Labor History in 2:00

July 23 - Remembering 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 - No Beer, No Work

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 Newspaper 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 - The Fight 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.

July 16 - Mining Racial Divisions Proves Fatal

On this day in Labor History the year was 1894. Striking coal miners in Alabama killed a number of black miners. Both white and black miners were attempting to organize the southern bituminous coal fields during the 1890s. 

July 15 - The Execution of John Ball

On this day in Labor History and we are going all the way back to the year of 1381. That was the day John Ball, the leader of the Peasants’ Revolt in England was executed.  Due to the plague, the Black Death, in 1348, many peasants had died.

July 14 - The Great Uprising of 1877

On this day in Labor History the year was 1877. That was the day that what would come to be known as the “Great Upheaval” or “Great Uprising” began in Martinsburg, West Virginia.  Railroad workers were angry.  They had seen their wages cut twice in six months by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.