January 25, 2011
Dear Friends of the Greater New Haven Labor History Association,
The 100th anniversary of the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City which killed 146 people, many of them young women between 13 and 23 years old, is coming up on March 25, 2011.
To commemorate this terrible event ConnectiCOSH and its Injured Workers Unite Coalition are planning a week long exhibit from March 21 - 25 at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford which will feature not only the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory tragedy, but also workplace tragedies of the last 100 years here in Connecticut and the workers who have been affected by them. A ceremony beginning at 4:30pm on Friday, March 25, will include a dramatic performance piece and awards for winners of an essay contest for high school students to raise awareness of labor history and workplace health and safety issues.
In order to help remember those who have died from workplace hazards we need your help now. We are seeking information on workers who have died on the job. We would like names, dates and location (workplace name and town) of anyone you know of, friends, family, union brothers or sisters who have died on the job. If you have any photos of that person or their workplace or the circumstances of their deaths, we would be pleased to honor them in our exhibit.
Please send names, dates, locations and photos to Pamela Puchalski, ConnectiCOSH, 683 N. Mountain Rd, Newington, CT 06111, phone 860-953-2674. Or, email or scan and email to pamela.ctcosh@snet.net. So please go back to your files, wrack your memories and send what you can to Pamela. Time is short. I’ve attached a very incomplete list to jog your memories.
And, we look forward to seeing you on the afternoon of March 25, the very day, and almost the very time, when, one hundred years ago, 146 people died in less than 20 minutes. Please put this event on your calendar now.
Honor the dead and fight like H… for the living.
In solidarity,
Pamela Puchalski