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Birth and early years
I was born on August 27th in Europe of the year of 1874. My life as a child was not the greatest. My family could not afford much and our living conditions were not good either. As I got older I had the privilege to get married and start a family . My husband passed away and I had to do something to support my family. I figure I would go to New York and find a job. Since I did not have a very bright childhood, I really wanted to be able to support my kids. -
Arriving at ellis island
I had finally arrived at Ellis island. Arriving here was much different.Some people looked at you strange and many others were prejudice. The climate was also different than back in Europe. There were people scrambling everywhere. I am not used to this because where I come from there is not many people at all. The air also smelled like smoke, and it was hard to see where I was going. I had to find a place just to stay for the night. Then I should start looking for a job. -
Job at Triangle Shirtwaist facotry
Last night I stayed in the run downed part of town. There was human waste along with the stench of that, it was awful. Today I found a job working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. This is a big building where hundreds of women work and make blouses out of old shirts. There were young girls working with me as young 14. The first day on the job was crazy. I was not used to so much chaos in my life. These people were serious about what they did. We barley got a lunch break. This job was tiring. -
Working
A little over a week has passed and I am staying in the slum area. There are not many other places to stay. It is now June and it is really hot during witch makes the smell worse. Work was getting much better. But I still make the same six dollars a week. I am not making money to care for me or to send back home to my family. I have not written to them since I arrived. I am exhausted from working long hours. -
Fire at Triangle Shirtwaist Factory
It has been years since I wrote in this journal. So today I thought was a good day to wright. I almost lost my life today. Just as some people were getting ready to close up for the day, a major fire broke out. It burned everything, shirts and all supplies. I saw men go and get the fire hose but water did not come out. I was able to get on the first elevator out. People were crying and shocked at what was happening. Many people died in this fire. I smelled the awful smoke, im glad im okay. -
Sinking of the Titanic
I herd about the Titanic sinking, apparently it happened a few days ago. I feel bad for all of those people, but I have my own things to worry about. Slum living is just getting worse. I get sick very often because the area where I am at is very unsanitary. I am trying to look for a new job now that the Triangle Shirtwaist factory burned down. There are so many opportunity's , but all pay less and the hours are crazy. The past years, I managed to save up some money to send it back home.
