Tag: Albert Parsons

Hellraisers Journal: Fifteen Years Since 1886, Chicago Tribune Reports May Day Strikes for Eight-Hour Day in Many Cities

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Albert Parsons, Chicago, Nov 11, Alarm p1, Nov 19, 1887—————

Hellraisers Journal Thursday May 2, 1901
Fifteen Years Since May Day 1886, Nation’s Workers Strike for Eight-Hour Day

Albert and Lucy Parsons, Leaders in Chicago during
1886 Nationwide May Day Strike for  Eight-Hour Day:

Albert n Lucy Parsons, Essex Co Hld p1, Nov 18, 1887, Rck Isl Dly Arg p2, Mar 10, 1887

From The Chicago Daily Tribune of May 2, 1901:

WORKERS STRIKE IN MANY CITIES.
———-
May Day Marked by Walkout of
Union Men of Varied Crafts.
—–

EIGHT-HOUR DAY ASKED.
———-
Building Trades Most Affected, the Employes
Demanding Increases in Pay.
—–

BIG PLAN OF MACHINISTS.
—–

May day strikes of union workers in all parts of the country were numerous, yesterday, although there was no general walkout in any line of skilled labor. In nearly all cases the points at issue were local differences respecting hours or wages. The eight-hour and Saturday half holiday movements showed gains in strength, many unions insisting that the shorter day be granted at once. The one strike most menacing is that of the machinists at Buffalo, N. Y., where a 9-hour day with no decrease in pay was demanded. It is claimed that this fight will be taken up by the local organizations throughout the United States, Canada. and Mexico, and that a general walkout is likely on May 20.

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Spokane Industrial Worker: Lucy Parsons Recalls Terrible Day Her Husband Was Hanged

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Albert Parsons, Chicago, Nov 11, Alarm p1, Nov 19, 1887———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday November 18, 1910
Lucy Parsons Recalls Terrible Day in 1887 When Chicago Martyrs Were Murdered

From the Spokane Industrial Worker of November 17, 1910:

A LOYAL WIFE AND LOVING MOTHER
——-

(Extract from “Liberator.”)

Lucy Parsons, Life of AP, pub Chg 1889

 

So the fatal day at last arrived. It was a sad, quiet, chilly November morning. I had not seen my husband for three days. We had two children then. I felt that I must take them to see their father, to look into his noble face once more, and to receive his blessing. I took them by the hands and led them to the jail. When I arrived there I found the accursed place where the slaughter of the innocent was to take place. all roped in for one whole block around, and police with rifles marching up and down all around. I entreated them to let me see him just once more! I was gruffly ordered away. I then begged them, the brutes , to take the innocent children to see their father; certainly they had done no wrong to deserve punishment; but the reply was a patrol wagon was called and I and the children were tumbled in and carried off to the station house and locked in a cell while the murder was being committed.

About noon the matron came to my cell and said in a cold-hearted manner: “Mrs. Parsons, it is all over; your husband has been hanged.” I remembered nothing more until I realized that my little girl was patting me on the cheek and saying. “Mamma, are you asleep?”

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Spokane Industrial Worker: “The Haymarket and the Eight Hour Movement of 1886”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Albert Parsons, Chicago, Nov 11, Alarm p1, Nov 19, 1887———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday November 11, 1910
Martyrs of Chicago’s Great Eight-Hour Movement Remembered

From the Spokane Industrial Worker of November 9, 1910:

Haymarket Eight Hour Martyrs, Future Honors, IW p1, Nov 9, 1910

———-

[Detail:]

Haymarket Eight Hour Martyrs, Future Honors detail, IW p1, Nov 9, 1910

———-

Twenty-three years have elapsed since the execution of the four men in the county jail at Chicago. Twenty-three years, ample time for the world to correct its errors of misinformation. And yet, only a comparatively small portion of the people as a whole; yes, it may be safely said that only a minority of the so-called “revolutionists” are possessed of the true status of the affair. It is for the purpose of briefly outlining the facts of the Haymarket “riot” and the resulting murder of four innocent men, and to commemorate their death that this Anniversary Number is issued. The facts are as follows: Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From the Spokane Industrial Worker: “The Haymarket and the Eight Hour Movement of 1886”” →

Hellraisers Journal: From The Liberator: “On the Inside” by Bill Haywood, IWW Class-War Prisoners in Cook County Jail

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Such a group of men one is proud to be associated with
-workers, clean hearted, clear eyed;
all fighting for the principles so plainly set forth in
the Preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World.
-Big Bill Haywood

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday May 7, 1918
Big Bill Haywood on Conditions in the Cook County Jail

From The Liberator of May 1918:

On the Inside

By William D. Haywood

BBH, Str Prs Muncie IN, -p11 edit, Apr 25, 1918

CLANG! clang! a bell rang out, big iron doors slid back, the auto patrol wheeled up to the rear entrance of the Cook County Jail; and here we are.

We are in the wing of the “old jail,” a room about 60 by 60 with a double row of cells four tiers high; our cells face the alley to the west. Cells are six by eight, about eight feet high with ceiling slightly sloping to the rear.

This cell is parlor, bedroom, dining room and lavatory all in one. Decorations black and white-that is, the interior is painted solid black on two walls, black half way on the other two walls. The ceiling is mottled white. Wash bowl, toilet, water-pipe, small bench, a narrow iron bunk, flat springs, corn husk mattress, sheet and pillow case of rough material, blanket, tin cups and spoons, constitute the fittings of our temporary homes where we spend twenty hours out of every twenty-four, involuntary parasites, doing no more service to society than the swell guys who loll around clubs or attend the functions at fashionable resorts.

The reveille of this detention camp is the sharp voice of the “runner,” “Cups out! Cups out!”

It is the beginning of a new day. The light, streams through the grated. door and falls in a checkered pattern across the cell floor.

One stretches his body on the narrow cot and awakens to the fact that he is still in jail, accepting the situation philosophically, wondering, some of us perhaps, what manner of independence and freedom it was that our Forefathers fought for in this country.

A prison cell is the heritage we gain for the blood and lives our forefathers gave; they fought for religious freedom and left us with minds free from superstitious cant and dogma; they waged war for political justice; they carried on the struggle against chattel-slavery-these were the titanic battles that were fought, bringing us to the threshold of the greatest of all wars-the class war-in which we are enlisted as workers, against all kinds of exploiters.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for January 1908, Found Supporting the Unemployed in Chicago

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You, you miserable policemen!
What business have you here?
Your presence is and insult to
the honest workingmen
who are attending this meeting.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Saturday February 15, 1908
Mother Jones News Round-Up for January 1908:
-Found Speaking with Lucy Parsons in Chicago

On the evening of January 17th, at a meeting for the Unemployed at Brand’s Hall in Chicago, Mother Jones and Lucy Parsons were both found making passionate speeches which were most unfavorably reported by the kept press.

From Indiana’s Fort Wayne News of January 18, 1908:

THE ANARCHISTS WERE RESTRAINED
—–

LUCY PARSONS THE LEADING FIGURE IN LAST
EVENING’S DEMONSTRATION IN CHICAGO.
—–

Mother Jones, Mar 11, 1905, AtR

CHICAGO, Jan. 18.-The presence of a score of policemen and an equal number of plain clothes men prevented anarchy from ruling the meeting of the “unemployed” and others at Brand’s hall last night, but there was enough of it to make the occasion lively and cause J. H. Drake, who acted as chairman, to give up in disgust and leave the hall.

Not over 800 persons in all answered the call for the turnout, but it was decided to mass the unemployed next Thursday and march on the city hall to demand work. It was suggested, if no other means presented themselves, to tear down the city hall to furnish the desired work.

Mrs. Lucy Parsons, widow of the noted anarchist, Ben L. Reitman, who makes a comfortable living out of the Brotherhood Welfare association, and “Mother” Jones all took the opportunity to air their opinion of President Roosevelt and capitalists.

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Hellraisers Journal: Eugene V. Debs: “The Martyred Apostles of Labor,” Judicially Murdered, Chicago, November 11, 1887

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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The time will come when our silence
will be more powerful
than the voices you strangle today.
-August Spies

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal: Saturday February 5, 1898
Eugene V. Debs Remembers the Chicago Martyrs of 1887

From The New Time Magazine of February 1898:

EVD, New Time Magazine, Feb 1898

THE MARTYRED APOSTLES OF LABOR.

By EUGENE V. DEBS.

The century now closing is luminous with great achievements. In every department of human endeavor marvelous progress has been made. By the magic of the machine which sprang from the inventive genius of man, wealth has been created in fabulous abundance. But, alas, this wealth, instead of blessing the race, has been the means of enslaving it. The few have come in possession of all, and the many have been reduced to the extremity of living by permission. A few have had the courage to protest. To silence these so that the dead-level of slavery could be maintained has been the demand and command of capital-blown power. Press and pulpit responded with alacrity. All the forces of society were directed against these pioneers of industrial liberty, these brave defenders of oppressed humanity—and against them the crime of the century has been committed.

Albert R. Parsons, August Spies, George Engel, Adolph Fischer, Louis Lingg, Samuel Fielden, Michael Schwab and Oscar Neebe paid the cruel penalty in prison cell and on the gallows.

They were the first martyrs in the cause of industrial freedom, and one of the supreme duties of our civilization, if indeed we may boast of having been redeemed from savagery, is to rescue their names from calumny and do justice to their memory.

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Hellraisers Journal: 103 Fellow Workers Plead “Not Guilty” to Charges of Conspiracy in Chicago Federal Court

Janet RayeElizabeth Gurley Flynn
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Don’t worry, Fellow Worker,
all we’re going to need
from now on is guts.
-Frank Little

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal: Sunday December 16, 1917
Chicago, Illinois – I. W. W. Defendants Appear Before Judge Landis

From the Kansas Pittsburg Daily Headlight of December 15, 1917:


I.W.W. DEFENDANTS FILLED
A COURT ROOM
—


BEFORE JUDGE LANDIS AT CHICAGO,
ACCUSED AGITATORS PLEADED NOT GUILTY.
—–
“American Bolsheviki Without Whiskers,”
as U. S. Lawyer Described Them,
Appeared to Answer Conspiracy Charge.
—–

Big Bill Haywood, ISR, Nov 1917

Chicago, Dec. 15.-One hundred and three alleged members of the Industrial Workers of the World, probably the largest number ever assembled in one court room to answer the charges of conspiracy against the federal government, pleaded “not guilty” when arraigned before Judge Landis in the United States district court today.

In general appearance the defendants resembled a typical jury panel. There were exceptions, however, for among the I. W. W. there are not a few who pretend to literary merit. There are some who confess themselves poets, and a few are orators. These might be distinguished by the flowing Windsor tie and the soft collar of the artist or musician, by the stiff rearward brush of the hair, or, in one or two instances, by a neatly trimmed Van Dyke beard. One of the government lawyers referred to them as “the American Bolsheviki, without the whiskers.”

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Hellraisers Journal: IWW Convention Begins in Chicago; Young Delegate, Miss Flynn, Talks Socialism on Street Corner

Janet RayeElizabeth Gurley Flynn
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I studied carefully the New York East Side,
the slums, the dives, and the sweatshops
and the terrible conditions of the people there
drove me into socialism.
-Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday September 18, 1907
Chicago, Illinois – Girl Socialist Is I. W. W. Delegate

Miss Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, age 17, of New York City, is a delegate to the Convention of Industrial Workers of the World which opened its first session on Monday morning, September 16th.

From The Chicago Daily Tribune of September 17, 1907:

…Industrial Workers of the World Open
Annual Convention…..

IWW Universal Label, IWWC 1906 Proceedings

With a gavel valued at $100 in the chairman’s hands, the annual convention of the Industrial Workers of the World opened in the morning at Brand’s hall. The gavel was presented by the unions of Alaska. It is made of walrus tusks. It is expected a tangle over the credentials will be straightened out today, and the unionists will take up business matters…

———-

[Photograph added.]

Miss Flynn, “Platform Wonder”

MISS GLYNN IN SOAPBOX TALKS.
—–
“Platform Wonder” Tells Her Hearers
the General Strike Is to Be the
Watchword of Future.
—–

EGF Girl Socialist w Hat, NYW, Aug 24, 1906

Standing on a soapbox at Halsted and O’Brien streets last night, Miss Elizabeth Gurley Glynn [Flynn], the 17 year old union “platform wonder,” addressed a crowd of 200 workingmen and exhorted them to prepare for the “general strike” in Chicago in the near future. Other unions “revival” meetings were held at Clark and Erie streets and elsewhere about the city. The soapbox campaign will be conducted while the convention of the Industrial Workers of the World is in session this week at Brand’s hall.

[Declared Miss Flynn:]

Not until every workingman quits his labor and refuses to go back until he is given a fair share of the profits will the labor question be settled. The general strike is the watchword of the future. It is certain to come soon.

Meetings will be held tonight in the Milwaukee avenue district and at several places on the west side.

———-

[Photograph added.]

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