Joseph Zito (elevator operator)
Giuseppe Alessandro Maria "Joseph" Zito | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 1, 1883 Serre, Provincia di Salerno, Campania, Italy |
| Died | October 22, 1932 (aged 49) Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey USA |
| Resting place | Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery, New York, United States 40°41′43″N 74°05′15″W / 40.6954°N 74.0874°W |
| Occupation | Elevator operator |
| Children | 7 |
Giuseppe "Joseph" Alessandro Maria Zito (1 September 1883 – 22 October 1932) was an Italian immigrant in the United States who worked as an elevator operator credited for saving over 100 lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in 1911.[1][2][3]
Biography
[edit]Zito was born in Serre, Salerno, Campania, Italy on September 1, 1883. At the age of 17 he left Serre and traveled to America. He resided at 303 Manhattan Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey. Zito had been working as an elevator operator at Triangle Waist Company in Manhattan for six months when the fire broke out at the factory.
On March 25, 1911, at approximately 4:40 pm on Saturday as the workday was ending, a fire flared up in a scrap bin under one of the cutters' tables at the northeast corner of the 8th floor.[4] Zito and Gaspare Mortillaro worked as elevator operators[5] in the factory and saved nearly 100 lives travelling up to the 8th, 9th and 10th floors for passengers.[6] Zito reported that he made a total of eight[7] to twenty trips [8][9][10][11] until the fire had burst into the elevator shafts.[12] He also started that workers were jumping into the elevator shaft and piling up on top of the elevator.[13][14][15] Zito recalled hearing the thud of bodies impacting the roof of his elevator car.[16]
On March 26, 1911, Zito told The New York Times:
I had just brought several employees downstairs and was waiting for a ring from the upper floors when I heard a crashing of glass apparently on the eighth floor. A shower of glass came down the shaft and landed on top of my car. I started the car up at once. At the eighth floor I found a group of girls screaming and pressing up against the door. Looking through the broken glass was Mr. Harris. The girls were all around him and badly scared. Mr. Harris was telling them to keep back. Some of the men employees were also crowding around, and Mr. Harris was telling the men to keep back and let the girls down first.
— The New York Times, Joseph Zito, Elevator Man's Accounts of it
On March 27, 1911, Zito provided testimony to the fire investigation.[17]
Aftermath
[edit]Zito sustained serious injuries continuing to operate the elevator until flames enveloped the elevator shaft and experienced debilitating illnesses for the remainder of his adult life.[18] His wife suffered a miscarriage upon hearing about the fire.[2] The Charity Organization Society reported issuance of $400 to aid the family while he recovered.[19][3] Zito remained unemployed for four years after losing a job he held at the Erie Railroad Camp in Croxton until his death at the age of 49.[20]
On March 8, 2017, the town of Serre, Italy named a street in his honor "Vicolo Giuseppe Zito" in a ceremony attended by family, friends, Masons as well as religious, military and political authorities.[21] The Jersey Observer reported that Zito died penniless.[22]
Zito was awarded three medals from La Societa Reduel, Foresters of America and from the Italian goverment.
Death
[edit]Zito was buried at Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery in Jersey City, New Jersey.[23]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ von Drehle, p. 157
- ^ a b at_admin (2017-12-06). "Triangle Fire Hero: Joseph Zito". Accidental Talmudist. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
- ^ a b "Family Keeps Memory of Hero Triangle Fire Elevator Operator Alive | WNYC | New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News". WNYC. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
- ^ von Drehle, p. 118
- ^ Berger, Joseph (2011-03-21). "Triangle Fire: A Half-Hour of Horror". City Room. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
- ^ "J. A. Zito, Hero At Fire, Buried". New York American Newspaper. 1932-08-27. p. 13.
- ^ "Died for $6 Per Week Pay Envelopes of Triangle Shirtwaist Girls Found in Their Clothes". Daily People Newspaper. 1911-03-28. p. 3.
- ^ "TimesMachine: Sunday March 26, 1911 - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
- ^ Kindred, Audrey (2023-03-01). "Remember the Triangle Fire! | The New York Society for Ethical Culture". Retrieved 2025-01-05.
- ^ "New York Times Coverage of the Fire | American Experience | PBS". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
- ^ "Heroes and Villains, Key Players Who Made a Difference". The Forward. 2011-03-17. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
- ^ "More than 140 Die as Flames Sweep Through Three Stories of Factory Building in Washington Place". New York Tribune. 1911-03-26. p. 1.
- ^ "Exits Shut Tight At Triangle Fire". New York Times. 1911-12-14. p. 3.
- ^ "Fire in Ten Story Factory Building". San Antonio Light and Gazette. 1911-03-26. p. 2.
- ^ "150 Killed at Fire, Many Girls Jumping 10 Stories to Death". Trenton Sunday Advertiser. 1911-03-26. p. 1.
- ^ "East Side Mourning for Its Dead In Saturday's Fire". The Saratogian. 1911-03-27. p. 6.
- ^ "Fire Chief Croker Heartily Praises American's Plan". Ne York American Newspaper. 1911-03-28.
- ^ "The Triangle Factory Fire, 110 Years On". Hollander-Waas Jewish Heritage Services. 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2025-01-07.
- ^ Emergency Relief after the Washington Place Fire, New York March 25, 1911, p. 28
- ^ "Hero of Fire 21 Years Who Died in Poverty Is Laid to Rest," Wednesday". The Jersey Journal. 1932-08-26.
- ^ "IT and US: Fire!". We the Italians. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
- ^ at_admin (2017-12-06). "Triangle Fire Hero: Joseph Zito". Accidental Talmudist. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
- ^ "The Haunting, Elusive Faces of the Triangle Fire Victims – My NYC Pilgrimage". Consumer Grouch. 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2024-01-05.