Hofstra University Tuesday honored the lives lost in the deadliest workplace accident in New York history.

In 1911, 146 people were killed in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

The blaze ripped through the floors as petrified workers, mostly young immigrant women, desperately tried to escape. However, locked doors and inoperable fire escapes sealed their fate.

The tragedy brought widespread attention to the dangerous conditions of factories, and led to the development of laws and regulations that better protect workers.

The university displayed a quilt that featured all of the names and pictures of those who perished.

Professor Mary Anne Trasciatti, president of the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, is at the center of an effort to build a permanent memorial at the site of the Triangle Fire.

"We want to teach people about the fire, so that they are inspired to do things to make the world a better place, just like people were in 1911. It was an awful thing, but there was some good that came out of it, and we try to keep both of those in focus," she says.