The Story of Providenza Bucalo Panno

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January 5, 1905. – SS Algeria “… reached port on time today. The ship set sail from Palermo, Italy on December 22, 1904, bound for New York.” The manifest (and alien passenger list) recorded Providenza (Prov) Bucalo(nee) as a married domestic. (Why she sailed under her maiden name is a mystery.) She was accompanied by her daughters, Angela (10) and Letizia (10 months). Her total assets (in pocket) were $14. Her final destination was a meeting with two older children at 279 Elizabeth Street, New York.

As a person, the 36-year-old-woman had lost her youthful beauty to decades of poverty and hard work. After her successful Atlantic crossing and acquiring gainful employment in a sewing factory, her future looked promising. It took nearly six years for her to save the money for passage to America for the rest of her family, but in mid-November 1910, her husband, Francesco and their children were reunited in New York to build their new life together.

To facilitate her employment in America, Providenza Americanized her name to Providence and began using her married name, Panno. Her new job was with a company that made women’s blouses, known as “waists” or “shirtwaists.” Most of the employees were recent immigrant women and girls as young as 13. There were also a fair number of older women, men and young boys.

Working conditions were far from safe. They worked 14-hour shifts in constant fear of fire and everything around them was flammable including bolts of fabric and tissue paper patterns that hung from racks above their worktables. The workrooms were lit by open flame gas lamps and the cutters, mostly men, were allowed to smoke as they worked.

On March 25, 1911, everyone’s worst fears became reality. At around 4:30 PM, a fire broke out at the Triangle Waist Company on the eighth floor of the Asch Building at 23 Washington Place, Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Most workers on that floor and the executives on the tenth floor were able to escape, but workers on the ninth floor, who had not been alerted to the fire, found themselves trapped.

Ashe Building c. 1909

The four exits on the ninth floor were unavailable because the fire was below them. The elevators made as many trips as they could but were soon commandeered by eighth floor workers and then stopped working altogether. Many on the ninth floor died from the smoke and flames that quickly filled the building, others jumped down the elevator shafts, but 62 workers realized there was no other means of escape and jumped from the windows to the pavement below.

Hook & Ladder, pm 1907

The fire department responded quickly, but their hoses were far too short to reach the top floors, and the ladders of the time were unable to extend above the sixth floor. By the time the fire was extinguished, 141 people had lost their lives and five more died from injuries in the next few days.

The city medical examiner’s report on Providenza Panno stated that she was overcome by smoke and flames and never escaped the burning building. She was Case #112.

Providenza left a husband and eight children, 24 to 8 years of age. $150 was given towards the funeral expenses and an additional $200 for general relief.

A case worker, in the process of closing the case checked on the Panno family in October; it was learned that the father, Francesco, and three of the older children were all working, earning together about $37 a week; a neighbor cared for the younger children during the day. In December Francesco asked for help in returning to Italy but later changed his mind about going when he learned that it would cost $510.

A poignant moment in the trial of the Triangle’s owners was documented in the New York Times when Rosale Panno, dressed in mourning garb was called to the stand where she was forced to recite the horror she experienced. When she was asked about her mother, she said, “She is dead.” Rosale then burst into tears.

Mrs. Panno is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, New York.

**

Rightfully, public outrage followed the tragedy and subsequent acquittal of the company’s owners paved the way for a flood of legislation to improve factory safety.

Testimony that influenced the passing of appropriate legislation came from a bystander named Frances Perkins. She witnessed the workers jumping from the windows – a scene she never forgot.

Perkins decided to make worker’s rights her life’s work and became the first woman appointed to a Presidential Cabinet position. She was Franklin Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor.

A postcard showing Frances Perkins has never been found,
but she appeared on this 1980 First Day Cover

**

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was the most-deadly workplace disaster in New York City until the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001.

**

The Triangle Fire Memorial

A long-awaited Triangle Fire Memorial to the victims was dedicated October 11, 2023. The memorial tells the story of the fire in the languages spoken by the victims: English, Yiddish and Italian. It is also one of the only memorials in America dedicated to workers.

You may visit the memorial at the very building that housed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, at the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place in Greenwich Village (23 Washington Place). The building is now a classroom building, part of New York University.

There is much to be learned from Internet websites including the names of the victims. Google: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire victims.

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Thank you. I remember learning about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in elementary school, when we learned about Labor Day. Although, at that age, we weren’t terribly interested in holidays that didn’t result in gifts.

Last edited 8 days ago by Violet Walsh

Excellent article about a tragedy. Thank you.

Although the caption beneath the black-and-white card depicting the Asch Building says “c. 1909”, the cars visible on the street establish that the photo was obviously taken several decades later.

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