My great-grandmother was a garment worker in the sweatshops, and brought over her sisters, one of whom worked at Triangle, but didn’t die in the fire. This picture is from later in her life, with my great-aunt. I’d love to know more about my her background – it looks wonderfully mixed to me – but I only know that my great-grandfather called her Mary and on the ship’s register, it says Mere. In fact, I’ve taken an anglicized version of her name as my own last name – Merrill.

Tags: Garment Industry, Immigrant