David Von Drehle is the author of the 2003 book “Triangle: The Fire That Changed America,” which recounts the history of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and its aftermath. He spoke with Linda Ocasio of The Star-Ledger editorial board about the historic significance of the Triangle fire and its continuing hold on the American conscience.

Q. Why does the tragedy remain compelling?

A. It speaks to people, because so many strands of our history come together in the story: American labor history, immigrant history, women’s history, New York City history, Jewish history. It was a crucial milestone in the political awakening of Eleanor Roosevelt. She later joined the board of the Women’s Trade Union League.

And also for Frances Perkins, who was an eyewitness to the fire and was on the Factory Commission that led to reforms. She became the first female cabinet member during FDR’s presidency, secretary of labor, and took the reform agenda into the New Deal. Perkins was an eyewitness to the fire.

It was a catalytic moment in the Democratic Party, which became a reform rather than a conservative party. It’s also a meaningful story to young people. They really relate to the Triangle workers; so many who died were teenagers themselves. It’s a piece of history they can relate to.

Q. Is Triangle still relevant to today's unions?

A. I think the story continues to be important to the union movement generally, and especially the needle trades and textile workers of Unite, the successor to the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. Triangle speaks to the difficulties of the modern labor movement.

The issues of 1911, when 100 or more American workers were dying on the job every day — it was clear why workers would want to be part of a union. There were virtually no regulations on safety or hours to be worked, no minimum wage, health benefits or compensation for injury on the job. Workers were powerless, fired without cause.

The labor movement today is sort of in a struggle to make its value clear to workers and employers. But polling indicates there is still a strong philosophical belief that people ought to have the right to organize and bargain as a group. That sort of ground-level condition is still there, though not as strong as it used to be. A lot of people see teenagers locked in dangerous factories as different from schoolteachers arguing over merit pay and layoffs. People don’t equate them.

Q. How can unions still invoke Triangle to raise awareness of labor conditions?

A. One of the best things the current garment union does is call attention to work done for American consumers that doesn’t meet our standards for worker safety or compensation. Our ability to influence laws of Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia is limited, but it’s important to keep the issue in the public eye. It’s important in the United States.

The American worker in 1911 was at 50 times greater risk of losing his life on the job than workers are today. There’s been an improvement. Still, there are U.S. sweatshops. The story is how Triangle came to have such an influence, through organizing, voting, raising awareness, working within the system. That story is still relevant to solve the problems we have today.

Q. Have you been surprised by the attention to the Triangle fire anniversary?

A. The amount of energy that’s gone into commemorating the fire has only increased year by year, and this year, in New York and all over the country, it’s mind-boggling to me, given that this is a story almost completely forgotten in the 50 years after the fire. It was largely forgotten until “The Triangle Fire” by Leon Stein was published in 1961 at the 50th anniversary of the fire.

I couldn’t have done my book without his. My book was the first attempt to compile a list of survivors. Then Michael Hirsch took my list and ran with it. He put together the definitive list of fatalities. Another milestone in this was the Kheel Center at Cornell University, which became a repository for old garment union records and Stein’s papers.

Q. And the building where the fire took place still stands.

A. The building is still there (at Washington Place and Greene Street in the West Village). I lived for a time in the neighborhood and walked by the building all the time. It does add another compelling layer to the whole story, the fact that it’s right there in the center of everything, a block from Washington Square. It gives it a living quality a lot of history doesn’t have.