Skip to page content
Office of the Secretary
DOL Home > The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 > Locations > Frances Perkins Residence

Manhattan

Frances Perkins Residence — Waverly Place

After spending almost a decade teaching, Frances Perkins moved to New York City to begin work on her master's degree in sociology from Columbia University in 1910. Waverly Place is a short "dog leg" street that is bounded on the north by Bank Street, bends east at Christopher and Gay Street, runs along the northern border of Washington Square, where it's briefly renamed Washington Square North, and terminates at Broadway. From her residence on Waverly, Ms. Perkins was a quick walk's distance to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.

Map location of Waverly Place


This area of 5th Avenue may have looked very similar to Waverly Place at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Ms. Frances Perkins was living along Waverly Place while she studied at Columbia University. On Saturday, March 25, 1911, Ms. Perkins sat for tea with Mrs. Gordon Norrie at a home along Washington Square. The women followed the sounds of the fire sirens to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory where they watch the tragedy unfold.


Frances Perkins as a young woman in a rain coat


Manhattan

Home of Mrs. Gordon Norrie