Huntington High School juniors Molly Brambil, Megan Healy and Caitlin Yabroudy captured first place in the group website category at the National History Day state finals in Cooperstown, New York.
The Huntington teenagers earned first place for their entry, “Tragedy as a Turning Point for Workers’ Rights: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.” The Triangle Waist Company factory fire on Saturday, March 25, 1911 in the Asch Building in Lower Manhattan, a half-block east of Washington Square Park, claimed the lives of 146 workers, all but 23 of them young women.
The Huntington students also garnered the Best Entry on Labor History Award presented by the American Labor Studies Center. The honor carried with it a financial stipend.
“The girls are super excited and expressed their thanks to everyone for their well-wishes,” said Lauren Desiderio, a Huntington High School social studies teacher and National History Day club advisor.
“All of our Huntington competitors put an inordinate amount of time and effort into their respective National History Day endeavors,” Superintendent James W. Polansky said. “After seeing the various projects at the local competition, it seems that all might have been worthy of state recognition. With the quality of work undoubtedly on display at the state level, these three young ladies deserve a great deal of credit and congratulations. Their website is terrific in terms of both content and appearance!”
Triangle was a leading manufacturer of high-collar blouses known as shirtwaists, which were popular with younger women of that era. They were part shirt and part skirt.
The Huntington students created a website that examined the fire and the dangerous conditions that prevailed in the Triangle factory, and similar high-rise industrial environments. The horrific death toll and public outrage at the carnage led to improved worker’s rights and changes in building, fire and safety laws throughout New York and the country.
To view the award-winning website visit: http://36870672.nhd.weebly.com/index.html.
