Labor History in 2:00

July 26 - Ben Franklin’s Postal Service

On this day in Labor History the year was 1775.  That was the day that the United States Post Office was created in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin.  Franklin was a member of the Second Continental Congress.  Among many distinctions Ben Franklin was the nation’s first Postmaster General. 

July 25 - Safety on the Rails

On this day in Labor History the year was 1832.  That was the day of the first recorded railroad accident in U.S. history. It took place near Quincy, Massachusetts. Four people were thrown off a vacant car on the Granite Railway.

July 24 - America’s First General Strike

On this day in Labor History the year was 1877.  Workers organized the first general strike in American history.  The strike was an outgrowth of the railroad strike which you may know, if you are a regular listener of Labor History in 2:00, that started ten days earlier in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

July 23 - Alexander Berkman

On this day in Labor History the year was 1892.  That was the day that Lithuanian-born anarchist, Alexander Berkman attempted to shoot steel magnate Andrew Carnegie’s second-in-command, Henry Clay Frick.  Berkman wanted to avenge the Homestead Steel massacre in which nine workers were killed. 

July 22 - Brew Works

On this day in Labor History the year was 1887.  That was the day brewery workers in San Francisco declared victory after breweries owners gave in to their demands. The demands were as follows:  free beer, a closed shop, freedom to live outside the breweries, a 10-hour work day, a six-day week, and a board of arbitration. 

July 21 - The More Things Change

On this day in Labor History the year was 1931.  And Chicago public school teachers went home without a paycheck. The school system was broke.  Property owners out of work due to the Great Depression could not pay their property taxes, which were used to fund the public schools. 

July 20 - No Newspapers Today

On this day in Labor History the year was 1899.  That was the day New York City newsboys went on strike.  A newspaper article noted:  “The Newsboys’ Union has decided to tie up the World and the Journal.They have struck for better rates on the evening editions of these papers, and their demands have been refused. 

July 19 - Fighting for Women’s Rights

On this day in Labor History the year was 1848. That was the day the convention on woman’s rights began in Seneca Falls, New York.  The organizers of this convention brought together some of the leading woman’s activists of the day, such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. 

July 18 - Sentenced to Death

On this day in Labor History the year was 1914.  That was the day IWW songwriter, Joe Hill, was sentenced to be executed in Utah. 

He was convicted of murder although the charges were likely trumped up.  Hill grew up in Sweden.

July 17 - The Port Chicago Disaster

On this day in Labor History the year was 1944.  A crew of mostly black soldiers were loading munitions onto ships at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California, northeast of Oakland.  320 soldiers were killed by a munitions explosion that wounded another 390 people.