Today is the 102nd anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York's Greenwich Village. This tragedy took the lives of 146 young immigrant garment workers. Most were trapped and died behind the building’s locked doors and others plunged to their deaths as they jumped from windows from the eighth floor and above.

It also galvanized a movement to raise workplace safety standards and enact other labor law reforms.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire March 25, President Obama issued a proclamation in honor of this day and is calling on ”all Americans to participate in ceremonies and activities in memory of those who have been killed due to unsafe working conditions.” The president recognized the nation’s continued need for  job saftey and collective bargaining a century after the disaster that killed 146 young, mostly immigrant women.

March 25 is the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York City, which killed 146 workers, mostly young immigrant women, many of whom jumped to their deaths from the 10-story factory to escape the fire because they were locked inside.