve spent the past year researching what science has learned about singing and I’m doing something with it. Vague enough? Sorry!

I took this picture when I was shooting the places where Triangle Shirtwaist fire victims once lived. Michelina Cordiano lived at 272 Bleecker which was part of a connected row of identical buildings. At the end now is John’s Pizza, a very popular pizzeria which always has long lines at night. It opened in 1929, and it just saddens me that had Michelina not died in that fire, she would have eaten there. In 1929, she still would have been only 43.

A few more shots of where some of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire victims lived. Whenever I do research like this I wonder, will something happen to me that will cause someone 100 years from now to take pictures of where I lived, or died? The only reason I’m doing this is because a horrible thing happened to someone, which for whatever reason haunts me. And this fire haunts a lot of people. Why? Will I be similarly unlucky?

This picture shows where Commerce Street begins and where it was cut-off to make room for 7th Avenue on the left. A 1914 article from the Times mentions an ancient wooden house on the southwest corner which narrowly made it. That’s the southwest corner pictured here and the house is gone now. (Note puppy.)

While I was there this man was taking shots of one of the buildings on Commerce on the right, or something on the right, his faithful dog patiently waiting. I’d love to have a dog come along with me when I take pictures.

March 25th is the 100 year anniversary of the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, where 146 people, mostly young women died. Below are pictures of the sites where three of the victims once lived. I got the addresses from the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, which was started by Ruth Sergel, an ITP grad (where I went to grad school).

Gaetana Midolo. She was 16 years old, and she’d come to the U.S. from Italy when she was 14. She lived at 8 Commerce Street, but #8 was torn down in 1914 to make room to extend 7th Avenue below 11th Street. I haven’t yet found any pre-1914 pictures, but they must exist somewhere.

This is looking west on Commerce Street from 7th Avenue. Although her building was described as a tenement, and there wouldn’t have been as many trees, I think it was probably still considered a decent place to live then.

Catherine Giannattasio. She was 22, married, and had also immigrated here from Italy when she was 14. This is her former home at 6 Bedford Street. The building was completely shuddered up, but it sold for $2,750,000 last year. Quite a difference from Catherine’s days.

Here’s a picture from a real estate site, which gives you a better view.

Michelina Cordiano. She was 25, married, and had immigrated here from Italy at 19. At the time of the fire she was living in this building at 272 Bleecker. It’s a busy corner which I’m guessing was busy then too. This may not have been such a nice neighborhood at the time. When I searched the Times for articles mentioning this building back then, the only ones I found were articles about tenants who’d been arrested for robbery. Update Below.

I found pictures of 272 Bleecker at the New York Public Library and the Museum of the City of New York!