Tuesday, March 22, 2022
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Via Zoom
In honor of Women’s History Month and the upcoming 111th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire on March 25th, the Historic Districts Council and the Columbus Citizens Foundation invite you to join the foundation’s Lisa Ackerman and Gina Pollara of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition as they discuss the Triangle Fire and its aftermath. One hundred forty six people perished in the fire, our nation’s worst workplace disaster until 9/11, mostly young, female, Jewish and Italian immigrants. Our panelists will speak about the workplace conditions that contributed to the loss of so many lives, the changes to the building codes still in effect today, and the impact of this tragedy on the nascent labor movement.
FREE
Lisa Ackerman is on the Board of Advisers of the HDC and serves as Executive Director of Columbus Citizens Foundation, an organization devoted to Italian culture and Italian American heritage. Ms. Ackerman was Interim CEO of World Monuments in 2018 and 2019. Previously Ms. Ackerman served as Executive Vice President of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and worked in the Education Department of the Museum of Modern Art. She is Chair of the Historic House Trust of New York City and of the New York Preservation Archive Project. She has served on the Boards of US ICOMOS, Partners for Sacred Places, and the Neighborhood Preservation Center. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute. Ms. Ackerman holds an MS in Historic Preservation from Pratt Institute, an MBA from New York University, and a BA from Middlebury College.
Gina Pollara is currently working with the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition to erect a permanent public memorial to those who died on the façade of the building where the fire took place. She previously oversaw the construction of the Louis Kahn-designed FDR Memorial (now called the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park) on the south point of Roosevelt Island, and is now working to renovate the Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial in the United Nations Garden. She is a graduate of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union, whose Great Hall hosted many raucous meetings where advocates passionately argued for workers’ rights.