Join WSKG and the Broome County Historical Society Wednesday, March 16th at 6:45 PM for a special presentation by filmmaker Brian Frey. Frey will share clips and discuss the research about his latest documentary, Devil's Fire, one of Binghamton's deadliest workplace disasters. The event is free and open to the public.
For more information please visit the Broome County Historical Society website and view the live stream on the Broome County's Historical Society's Facebook page.
BACKGROUND
Tuesday, July 22, 1913 was shaping up to be another in a long string of uncomfortably hot days in Binghamton, New York. By eleven o’clock that morning, the thermometer mounted on the lawn of the city’s courthouse already read 91 degrees. Even the steady breeze that blew across the Chenango River couldn’t help cool the shop floors of the Binghamton Clothing Company which overlooked the river on Wall Street. Nearly every window of the building’s four stories was opened wide to help relieve the factory’s 122 workers from the sweltering summer heat. Many of the young sewers and seamstresses working on the fourth floor, some as young as 16, had opted to shed their heavy dresses, working in knee high bloomers and aprons.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Brian Frey is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker who has been making documentary films for public television for more than 20 years. Several of his films have aired nationally on PBS including Link: The Quiet Genius, and Watkins Glen: The Street Years. He has been nominated for 12 New York State Emmy awards for writing and producing, winning three. He has Won 11 New York State Broadcaster awards for Best Documentary. A selection of his work includes Harvest, Glenn Curtiss: The Forgotten Eagle, The Flood of ‘35, Cornell: Birth of the American University, and the profiles of industrial giants Johnson and Watson.