Central High School of Needle Trades - Needlecrafter Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 18 text:

THE STORY OF Illuminating the walls of the auditorium at the Central High School ot Needle Trades, the stirring and unusual murals painted by Ernest Fiene attract the eye and mind of all who behold them. Besides being a fine worlc of art, these pictures serve the function of portraying in dramatic and moving fashion the long generation of hope and despair, and the high standard ot social and industrial accomplishment in the needle trades. This struggle in the needle industries was one of the turning points of modern democracy: an epoch which profoundly affected the quality of labor-industry relations in our time. As the CNT murals relate the struggles and achievements in the needle industries, they at the same time powerfully demonstrate that democracy is a healthy and efficient and progressive way ot' life, for it was the very processes and spirit ot democracy which were tested and proved in the struggles portrayed. The first panel is entitled Hvictory ol Light Qver Darlcnessf, It sym- bolizes disorganized society being challenged by enlightenment. The background shows old Castle Garden, and immigrants entering from there, fleeing the racial animosities and oppressions of Europe. These immigrants, ot many races and creeds, pass to the left to a typical East Side street. The central background shows the old New York slcyline where now the Custom House stands, and in the farther distance appears a rosy light of a future skyline. ln the foreground from right to lelt are seen sweat shop, home worlc,

Page 17 text:

THE MURALS The mam shapes arise' Shapes of Democracy fofal resulf of cenfurles Shapes ever prolecflng ofher shapes Shapes of furbulenf manly crhes Shapes of fhe friends and home glvers of fhe whole earfh Shapes bracing fhe earfh and braced wlfh fhe whole earfh NJIIIH -XNEXI fl' XVHITMAX. .Wong rn' uf rom KXY'

Page 19 text:

THE MURALS and child labor conditions. Sinisterly hovering over this group is a great green figure symbolizing Greed. ln his right hand he holds on to the cut cloth, typitying what was lcnown in the needle trades as Hthe struggle for the bundle. The bundles, as pictured, were auctioned oft by the lower class manufacturers to the lowest bidders. This practice created a real menace to the public at large because ot the unsanitary conditions under which such clothes were made. There seems no need to emphasize the heartbreaking poverty and brutal struggle for worlc which it entailed for the worlcers themselves. To the decent manufacturers and craftsmen in the industry it was a great danger and constant threat of insecurity. The central group illustrates men, women, and children carrying olit bundles for home worlc, of the lcind which is seen pictured right under the figure of Greed. The line of people carrying bundles was a familiar sight on the lower East Side. The large figure at the left, representing Enlightenment, points with his right hand to a group symbolizing the tragedy in 1911 of the Triangle tire, a terrible event in the history of the needle trades, which seemed the culmination and summing up ol: all the injustices and bad conditions under which worlcers of that time suffered. Vvhen a Fire brolce out in the Triangle Vvaist Company factory, panic followed: worlcers rushed to the doors, which could only open inward, and in the press, no one could get the doors opened at all. Girls were crushed: some jumped trom windows: others were burned to death.