Schorr, A. and J. M Rumshisky

[Factory Girls-- Original Memorial Words and Music for the Triangle Fire Victims] ìMAMENIUî! Including an Elegy to the Triangle Fire Victims (Yiddish: ì î)

New York: Hebrew Publishing Co., 1911.

First Edition. Folio size, 14 x 10 1/2 inches, 4pp. Folio sheet music, printed in blue and black, with illustrated cover featuring a standing male figure beside a stylized music stand incorporating portrait vignettes. Interior pages with musical notation and Yiddish lyrics in parallel typographic settings. Price noted on cover (ìPiano 50¢ / Violin 30¢î). A poignant and historically immediate response to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (March 25, 1911), one of the defining industrial disasters in American labor history. Issued the same year, this Yiddish-language song transforms the tragedy into communal lament, aimed squarely at New Yorkís immigrant Jewish populationómany of whom were directly affected by the fire or worked in similar garment trades. Composer Joseph (J. M.) Rumshisky, a central figure in Yiddish theater music, here collaborates with lyricist A. Schorr to produce not theatrical entertainment but memorial culture in printed form. The piece reflects how rapidly the catastrophe entered public consciousness and how vernacular mediaósheet music, street songs, and performanceóserved as vehicles for mourning, solidarity, and, implicitly, social critique. Near fine. Scarce.

Price: $325.00   Item #7068