Triangle: The Fire That Changed America

In his final chapter, Von Drehle focuses on the trial of Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. After hearing testimonies from survivors, District Attorney Charles Whitman was certain that the Washington Place doors in the factory had been locked during the fire. He instructed Barney Flood, his chief detective, to find the lock in the debris, ash, and char. Sixteen days after the fire, investigators found a portion of the door with a shot bolt still intact, proving what Whitman suspected. Von Drehle points out that “the law said that factory doors could not be kept locked during working hours. But the bolt spoke for itself” (220). Whitman and the lawyers he appointed to try the case, Charles Bostwick and J. Robert Rubin, further planned to show that the owners purposely kept the doors locked because they wanted all employees to leave through the Greene Street exit so they could be searched. The author also explains that having the door locked was a misdemeanor, but that the resulting loss of life elevated it to manslaughter—a felony carrying up to a 20-year prison sentence.

Blanck and Harris were soon indicted, arrested, and arraigned, charged with manslaughter.