Last Survivor of Triangle Fire, Rose Freedman, Dies at 107

Freedman escaped the deadly 1911 blaze that killed 146 of her co-workers and spent her life crusading for worker safety.

Published on Feb. 19, 2026

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Rose Freedman, the last survivor of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York City that killed 146 of her co-workers, died on Thursday at the age of 107 in her Beverly Hills, California apartment. Freedman, who was 18 at the time of the fire, escaped by following company executives to the roof to be rescued. She went on to become a lifelong advocate for worker safety, speaking out against the factory owners' negligence that led to the tragedy.

Why it matters

The Triangle Shirtwaist fire was a pivotal moment in American labor history, leading to new city, state, and federal laws to improve worker safety. Freedman's death marks the end of a direct connection to this seminal event, which galvanized the fledgling labor movement and exposed the callous disregard for workers' lives by some factory owners at the time.

The details

On the day of the fire, Freedman, then known as Rose Rosenfeld, escaped the inferno by following company executives to the roof, where firefighters rescued them. She later recounted how she saw "girls in shirtwaists, which were aflame, going flying out of the windows." Freedman went on to have a colorful life, saving a spy in Austria during World War I and working until age 79 to support her family after her husband's death. She never stopped speaking out about the fire and blaming the factory owners' greed for the tragedy.

  • The Triangle Shirtwaist fire occurred on March 25, 1911.
  • Rose Freedman, then known as Rose Rosenfeld, was two days shy of her 18th birthday at the time of the fire.
  • Freedman died on February 17, 2026 at the age of 107.

The players

Rose Freedman

The last survivor of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, which killed 146 of her co-workers. Freedman dedicated her life to advocating for worker safety after narrowly escaping the deadly blaze.

Harry Freedman

Rose Freedman's husband, who owned a typewriter store in New York. He died at the age of 59, leaving Rose Freedman as the sole provider for their three children.

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What they’re saying

“Girls in shirtwaists, which were aflame, went flying out of the building so that you saw these young women literally ablaze flying out of the windows.”

— Rose Freedman (The Living Century* documentary)

“That's the whole trouble of this fire. Nobody cares. Nobody. Hundred forty-six people in a half an hour. I have always tears in my eyes when I think. It should never have happened. The executives with a couple of steps could have opened the door. But they thought they were better than the working people. It's not fair because material, money, is more important here than everything.”

— Rose Freedman (The Living Century* documentary)

The takeaway

Rose Freedman's life and death mark the end of a direct connection to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, a pivotal moment in American labor history that exposed the callous disregard for workers' lives by some factory owners at the time. Freedman's lifelong crusade for worker safety serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of valuing human lives over profits and the need for continued vigilance to protect the rights and wellbeing of all workers.