The Charlotte Messenger. Vol

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Charlotte Messenger. Vol THE CHARLOTTE MESSENGER. VOL. IV. NO. 18. CHARLOTTE, N. C., SATURDAY, NOV. 1!>, 1887 $1.50 per Single Copy Terms. Ainu 5 cents. # Not THE TRAP many minutes from six o’clock under the SPRUNG. came pinioned white muslin. by a string of cabs, and proceeded by a ing could rorther from the truth. the crowd with their daylight, and a hustle different Fischer's countenance had opened fire upon from that of night a peculiar carriage containing the committee, the They were men who loved peace, whose revolvers. The crowd responded invaded the seclusion glisten, totally unlike the ashiness of hearse and moved freely Four of Chicago’s Anarchists Die on of the prison. The day of the hanging wagons speedily along. hearts were full of tenderness; to the fire. The police immediately Engel’s heavy features, and in some There was no excitement, and a few who loved the Gallows, had arrived. It was 15 minutes to 7 only were by those who well knew charged. Then began the work of car- when strange contrast with the dead lack of persons gathered. The corpses were them, trusted those who to for Engel awoke. Within the next color in the lineaments by came un- ing the injured, who were taken to ten his pinched of Par- taken to an undertaker's shop, where derstand the glory and power of their Street Where their minutes three doomed com- sons. The once Texan, Desplaines Statiou. The Renleace of Two Uniiiintili'it jaunty, vivacious they were dressed and afterwards taken lives. And the anarchy of which they wounds their to Im panions opened their eyes. They tumbl- came fast, a withered old were dressed prior to re- prlaormrot for l.iro-Oeo ( otnnill. Hu- ed man. to the homes oftheir relatives. spoke and taught, what was it! but an moval the tho out of their cots and hastily* dressed The moment his touched the scaf- to County Hispital. Os Irldo. feet The Faaeral attempt to answer the after the from themselves. No conversation took place fold Parsons seemed to have Crteae. question police, seven died their wounds, excitement which between completely resolution, what?" They believed while of the crowd one Ttic had prevailed the Anarchists and their guards. lost his identity and feel that his The precession of the Anarch- that at. tho meeting, . Bpies and Parsons to funeral there was that of wrong and hardship in was killed and some twenty in Chicago for many days was increased simply lmde them spirit was no longer a part of his body. ists began to move between I and S wounded, good-bye and in a few minutes the the exacting order which pointed to con- so far ns known. in a measure by the announcement that depu- He had wrought himself up to an ecstacy o’clock Sunday afternoon. I» was head flict, because believed that selfish- ties emerged from the ccllroom. They were of solemn ed Chief Marshal they The arrest of August Spies, Michael Governor Oglesby had decided to inter- self-glorification. by Hopp. with two aides ness would not and Samuel who shot The and a surrender peaceably Schwab, Fielden, was squat form of Engel alongside, band of musicians in the uniform of its motion to fere in the case of two of the seven An- with of the own righteousness, and in the knee at the riot. Oscar Neebe, stupid, wide-jawed face, made a German army. Immediately af- the whole of their of their archists—Bainucl Ficldcn and Michael hideous terwards came members of thought, phi- Adolph Fischer, Louis Lingg and George contrast to Parsons’ assumption the defence losophy as the establish- Engel for in the gchwab. Their sentence of the halo of a headed Anarchists, was complicity murder of of death the martyr. Fischer was committee, by George A. Schill- ment of an order of the society that the A. head and shoulders than the other ing, who carried in his hands police followed immediately. Governor commuted to imprisonment for talier a floral should be symbolized in the words, R. Parsons for a time escaped arrest, but life because hod united with three, making his occasional looks of too tribute. “Order without force.’ Is it practical? The they Spies evident bravado more noticeable than Following abreast finally surrendered himself, “Ar- them marched, eight Iknow not. They thought it was. I beiter the organ of the in a plea for mercy. The Governors’ they might otherwise and nearly two hundred members of the Zcitung, Anarch- be, at a sorry know that itis not practical now, but I ist, was suppressed, and the Anarchist reasons for not interfering in the ense of disadvantage compared with the steady Aurora Turnverein, of which August know also as a and Christian haunts in Then coolness of The w« a member. Hie philosopher tne city were raided. Carsons, Lingg, Engel and Fischer were Bpies. latter’s exhibition Spies whole society that under the inspiration of love that followed endictment of the of was as many are the eight that were and hnd asked quiet, thorough nerve, far surpassed not out, members noi day will come when righteousness will for the murder of they guilty not as a wonder the demeanor of of his in sympathy with hun- Officer Matthias J, any Anarchy, four reign in the earth, and" when sin and Their trial on the indictment for executive clemency as guilty men, comrades. dred of the Vorwartx Turner Degan. Society eelffehness will end.” was the most important and prolonged hut hnd demanded freedom as innocent The four burly deputies, standing to came next, wearing red badges on the Capt. Black ended his address read- in Cook criminal the rear of the four left This branch of by County'B jurisprudence. men. In the ease of Spies, editor of the condemned men v breast. turners is ing a poem reciting the virtues of the All were found guilty, and all but began without delay to the ropes. more strongly tinctured with Socialism Neebe Anarchist ncwspa|rer at the time of the adjust deceased and lauding Anarchy. Capt. who received fifteen years’ imprisonment, Spies’ noose being the first one placed. than any in the city. One hundred of terrible Haymarket riot, the Governor Black was foUowed by Robert" Reitzel, were sentenced to death- The case was The knot was slipped down, the cord the Fortschritt branch came next, and of Detroit, who made fierce in did not feel justified in interfering. then a speech carried to the higher courts, until the close against his neck. Spies did not followed a hearse bearing the bodv German, condemning the of United States Court wSh show a tremor, but when the of August The of the hearse workingmen Supreme reach- same pro- Spies. top Chicago for having allowed five of their ed, but without avail. cess* was being carried out with Fischer was so covered with floral tributes that best men to be murdered, declaring that innumerable for and he turned and else could be Petitions against quietly whispered to the nothing seen. Inside was they died for justice, and denouncing a the exercise of executive were A. R. PARSONS. HArGED. baliff some the s richly covered casket, over the black clemency suggestion concerning society “based upon robbery and sus- sent to Governor Oglesby, and the peo- releived by others. Fischer was the first rope. broadcloth of which was thrown n sash tained murder." Ills remarks of by were ple of Chicago were wrought up to a one to emerge from Ills cell. Accom- J ust then Dr. Murphy, a young physi- red silk. Then another band wheeled welcomed with applause, tries of ‘‘bravo!’ It cian back of into Lake street high state of excitement. was feared panied by deputies lu* stepped over to standing Engel, whispered playing a dirge, fol- and fierce veils. that at would occur, and the iron a in as many hundred members of attempts rescue plain sink and took a good joke Engel’s ear. Incredible it lowed by the OTHER SPEECHES. made the Central Labor Union, extensive preparations were by wash. Bpies next performed this ablu- may seem, low-browed Anarchist which comprises T. J. Morgan, a local Socialist leader, police and military to preserve order. tions and seemed to enjoy them. Old laughed outright with the rope around some of the most extreme Socialists in of birth, then his con- the English expressed Sketches of the Anarchists. nut! Engel followed the young Anarchist his neck, and while another was being rity; next came a hearse in tempt for the law which hanged Anarch- and the last to wash was Parsons. fastened on Parsons by his side. which lay the coffin of Adolph Fischer. ist (a voice “throttle the law,”) and August Spies came to this country At The white It also was decorated with flowers, when of He was about 32 7.20, two waiters from Martell’s caps were deftly slipped sneered at the “spread-caglism of the 16 years age. restaurant brought to the prisoners their upon their heads and drawn quickly but not so profusely as that of Spies. American fourth of July, which obscured He learned the trade of saddlcmaker in breakfast. The edibles were carried in down to their necks, shutting off the Next came a hearse' containing the re- the minds of the Chicago, but gave up this occupation mains of people.” a large new clothes basket and the linen view of each as completely and with less Parsons. On the box by the The last speech was in German, by when he was 20 years of age.
Recommended publications
  • "Pages from an Editor's Sketch Book," by August Spies
    Pages from an Editor’s Sketch Book by August Spies Published in August Spies’ Auto-Biography; His Speech in Court, and General Notes. Chicago: Niña van Zandt, January 1887; pp. 22-35. In 1872 the Chicago section of the old International started a socialistic German weekly, Vorbote. “Vorbote” translated into English means “Fore- runner” or “Pioneer.” The Honor- able Pinkerton claims that the word means “free-booter”; he as- serts this in a book written by him- self, and since the gentleman's reputation for truth and veracity is almost monumental, we had better believe than dispute with him. The Vorbote remained a weekly until shortly after the police- and militia-riots in 1877, when there was added to it a tri-weekly. The wholly unjustifiable clubbing and killing of workmen, the unconsti- tutional assaults of the police upon peaceable meetings during these riots had given such an impetus to the labor-movement in this city, that in 1879 the tri-weekly Arbeiter-Zeitung had to be trans- formed into a daily, including a Sunday issue (Fackel). These pa- pers, published by the Socialistic Publishing Society, of which any man, if he belonged to the Socialistic La- bor Party, could become a member by paying an initiation fee of 10 cents, were very prosperous. In the spring of 1879 the Socialistic ticket, headed by Dr. Ernst Schmidt as candidate for mayor, received over 12,000 votes. In the summer of the same year, however, the transactions and behavior of some of the members in connection with the judiciary election brought dissensions into the ranks of the young party, which greatly diminished its numbers and also 1 reduced the subscription list of the organ.
    [Show full text]
  • Haymarket Riot (Chicago: Alexander J
    NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK NOMINATION NFS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 HAYMARKET MARTYRS1 MONUMENT Page 1 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service______________________________________________National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 1. NAME OF PROPERTY Historic Name: Haymarket Martyrs' Monument Other Name/Site Number: 2. LOCATION Street & Number: 863 South Des Plaines Avenue Not for publication: City/Town: Forest Park Vicinity: State: IL County: Cook Code: 031 Zip Code: 60130 3. CLASSIFICATION Ownership of Property Category of Property Private: X Building(s): Public-Local: _ District: Public-State: _ Site: Public-Federal: Structure: Object: Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing ___ buildings ___ sites ___ structures 1 ___ objects 1 Total Number of Contributing Resources Previously Listed in the National Register:_Q_ Name of Related Multiple Property Listing: Designated a NATIONAL HISTrjPT LANDMARK on by the Secreury 01 j^ tai-M NPS Form 10-900 USDI/NPS NRHP Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) OMB No. 1024-0018 HAYMARKET MARTYRS' MONUMENT Page 2 United States Department of the Interior, National_P_ark Service___________________________________National Register of Historic Places Registration Form 4. STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this __ nomination __ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property __ meets __ does not meet the National Register Criteria.
    [Show full text]
  • Spring 2018 P a G E 3 P a G E 4 the Reporter
    Printing by Baxter Printing, 3837 Ridge Road, Highland IN 46322. (219) 923-1999, http://www.baxterprint.com/ P a g e 2 The Reporter Dear ILHS members and friends: park is named, It would be fair to say the ILHS is much there is about memory, but not in the passive sense. nothing on We engage the stimulation of our individual site to explain and collective memories in order to promote who Lucy is. The action. We stimulate memory through the city of Chicago is preservation of monuments and historical nearly void of statues and markers promoting sites, by the creation and participation in important women and their contributions and commemorative events and the promotion of Lucy should really be a household name in resources and human activities designed to tell Chicago. Alderman Reboyas has been slow to stories of important events primarily related to respond to our requests for assistance. Please labor history, which can be arguably called the feel free to call him! connective tissue of human endeavors. Finally, if my memory serves me well, I One endeavor your ILHS is working would be remiss if I didn’t remind all of you to toward is the funding and placement of a new join the ILHS and the Chicago Federation of headstone in Forest Home Cemetery just yards Labor at Haymarket Square at DesPlaines and from the martyrs. Nina Van Zandt Spies, the Randolph for this year’s May Day event at widow of Haymarket Martyr, August Spies. 2:30 pm for our annual celebration. The Her story is exceptional and is one of those Filipino Labor Federation, KMU, which that once again reminds us why the Haymarket means the May First Movement, will be our Affair (no pun intended) is remarkable as a guests and dedicate this year’s plaque.
    [Show full text]
  • HAYMARKET: WHOSE NAME the FEW STILL SAY with TEARS a Dramatization in Eleven Scenes Michael E
    HAYMARKET: WHOSE NAME THE FEW STILL SAY WITH TEARS A Dramatization in Eleven Scenes Michael E. Tigar* BACKGROUND The dialogue in this play is taken from the trial record of the Haymarket trial,1 writings of Darrow2 and Altgeld,3 poems of Vachel Lindsay,4 speeches of the defendants,5 and an article by Judge Gary.6 I created other dialogue based upon the biographies and autobiographies of the participants.7 In some instances, I combined several characters into one, and rearranged the order of events. However, the key speeches of each participant are their actual words. The bombing, trial, executions and pardon of the survivors were such a complex series of events that a simple chronological retelling would lack dramatic intensity. Therefore, I chose to tell this story through a series of flashbacks, centering on a meeting of Clarence Darrow and Lucy Parsons. This meeting takes place in November 29, 1922, the day then-Governor Small pardoned a group of Darrow's clients from the celebrated 1920 Communist Labor trial. Lucy was the wife of Haymarket defendant Albert Parsons. She was a formidable figure in the anarchist movement both before and after her husband's death. Darrow both depicts and symbolizes the lawyer who defends the movement for social change. His attitudes towards his own work are made up of his hopes, a fighting faith that keeps him going, and a more tempered view based on his experiences. Lucy Parsons’ writings show her to have formed the views that she expresses in the play quite early. Indeed, there is evidence that she greatly contributed to forming her husband’s political and social outlook.
    [Show full text]
  • Haymarket From
    Name: ___________________________ Task: Find and label (with words!) the answers to the following questions: 1. Who is Albert Parsons? 2. Who is August Spies? 3. Why were people worried about Alfred Nobel’s invention of dynamite? 4. What happened on May 1, 1886? 5. What happened on May 3, 1886? 6. What happened on May 4, 1886? 7. How many men were on trial? 8. What happened during the trial? 9. Clemency is an appeal for mercy or forgiveness. Why is clemency important in the months after May 4, 1886? 10. Was justice served in the Haymarket Square case? Keep the following question in mind: How would events at Haymarket impact public opinion about unions. People & Events: The Anarchists and the Haymarket Square Incident (May 4, 1886) Albert Parsons was the leader of the American branch of the International Working People's Association (I.W.P.A.), an anarchist group whose stated goal was to engineer a social revolution that would empower the working class. Parsons himself was a paradox: a Confederate soldier who became a Radical Republican after the Civil War and married a former slave. August Spies was the editor of the English-language anarchist newspaper, The Alarm. Together, Parsons and Spies addressed the working class German community of Chicago, calling for demonstrations and organizing parades. The I.W.P.A. had, at most, only five thousand members, but its tactics were so confrontational that it had an undue influence. Demonstrators would snake by the clubs and homes of the elite, or around the Chicago Board of Trade, shouting slogans and waving fists.
    [Show full text]
  • Sacco & Vanzetti
    , ' \ ·~ " ~h,S (1'(\$'104 frtn"\i tover) p 0 S t !tV 4 ~ b fa. V\ k ,~ -1 h ~ o '(";,5 I (\ (J. \ • . , SACCO and V ANZETTI ~: LABOR'S MARTYRS t By MAX SHACHTMAN TWENTY-FIVE CENTS f t PubLished by the INTERNATIONAL LABOR DEFENSE NEW YORK 1927 SACCO and VANZETTI LABOR'S MAR TYRS l5jGi~m~""Z"""G':L".~-;,.2=r.~ OWHERE can history find a parallel to m!!-~~m * ~ the case of the two Italian immigrant \<I;j N ~ workers, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo ~ ~ Vanzetti. Many times before this there ' ~r.il' @~ have been great social upheavals, revolu- i,!:'""";&- J f d I h ~ - ~C{til,}. tlOns, pro oun popu ar movements t at have swept thousands and millions of people into powerful tides of action. But, since the Russian Bolshe­ vik revolution, where has there yet been a cause that has drawn into its wake the people, not of this or that land, but of all countries, millions from every part and corner of the world; the workers in the metropolis, the peasant on the land, the people of the half-forgotten islands of the sea, men and women and children in all walks of life? There have been other causes that had just as passionate and loyal an adherence, but none with so multitudinous an army. THE PALMER RAIDS If the Sacco-Vanzetti case is regarded as an accidental series of circumstances in which two individuals were unjustly accused of a crime, and then convicted by some inexplicable and unusual flaw in the otherwise pure fabric of justice, it will be quite impossible to understand the first thing about this historic fight.
    [Show full text]
  • Special Election
    Hello 3937! We hope you have had a good week! In this issue we have a little bit of history about May Day in our VP Corner, as well as some photos from the May Day Parade! We also have info on the Teamster 792 call for a beer boycott, notification of the next Happy Hour, info about a food drive, and more! Special Election We are having an election for Local President. The candidates are Mary Austin and Robert (Bob) Francis. Members will be receiving a ballot very soon to vote for your next President. Be sure to follow instructions and return it before the deadline. Special membership meeting for the Election Committee to officially report the results of the Local's Officer and Executive Board elections is on May 30th at 5:30 in Suite 356, 312 Central Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. Beer Boycott! Teamsters Local 792 is asking that we boycott a list of 14 beers in solidarity with their strike against JJ Taylor Distributing. For more details on the situation and a list of beers to We have a Union Happy Hour coming up sponsored by all the avoid, follow this link to the excellent AFSCME unions on campus. It is City Pages article. Friday, May 18th at Stub and Herbs from 4-7pm. We'll see you there! Stamp Out Hunger Help Letter Carriers 'Stamp Out Hunger' by setting non-perishable food items in a bag (with handles) near your mailbox on Saturday May 12th. Last year Twin Cities letter carriers collected more than 1 million pounds of food which they delivered to local emergency food shelves operated by Second Harvest Heartland.
    [Show full text]
  • Capital Punishment: Race, Poverty & Disadvantage
    CAPITAL PUNISHMENT: RACE, POVERTY & DISADVANTAGE Professor Stephen B. Bright Yale Law School Class One - Part Two A BRIEF HISTORICAL Resolved, That the love of man as manifested in PERSPECTIVE his actions to his fellows, whether in his public or private relations, has ever been the surest test of The death penalty, the criminal justice system the presence of God in the soul; that the degree in and today’s mass incarceration must be viewed in which the sacredness of human life has been the context of the role that the criminal justice exemplified in all ages of the world, has been the system has played with regard to race throughout truest index of the measure of human progress; American history – maintaining slavery; that in proportion as the tide of barbarism has permitting convict leasing, which perpetuated receded, a higher regard has been manifested for slavery well into the twentieth century; terrorism the God-given right to life, its inviolability has (lynchings and other racial violence) and Jim been strengthened in proportion to the Crow Justice. development of the intellect and moral sentiments, and that conscience, reason and revelation unite * * * their testimony against the continuance of a custom, barbarous in its origin, antichristian in its RESOLUTIONS PROPOSED FOR continuance, vindictive in its character, and ANTI-CAPITAL PUNISHMENT demoralizing in its tendencies. MEETING Resolved, That any settled custom, precept, October 7, 1858, Rochester, New York example or law, the observance of which necessarily tends to cheapen
    [Show full text]
  • Haymarket: Whose Name the Few Still Say with Tears
    HAYMARKET: WHOSE NAME THE FEW STILL SAY WITH TEARS A DRAMATIZATION IN ELEVEN SCENES MICHAEL E. TIGARt BACKGROUND lawyer who defends the movement for social change. His attitudes toward his own work The dialogue in this play is taken from are made up of his hopes, a fighting faith the trial record of the Haymarket trial,' that keeps him going, and a more tempered writings of Darrow' and Altgeld,3 poems view based on his experiences. Lucy of Vachel Lindsay,4 speeches of the Parsons' writings show her to have formed defendants,' and an article by Judge Gary.6 the views that she expresses in the play quite I created other dialogue based upon the early. Indeed, there is evidence that she biographies and autobiographies of the greatly contributed to forming her husband's participants.' In some instances, I political and social outlook. combined several characters into one and Albert Parsons was a complex rearranged the order of events. However, character. He saw Civil War service for the the key speeches of each participant are Confederacy. After the war, he met and their actual words. married Lucy, a woman of color. They The bombing, trial, executions, and were driven out of Waco, Texas and settled pardon of the survivors were such a in Chicago in late 1873, where both became complex series of events that a simple leaders in the movement that led to the chronological retelling would lack dramatic Haymarket events. intensity. Therefore, I chose to tell this May 1, 1886 was an important day in story through a series of flashbacks, American labor history.
    [Show full text]
  • Transatlantic Migration and the Politics of Belonging, 1919-1939
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects Summer 2016 Between Third Reich and American Way: Transatlantic Migration and the Politics of Belonging, 1919-1939 Christian Wilbers College of William and Mary - Arts & Sciences, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Wilbers, Christian, "Between Third Reich and American Way: Transatlantic Migration and the Politics of Belonging, 1919-1939" (2016). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1499449834. http://doi.org/10.21220/S2JD4P This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Between Third Reich and American Way: Transatlantic Migration and the Politics of Belonging, 1919-1939 Christian Arne Wilbers Leer, Germany M.A. University of Münster, Germany, 2006 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the College of William and Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy American Studies Program The College of William and Mary August 2016 © Copyright by Christian A. Wilbers 2016 ABSTRACT Historians consider the years between World War I and World War II to be a period of decline for German America. This dissertation complicates that argument by applying a transnational framework to the history of German immigration to the United States, particularly the period between 1919 and 1939. The author argues that contrary to previous accounts of that period, German migrants continued to be invested in the homeland through a variety of public and private relationships that changed the ways in which they thought about themselves as Germans and Americans.
    [Show full text]
  • Colouring-Book-Vol-2-Final-GHC.Pdf
    Colouring outside the Lines Colouring is cool again! These days, many stores carry a vast array of colouring and activity books on a variety of topics, from popular TV shows to cute cats and exotic plants. There is even an adult colouring book “For Dummies,” promising to guide people through the basics of colouring in case they need a refresher. Most of these books market colouring as a fun, creative, and mindless distraction, and there is something soothing about getting lost in adding colour to an intricate illustration. Colouring can help us relax and reduce stress and can also serve as a form of meditation. Moreover, colouring taps into our nostalgia for childhood, a time when life was simpler and we had less responsibility. In short, most adult colouring books sell us on the fact that life is busy and difficult, but colouring is simple and fun! The Little Red Colouring Book has a different objective. Our art aims to fan the flames of discontent rather than snuff them out. Taking inspiration from the Industrial Workers of the World’s Little Red Song Book, The Little Red Colouring Book offers a mindful activity to inspire people to learn more about historical labour activists and revolutionaries that fought for the rights and freedoms many of us take for granted today. Volume 2 focuses on the Haymarket Martyrs. Many people are not aware that May Day, International Workers’ Day, or May 1, commemorates the 1886 Haymarket affair. The event involved eight anarchists in Chicago who were wrongly convicted of throwing a bomb at police during a labour demonstration in support of workers striking for the eight-hour day.
    [Show full text]
  • Historic Interludes a Historical Narration of the Meaning of the Day Told Through Readings Between Acts
    May Day DC 2012 – Historic Interludes A historical narration of the meaning of the day told through readings between acts. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, 1944 (1890–1964) A labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union and a visible proponent of women's rights, birth control, and women's suffrage. She joined the American Communist Party in 1936 and late in life, in 1961, became its chairwoman. May First, the sun of tomorrow! It links ancient traditions, these modem times, and the future. Always a people’s natural holiday, since time immemorial it was the occasion for the gathering of the of the poor and lowly for one gala day of festivity. [And now] it has been universally recognized and cherished by workers around the world as an International Labor Holiday. It makes sharp and clear, around the world, the impassable chasm between all workers and all exploiters. It is the day when the class struggle in its most militant significance is reaffirmed by every conscious worker. May Day as an official labor holiday was born in the fierce struggles of the [eighteen]-eighties to establish an eight-hour day. Workers of all nationalities, immigrants, political refugees, exiles, from every foreign land; native born grandsons of the American Revolution and Civil War veterans made a common, determined demand: “Eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s work from and after May First, 1886.” . Enthusiastic, they poured out in the first American general strike.
    [Show full text]