Do you know or remember
the hundred and forty seven
who labored, locked
in a factory—women,
boys, girls, gathered
in fear on the top floor—with no escape
and no choice
but to jump?
Do you know or remember
the fire pressing closer and closer,
the smoke closer and closer,
the firemen below? How the workers jumped?
First one or two,
then faster
and faster,
but they all
broke through the net…
every one of them…
killed.
Do you know or remember
how the people responded?
How they resolved to turn this
into some kind of victory?
How, for for years,
Frances learned about fire,
learned how to make buildings
safe?
Do you know or remember
the laws passed? For sprinklers
and fire drills; for safe spaces
and fewer working hours?
Do you know or remember
how Labor Secretary Frances
was a driving force in recovering
from the Great Depression,
how public projects
put more than a million people
back to work? Frances,
a driving force that resulted
in your unemployment insurance,
a forty hour work week,
bans on child labor?
Thank Frances. Thank our
depression-era ancestors.
And hope to god
we still remember.
by Gale Naylor
REF: Triangle Shirt Waist factory fire; Labor Secretary under FDR Frances Perkins
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-25-2025
Poetry by Gale 