How Book Research Makes You (and Your Reader) Smarter
When I started researching the Triangle Factory fire, I knew there were a lot of stories hidden in the rubble of the fire. In earlier blogs I discussed the social conditions of the garment workers, the tragedy of the fire itself and the forensics of fire. There are many stories of the survivors and the victims that I might get to eventually, but in this blog I wanted to talk about a real-life hero. Samuel Jesse Battle.
Cormac Mead, my fictional NYPD cop, befriends another cop in the story – in reality, the first black NYPD cop in history. In a bar scene, at McSorley’s Old Ale House (a real pub that still exists) Cormac takes offense when the bartender refuses to serve Battle a drink. Cormac defends Battle and considers him a “brother.” All cops are brothers.
In THE TRIANGLE MURDERS, Battle helps Fiona escape the harassment of Mike Sweeney, the lecherous oaf who does many dirty deeds. After the fire and Fiona is killed, Battle goes on to help Cormac collect forensic evidence.
In actuality, however, Samuel Battle didn’t become a member of the NYPD until three months after the fire. But I couldn’t resist him as a character. Ahh, the power of fiction.
In 1911, NYC’s population was about 2% black. Today, it’s 23%. They also make up 18% of the police population. A hundred years makes a big difference.
Battle went on to become the first black sergeant in 1926, the first black lieutenant in 1935 and the city’s first black parole commissioner in 1941.
Another interesting side note. Fiorello LaGuardia also appears in THE TRIANGLE MURDERS. In the book he is a young interpreter at Ellis Island, which, indeed he was. In 1943, however, during a race riot triggered by the shooting of an African-American suspect by a white police officer, LaGuardia requested Samuel Battle to quell the Harlem area where the riot erupted.
Battle shakes hands with LaGuardia Photo appeared in article in Your Black World by Ayvaunn Penn, June 2011.
Those of you writers familiar with doing research know how often these coincidences occur. What’s difficult is picking and choosing the real-life incidents and characters to enhance your story.