Hellraisers Journal – Friday March 1, 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts – Prominent Magazine Writers Visit Strike Zone
From Boston Evening Transcript of February 29, 1912:
MUCKRAKERS ON THE SCENT
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Party Including Russell, White, Baker, and Others
Spends Day Gathering Material at Lawrence
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Industrial Worker February 29, 1912
A group of prominent magazine writers visited Lawrence yesterday for the purpose of gathering material. Among those in the party were Charles Edward Russell and Mrs. Russell, William Allen White, Ray Stannard Baker, Mary Heaton Vorse, Mrs. Freemont [Cora] Older, wife of the San Francisco publisher, and Miss Frances Jolliffe, also of San Francisco. The party came in on the midnight train from New York and left last night after spending a busy day going over the city. They first visited the county jail, where Ettor and Giovannitti are confined, and though they tried hard to see the two men they were unsuccessful. They were however allowed to talk to the Polish women pickets who refused to pay their fines and are serving out their sentence.
The members of the party were held up by the military guard in their attempt to go to the mills through Canal street, as they were wearing the strikers card, “Don’t be a scab.” Then they visited some of tho homes of the strikers, and later dined at a Syrian restaurant as the guests of William D. Haywood. There were also present other strike leaders, several newspaper reporters, Miss Emma Goulain and two more Franco-Belgians.
Just as they reached the restaurant the guide happened to catch sight of patrolman Michael Moore, the Syrian policeman who was prominent in the Saturday morning incident at the station [see Hellraisers Journal of Feb. 26th]. He was pointed out to the visitors as the policeman who clubbed a woman. He was still nearby when the party cams out from the restaurant and stood for a moment on the sidewalk before starting downtown. They stopped, and Moore came up and ordered them to move.
“All right, well go,” said one man, but the women were not so complacent. Mrs. Older said to the patrolman: “So you’re the man who clubbed a woman, are you?”
“Now don’t stand talking to me,” replied the patrolman. “You’ve got to go along.”
Some of the men tried to argue that they were under no compulsion to move, and in the end the policeman all but arrested one of the young Franco-Belgians who was in the party.
Hellraisers Journal – Monday February 26, 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts – Mothers and Children Attacked by Militia
From The Kansas City Star of February 24, 1912:
Lawrence, Mass., Feb. 24.-Heads were broken today in a riot which resulted from an attempt to send thirty children of striking textile workers to Philadelphia, contrary to orders from the authorities. Police and military took the children into custody and arrested several persons.
Anticipating a possible attempt to rescue the children four companies of infantry and a squad of cavalry surrounded the railroad station when they were taken into custody.
The action was taken as a result of the order issued last Saturday by Colonel Sweetser, commander of the militia doing patrol duty here, forbidding the exportation by the strike committee of the Industrial Workers of the World of additional parties of children to other cities in an endeavor to create sympathy in the cause of the strikers without permission of the parents.
When they learned that their children had been taken into custody the parents rushed to the police station to rescue them, but a big squad of special policemen was thrown about the building and the parents were arrested when they entered the station.
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DASTARDLY, UNION MEN SAY. [United Mine Workers of America, District 12] ———- Resolutions Adopted Regarding the Actions Of Soldiers at Lawrence
SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Feb. 24.–Announcement of the action of the Lawrence, Mass., authorities in preventing children of the textile strikers from leaving the city brought a storm of protest from the convention of the Illinois mine workers here today.Resolutions were adopted denouncing the authorities for what the resolutions termed “a most dastardly outrage.”
“By such acts as these are the McNamara outrages prompted, and those in charge of the affairs, as well as the mill owners, should be charged with the most contemptible of crimes, which will hasten the day of the torch and the bomb, if an enlightened people do not at once rise up in their might and once and for all put an end to these Russianized methods.” the resolution says.
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday February 25, 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts – Strikers Prepare to Send Children to Philadelphia
From The New York Call of February 24, 1912:
(Special to The Call.)
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 23.-Great enthusiasm prevailed today at the headquarters of the Socialist party, [on] Arch street, when a telegram was received from Lawrence, Mass., announcing that in response to the request of the local Socialists and unionists, 100 children of the textile strikers were to be sent to this city and would arrive at the Broad street station at 6:30 o’clock tomorrow evening, where they will be received by an enthusiastic crowd and be distributed among the workers who are eager to give them good homes until their parents win the battle at Lawrence.
[Women Pickets Hard to Handle]
LAWRENCE, Mass., Feb. 23.-Josephine Liss, the pretty Polish strikers who was arrested on Wednesday on a charge of assault upon a militiaman, was convicted in police court today and fined $10. At first she refused to pay the fine or to appeal, declaring that she might as well be in jail if she could not have her freedom outside. She finally entered an appeal on advice of her counsel and was held in $100 bonds.
The soldier asserted that the girl had struck him in the face several times. The defendant said that the soldier had sworn at her and insulted her. Acting Judge Advocate Douglas Campbell, who conducted the prosecution, protested to the court that in his opinion it was “cowardly” of the Strike Committee to send out women pickets, because they were hard to handle.
“Let them send out men,” he said “and we will deal with them.”
Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday February 20, 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts – Big Bill Haywood Replies to Order of Col. Sweetser
From The Boston Daily Glob of February 19, 1912:
HAYWOOD IN DEFIANCE ———- Hurls His Shafts at Col Sweetser. ———- Defends Lawrence Strikers Who Sent Children Away. ———- Criticizes Militia for Its Severity. ———-
LAWRENCE, Feb. 19.-William D. Haywood issued a statement today in reply to the criticism relative to sending strikers’ children to distant cities and to the notice given by Col E. Leroy Sweetser, in charge of the troops here, that he would prevent more leaving the city unless it was’shown the parents had given their consent. The statement follows:
The fact that some of the striking textile workers of Lawrence, Mass., have seen fit to send their children away to be taken care of in New York and elsewhere has raised a mighty howl among the “plutes” of cultured Back Bay.
No language has been too strong to condemn the action of the strikers who have accepted the invitation of the working people to care for their dependent children until the conclusion of the industrial war in Lawrence.
It was not until the first consignment of children had been sent away that the aristocrats of Boston, many of whom roll in wealth at the expense of the luckless parents of these little ones, found their voice. Back Bay’s polite society and the daily papers that cater to their ilk have been deaf, dumb and blind as to the conditions under which children are brought into the world, and drag out their miserable existence in the textile towns of Massachusetts.
Afraid of losing their little slaves, in whom they have only a material interest, our smug Boston exploiters and their ladies now sound the alarm.
The yellow journals are busy. Representative Hayes of the Massachusetts Assembly has introduced a bill intending to prevent children being transported from their homes, making certain such actions as felony, punishable by fine and imprisonment. Then, in boots and spurs, comes Brig Col E. Leroy Sweetser, a vest pocket edition of the now forgotten Gen Sherman Bell of Colorado fame. Sweetser is the commanding officer in the war zone of the Bay State.
With mighty proclamation, a most formidable document, the said Brig Col E. Leroy Sweetser announces to the wide world that he will permit no further shipments of children from Lawrence.
And he lets himself down with the significant words, “without the consent of their parents.” The colonel, in maudlin mockery, says that it is inhuman to take the children from their happy homes, but well not discuss the question of inhumanity with the colonel, as he really doesn’t know the definition of the word, or he would apply it to the militiamen under him, who, with wheel spokes and loaded rifles, with fixed saber bayonets, are prepared to carry out all orders.
This omnipotent officer has already issued orders to shoot to kill, and the militia have killed innocent workers and committed many grievous wrongs against the strikers in their firm desire to serve the mighty textile trust. The armed forces of the State, furnished by a Democratic administration to break the spirit and subdue the strikers, are not the only support of the kings of wool and cotton. They also enjoy the comfort of the sheltering wing of the Republican party at Washington, where they bask in the benign influence of schedule K.
With the Democratic administration ready to shoot down the slaves of the mill at Lawrence and a Republican administration holding up the tariff at Washington. The trusts have reason to feel secure, and would if it were not for the fact that their “hand” had found their heads and organized in “one big union,” and nothing but empty stomachs can drive them back into the mills.
Hellraisers Journal – Thursday February 15, 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts – Plans in Place to Send More Children out of Strike Zone
From The New York Call of February 13, 1912:
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
LAWRENCE, Mass., Feb. 12…..
Children for Philadelphia.
William H. Yates, one of the strike leaders, announced today that 200 children would be sent to Philadelphia on Wednesday morning, arrangements for their care in that city having been made by Miss E. Gurley Flynn, one of the national organizers of the Industrial Workers. Considerable criticism has been heard about sending the children to New York, and to this General Organizer Thomas replies, that it is better for the little ones to be where they can get food and clothing than here were they can have none of these things……
[Photograph and emphasis added.]
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From The New York Call of February 14, 1912:
LAWRENCE, Mass., Feb. 13…..Miss Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, of New York, is here today rounding up 1,000 more children from the homes of mill strikers to be taken to Washington, New York and Philadelphia.
Miss Flynn assisted in the reception of the little strike exiles who went from here to New York Saturday, and she gave an enthusiastic report of their arrival and the heartiness with which they were welcomed.
Hellraisers Journal – Monday February 12, 1912 New York, New York – Children of Lawrence Strikers Welcomed by Socialists
From The New York Call of February 10, 1912:
From The New York Times of February 11, 1912:
150 STRIKE WAIFS FIND HOMES HERE
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Great Throng Waits in Cold to Give Warm
Welcome to Children from Lawrence, Mass.
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BANNERS OF RED WAVE ———- And Crowd Sings the Marseillaise
–Children Answer with Strikers’ Cry –Homes Offered to Many More. ———-
The Grand Central Station was the scene of a great demonstration last night when 150 boys and girls, ranging in age from 2 to 12 years, arrive here from Lawrence, Mass. They are the children of the striking textile workers, and they come here to be cared for by working people of New York, who have promised to feed and house them until peace has been restored in Lawrence and the great mills there are again in operation.
More than 700 persons applied for one or more of the children. Among them, it is said, were Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont, Miss Inez Milholland and Rev. Dr. Percy Stickney Grant. The children, however, were all given into the care of the families of laboring men or members of the Socialist Party.
To greet the children a crowd of 5,000 men, women, and children packed the Grand Central Station concourse, singing the “Marseillaise” in many tongues. They waved red flags, some with black borders, and all bearing Socialistic mottoes. It was noticed that not one in that crowd waved aloft the Stars and Stripes.
The men that waved the big red flags said they were not anarchist but Socialist flags, but, whatever they were, they were red everywhere except the lettering and the black borders. The black borders, it was said, were marks of mourning for those of the strikers who have lost their lives in Lawrence. Besides the flags, there were banners, also red, on which were displayed in big type what the crowd called “mottoes.” One painted in gold letters on a long, red streamer, read:
Ye exploiters, kneel down before the of your victims.
Another banner announced that the “libertarians of New York affirm their solidarity to the strikers of Lawrence.” Still another banner bore the same message, except that instead of “libertarians,” it read “the Liberians of New York,” &c. There was also another flaming piece of bunting on which was painted the information that certain Harvard students favored “a free country.”
Long Wait For the Children
The train on which the children were expected to arrive was due at 3:30 P.M., but it was an hour late, and it came in without any of the Lawrence Children. When it did roll in a brass band was playing in the concourse, and the crowd was lined up against ropes that were stretched for the purpose of preventing a too hearty welcome being given to the children.
The crowd did not understand why the children were not on the 3:30 train, and so great did the excitement become that the police had an inquiry made all along the New Haven line to Boston. It was learned that the children missed their train in Boston, and it was announced from the bulletin board that they would arrive on the train that was due at 5:42 P.M., but which would not get in until 6:50 P.M.
It was about 4 o’clock when the unwelcome information was bulletined and the crowd, which had stood for two hours in the bitter cold waiting for the train, dispersed to gather again about 6 o’clock in still greater force. At 6:30 P.M. the Grand Central concourse was packed to capacity, and the reserves of the East Fifty-First Street Station formed lines behind which the crowd was forced to stand until after the children had come out of the station.
At 6:50 the searchlight of the electric engine that pulled the train from Highbridge was sighted coming into the train shed. Then the excitement started in earnest. Slowly the hum of the “Marseillaise” started, gradually gathering in volume.It ended when the train came to a stop and then ensued a series of frantic shouts and yells in a dozen languages. In all the medley there was not heard a single English word except the sharp commands of the police and the station men who were assisting.
Announce Themselves as Strikers
Orders had been issued that the children were not to leave the train until the other passengers had left it and were safely out of the shed. When the children were escorted from the cars they were in charge of fourteen men and women from Lawrence, one of whom was a trained nurse. The children were formed in columns of twos, and at a signal from a young man who was one of those in charge they announced their arrival with a yell.
This is the way the yell goes, and the children shouted it all the way out of the station:
Who we are, who are we, who are we! Yes we are, yes we are, yes we are. Strikers, strikers, strikers.
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday February 11, 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts – Strikers Children Sent to New York City
From The Boston Daily Globe, Evening Edition, of February 10, 1912:
Upper Picture-Strikers’ Children from Lawrence in South Station [Boston], Waiting to Board a New York Train. Lower Left Hand-Child of a Striker. Lower Right Hand- Miss Florence Sawyer, with One of the Youngest in the Party. ———-
One hundred and seventy-five boys and girls, children of textile strikers in Lawrence, were brought to Boston this morning on their way to New York city, where they are to be cared for by different families until the strike is settled. The children left at noon for New York. They were to have departed on the 10:03 train out of the South Station, but they reached the North Station too late to make the connection. They went to the South Station by an elevated train, and from the time of their arrival at 10:30, until their departure, at 12, made the waiting room of the great terminal building lively with their songs and pranks.
The children were in charge of five women and 10 men. The man who conducted the party described himself as being Henry Lindworth, a Frenchman, who said he was “a comrade” and was “secretary in charge of the party.” Lindworth had a pocket full of letters from Socialist Democrats and plain Socialist in New York applying for one or more of the juveniles, whom they promised to give homes during the pendency of the strike. Each of the children had pinned to his or her garments a slip of paper on which was written the name, age and address of the child.
The children ranged in age from 4 to 14, and all of them seemed to be comfortably dressed, although the clothing of most was of rather poor quality, and some of them wore patches, but the little ones all seemed happy, and looked upon their trip as a great lark. They were ever ready to burst into song when Lindworth called on them to do so, which he frequently did. The song they most sang at the South Station was “La Internationale,” which Lindworth said was the hymn of those who are opposed to society as it is now constituted.
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LAWRENCE, Feb. 19.-William D. Haywood issued a statement today in reply to the criticism relative to sending strikers’ children to distant cities and to the notice given by Col E. Leroy Sweetser, in charge of the troops here, that he would prevent more leaving the city unless it was’shown the parents had given their consent. The statement follows: 
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