April 04, 2011
Staten Island Campus -
Staten Island Campus Commemorates the
100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
Fire
Members of the Staten Island campus community recognized the end of
Women’s History Month by commemorating the 100th
Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
Organized and hosted by the Office of Student Life and Campus
Ministry, the ceremony concluded a month of various other
activities that included The Blessing of Women and Empower
Hour.
Over 200 St. John's students, faculty and staff, as well as local
community, attended the event. As guests entered the Campus Center
Gymnasium, each received a “Time Card”, symbolic to those involved
in and affected by that fateful day of March 25, 1911. The
event opened with St. John’s own “Magnificat” Gospel Choir singing,
“God Bless America”, followed by the narration of personal accounts
of the men and women who survived the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire,
delivered by Staten Island Campus students.
Guest speakers for the event included, Dr. Richard Greenwald,
author of The Triangle Fire, The Protocols of Peace and Industrial
Democracy and Ms. Sheila Hosni, Director of the League of Women
Voters of the City of New York.
Dr. Greenwald brought the Factory Fire catastrophe to life by
providing a detailed history of Triangle’s background, verbal
portraits of the female workers at that time and the unfolding of
the tragic event. Ms. Hosni discussed the numerous
women’s movements and organizations, including the League of Women
Voters of New York City, which have been created partly as a result
of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
The event featured music and interpretive dance courtesy of the
Women’s Chorus of Tottenville High School, Staten Island. The
talented students performed numerous songs throughout the ceremony
for an enthused audience.
Kimberly Palmieri, Director of Student Development for the Office
of Student Life on the Staten Island Campus, was very pleased with
the ceremony. “Unlike other events commemorating the
anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, this was truly
unique because it combined the informative lecture with song and
prayer. It enabled members of our local community to
participate, including seventy-five students from Tottenville High
School,” Ms. Palmieri said.
The event concluded with a candlelight vigil and prayer in honor of
those who perished from the Factory Fire and for a safe environment
of workers today.
Photo Gallery
For more information about this event, please contact:
Office of Student Life, Division of
Student Affairs
(718) 390-4433
forgiond@stjohns.edu