TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST MEMORIAL GROUP ANNOUNCES TRIANGLE SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2011-2012

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Created on Tuesday, 01 November 2011 20:25

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Memorial (TSFFM) has named twenty-five Triangle Scholars for the Academic Year 2011-12. Each grant is in the amount of $2,000 bringing TSFFM’s total awards to r $310,000 since inception of the program in 2003. Scholarship funds are raised through the organization’s annual memorial journal and dinner held each year on March 25th in New York City at the Fire Museum on Spring Street in lower Manhattan to commemorate the tragic Triangle factory fire on March 25, 1911.

John Sciortino, a Rochester attorney and Chair of the Scholarship Committee, noted that 11 of this year’s recipients have been previous recipients and 6 are in their fourth year of study. “We are proud of the students and believe that those completing their degree studies represent the aspirations of their families who are dependent upon workers’ compensation to survive in this dreadful economy,” Sciortino said. “The arithmetic is simple: these students range in age from 17 -21 which means their families may be receiving compensation benefits as little as $200-300 per week,” he continued referring to the benefit limits in effect in previous years.

This year’s class of scholars pursues studies in institutions of higher education from Buffalo, to Rochester, to Potsdam, to St. John’s on Staten Island, to SUNY at Stony Brook and is in attendance at six private colleges and eight public institutions.

The 2011-2012 Triangle Scholars include 15 who received Named Scholarships, including 5 funded by friends and family of Clara Lemlich in whose name TSFFM annually confers public service awards. Other Named Scholarships were funded by the Workplace Injury Litigation Group [WILG], Society of NYS Workers’ Compensation Bar Association, the Ann and Arthur Grey Foundation, and several law firms and individuals.

Ten members of the Class of 2011-2012 are siblings from five families and five are in their fourth year of study. TSFFM’s scholarship program has benefitted 83 individual students with 155 annual grants at 33 different institutions since 2003.

TSFFM was founded by attorneys from the NYS Injured Workers Bar Association (IWBA) which counts members throughout NYS. Barbara Levine, an attorney and Vice President of TSFFM observed, “I believe TSFFM and its Scholarship Program speak directly of our bar’s commitment and recognition that career-ending injuries affect more than the income of hard working citizens. Although the Triangle fire and the legislation that it spawned pre-date Social Security by two decades as a means to create a floor, a social safety net, to aid those who need the assistance of their fellow citizens, it isn’t always the complete picture.”

“We are so excited,” observed Levine, “and had no idea when we started this project that we would be able to sustain our ability each year to raise funds for such a worthy cause. I am awed and, when the scholarship checks are sent out, simply and absolutely gratified.”

The NYC fundraising event treats attendees to cocktails, a four-star dinner, and entertainment with themes relating to the 1900’s, the Triangle era and performed by an amateur theatre group lead by Mauro Contrastano, an IWBA member. The pre-dinner entertainment includes klezmer music and a processional by the NY Fire Department’s Pipes and Drums.

“In this way,” offered Alex Rosado, a NYC attorney and IWBA member, “we fulfill TSFFM’s mission to commemorate the Triangle fire and remind the public of the origin of laws that operate on a daily basis in the workplace. A Workers’ Compensation statute was one of the results of the Triangle tragedy and we must not forget how such innocent sacrifice so profoundly affects our lives today.”

TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST MEMORIAL GROUP WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBER

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Created on Saturday, 04 December 2010 00:00

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Memorial (TSFFM) announced that Art Wilcox of the NYS AFL-CIO has been named to the Board of Directors of the not-for-profit organization.

“We are enormously pleased, honored, and fortunate to count Art on our board,” said James McCarthy, TSFFM’s President, “and look forward to the additional vitality his participation will bring to our plans and efforts as we approach the 100th commemoration of the tragic 1911 fire.” The fire on March 25, 1911 claimed the lives of 146 young men and women garment workers, mostly immigrants.

Organized nine years ago, TSFFM’s mission is dedicated to sustaining the connection between the Triangle fire and the current need for vigilance in workplace safety and improvement of workers’ compensation benefits.   The organization also sponsors college scholarships for children of injured workers.

TSFFM’s annual fund raising dinner is scheduled for Friday, March 25, 2011 at the NYC Fire Museum.  Details are in progress and will be announced.

“It’s the responsibility of every citizen,” Wilcox stated, “to understand history and its lessons and, for me, this is an opportunity to further that dialogue and participate in a truly worthwhile cause.  TSFFM has certainly done its job and I appreciate the opportunity to work with my colleagues on the Board.”

“With Art’s participation, particularly at this historical juncture,” added Barbara Levine, TSFFM’s Vice President, “we and our Triangle Scholars can look forward to benefiting from his experience and efforts.”

TSFFM has awarded $264,000 in scholarships to 73 individuals many of whom are recipients throughout their undergraduate studies.  In the Academic Year 2010-11, twenty-three students were Triangle Scholars, TSFFM’s largest class to date.  Eight recipients are siblings from four families and one is a graduate student.  The Triangle Scholars attend public and private institutions across New York State from Buffalo to Long Island.

John Sciortino, TSFFM’s Scholarship Chair, noted, “Our success has been greatly increased through our Named Scholarship project – TSFFM matches a $1,000 donation – by which a contributor honors a colleague, friend, or family member.  We had eight Named Triangle Scholars this year.”

TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST MEMORIAL GROUP NAMES 2011 CLARA LEMLICH RECIPIENTS

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Created on Thursday, 06 January 2011 01:40

Five individuals have been selected as recipients of the Clara Lemlich Public Service Award by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Memorial [TSFFM] in an announcement by Lee Clarke, Chair of the organization’s committee.

Those named to the Lemlich Class of 2011 are:

• Denis Hughes, President of the NYS AFL-CIO
• William Henning, Chair of the NY Committee on Occupational Safety and Health [NYCOSH]
• Joel Shufro, NYCOSH’s Executive Director
• Diane Savino, NYS Senator from Brooklyn
• David Michaels, US Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health.

“This Class of 2011,” Clarke said, “joins a distinguished honor roll of citizens whose professional dedication to improving workplace safety and benefits for working people echoes that of Clara Lemlich.”

Historians credit Lemlich’s impassioned speech at New York’s Cooper Union on November 22, 1909 as the spark which ignited an industry-wide strike by garment workers for better wages and working conditions. The action resulted in an agreement in early 1910. Ironically and tragically, the Triangle factory owners refused to join in the agreement.

“The historic lesson of the Triangle fire,” noted Barbara B. Levine, TSFFM’s Vice President, “now resonates abroad with last month’s tragically similar event in Bangladesh while we consumers enjoy lower cost goods at the expense of workers’ lives. The Triangle fire was no different.”

The awards will be presented at TSFFM’s Tenth Annual Memorial dinner on March 25, 2011 at the NYC Fire Museum. Proceeds from the event support the Triangle Scholarship program which has given $264,000 in college aid to children of injured workers since 2003.

TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST MEMORIAL GROUP ANNOUNCES SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS FOR 2010-2011

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Created on Friday, 08 October 2010 00:00

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Memorial [TSFFM] organization announced that twenty-three Triangle Scholars have been named for the academic year 2010-11 to receive scholarship grants. The new class of Triangle Scholars is TSFFM’s largest and brings the total of awards to $264,000 since inception of the program. The program has served seventy-three individual students and the first in post-graduate study this year. Eight siblings from four families are also among recipients.

TSFFM’s President, James McCarthy said, “Despite difficult economic times, our ability to sustain an even larger class of students is testimony to our hundreds of contributors and supporters who clearly recognize the needs of children of injured workers and, as our scholars list attests, the financial hurdle of families with two children in college.”

March 25, 2011 marks the 100th commemoration of the Triangle Factory tragedy where 146 men and women, mostly young immigrants, perished. While it is expected that next year’s 100th is likely to generate new groups with a multitude of events and ideas, McCarthy indicated that TSFFM will focus on its commitment to the scholarship program. “We – as an all volunteer group – have very limited energy and resources,” he noted, “and accept responsibility to continue to assist Triangle Scholars in achieving their educational goals.”

John Sciortino, TSFFM’s Scholarship Chair and President of the state’s Injured Workers Bar Association (IWBA), added, “Perhaps, the 100th commemoration will increase public awareness and result in even greater contributions to the Triangle Scholars program enabling us to expand our grants to a larger number or boost each individual award.” Sciortino added, “We are certain that the Triangle Scholars represent aspirations for themselves and of their families that might otherwise be frustrated for financial reasons.”

Barbara Levine, TSFFM Vice President, commented, “We had eight Named Scholarships this year, the most since we began the program. With a contribution of $1,000, TSFFM matches that amount which enables us to increase the class size. It’s a special way for donors to participate and, at the same time, honor those in whose name the grant is made. This year, the IWBA honored one of its past members - Hugh Brantley of Rochester -who had dedicated his practice to working with farm workers.”

Each Triangle Scholar receives a grant of $2,000 for an academic year. They attend both public and private institutions of higher education – community colleges to graduate school - across New York State from Erie to Suffolk counties. Students are nominated by their institutions upon verification by the financial aid officer that some of their financial means is derived from permanent workers’ compensation benefits. An application form is available by download from TSFFM’s web site – www.trianglememorial.org.