———-
—–
Jack Smith, age about 28 years, was a member of the Burke Miners’ Union (Western Federation of Miners) who died in the Battle of Bunker Hill near Wardner, Idaho, on April 29, 1899. Newspaper accounts of the day tell the story.
Beneath the starry banner
Though they came from foreign lands,
They died the death of martyrs
For the noble rights of man.
-Anonymous
From The Hazelton Daily Standard, September 17, 1897:
The Ballad of the Deputies
How proud the deputies must feel
Who took so brave a part
In that conflict where their rifles
Have pierced the manly hearts
Of honest fellow workmen
Without pistol, gun or knife,
Without the smallest weapon
To defend their sacred life.We cannot forget the bravery
Of those noble warlike men,
Who after shooting victims down
Took aim and fired again.
Oh, noble, noble, deputies
Our heads are bent with shame,
We shake with fear and blush to hear
The list of cowards’ names.
Approaching the cot of Clement Platek, a 33-year-old Polish miner,
was his sunken-eyed wife and the mother of his three children.
She threw herself across his body and went into hysterics.
-Edward Pinkowski
The Martyred Miners
Who lost their lives in freedom’s cause
at Lattimer, Pennsylvania, September 10, 1897
Broztowski, Sebastian Broztowski, 40, Polish.
Česlak, Michail Cheslock, 38, Slovak.
Chrzeszeski, Frank Chrzeszeski, 18, Polish.
Čaja, Adalbert Czaja, 21, Polish.
Futa, John Futa, 17, Slovak.
Grekoš, Anthony Grekos, Lithuanian.
Kulik, George Kulick, Polish.
Mieczkowski, Andrew Mieczkowski, 33, Polish.
Monikaski, Andrew Monikaski, Slovak.
Platek, Clement Platek, 33, Polish.
Rekewicz, Rafael Rekewiez, 25, Polish.
Skrep, John Skrep, 25, Polish.
Tomašantas, Jacob Tomashontas, 18, Lithuanian.
Jurić, Steve Urich, Slovak.
Jurašek, Andrew Yurecek, 40, Slovak.
Zagorski, Stanley Zagorski, 38, Polish.
Ziominski, Adam Ziominski, 18, Polish.
Ziemba, Adalbert Ziemba, 25, Polish.
Tarnowicz, John Tarnowicz
—–
Pray for the dead
and fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
From the Locomotive Firemen’s Magazine of March 1898:
EDITORIAL ETCHINGS
The Lattimer Massacre.
—–
[…..]
The trial of Sheriff Martin is in progress at the present writing, and there are few who believe that justice will prevail. No matter that scores of witnesses have sworn to the details of the murder, but few doubt that long ago arrangements have been made by the defense for the introduction of other evidence which will defeat justice. It is known that the great detective agencies stand ready at any time to furnish “evidence” as well as thugs to further the ends of those who are able and willing to pay for such evidence,
At the beginning of the trial, John McGahren, of Wilkesbarre, one of the counsel retained by the citizens of Hazleton who hope for justice, said in his opening address to the jury:
This case has no parallel in this Commonwealth, or in this country. It is a case of highest importance, not only to the defendants, but to the people of the Commonwealth.
You are to try the case without sympathy for the defendants or for the persons slain [at Lattimer, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1897]. Their condition, rich or poor, high or low, native or foreign, must not be considered by you. There will be questions of law in this case as well as of fact. It will be for His Honor to define for you not only the rights of those who are slain, but the duties of the sheriff and his deputies.
Pray for the dead
and fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
From the United Mine Workers Journal of October 4, 1917:
Gunmen Murder Unarmed Miner
Pineville, Ky., October 1. — On the pretense of serving a warrant on Luther Shipman, a leader among the miners on strike in this district, a posse headed by County Judge Ward of Harlan county called at the home of Mr. Shipman.
They ordered him to dress and accompany them. As he turned to get his hat one of the gang shot him in the back of the head, instantly killing him. They then opened a general fusilade on the other occupants of the miners’ cabin and mortally wounded Frank Shipman, a relative of the other murdered man.
Press dispatches, inspired by the influential men who headed this murder raid, state that there was a battle. There was no battle; the gang of gunmen had made the boast they would shoot down the leaders and drive the other miners back to work on the company’s terms.
Luther Shipman was a quiet, religious man, well liked and trusted by the miners. The men are very bitter, but the leaders hope to prevent reprisals in kind.
Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From American Political Prisoners by Stephen M. Kohn:
Between 1917 and 1931, at least thirty-one young men died as a direct result of imprisonment for their opposition to World War I or for their radical trade union activities. For the most part, these men died in obscurity at a time when the general public ignored the First Amendment abuses that led to their imprisonment and death.
April 8, 1918 – Fort Hancock, New Jersey
-Ernest Gellert. Socialist CO.
June 29, 1918 – Leavenworth Penitentiary
(Date of death from Davenport Daily Times of July 1, 1918, page 1.)
-Daniel H. Wallace, convicted under Espionage Act for anti-war speech given at Davenport, Iowa. Member, League of Humanity.
October 14, 1918 – Bellevue Hospital, New York
-Jacob Schwartz of New York City. Anarchist who criticized US intervention in Russia.
Transferred to hospital from Blackwell’s (? needs verification) after severe beating.
November 1918 – Sacramento County Jail
-R. J. Blaine, IWW-Federal Prisoner, died while awaiting trial.
-Ed Burns, IWW-Federal Prisoner, died while awaiting trial.
-Ed Evans, IWW-Federal Prisoner, died while awaiting trial.
-James Nolan, IWW-Federal Prisoner, died while awaiting trial.
-Frank Travis, IWW-Federal Prisoner, died while awaiting trial.
Pray for the dead
And fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World
Fellow Worker James Rowan, in his work entitled “The I. W. W. in the Lumber Industry,” described the death of Frank Thornton:
Near the end of July there occurred at Troy, Montana, an incident of shocking barbarity. A man named Frank Thornton was arrested in a saloon after a quarrel with the bartender, and the constable took him to the jail, a small wooden structure. According to the statements of by-standers who witnessed the arrest, two Lumber Trust gunmen followed them, and the sound of blows was heard coming from the jail, as if they were giving Thornton a terrible beating. That night the jail was burned down and Thornton, the only prisoner, was burned in it. It is thought by some that Thornton was beaten to death by the constable and gunmen on the afternoon of his arrest, and that the jail was purposely set on fire to cover up the crime. Others claimed that while the jail was burning, they could see Thornton writhing in agony among the flames. This much is certain: the jail burned and either Thornton or his dead body was burned with it. Thornton was beaten to death or burned alive in the jail, and the authorities who arrested him and put him in that jail are responsible for his death.
When half a million mothers
in the richest city
in the richest country in the world
feel the pinch of hunger
as they are feeling it here now
nothing can prevent trouble.
-Mother Jones
Hellraisers Journal, Friday February 23, 1917
New York, New York – Mother Jones to Aid in Demand for Food
Food riots have broken out in New York City and in Philadelphia as the working-class women of those cities refuse to maintain proper civic order while they watch their children starve. In Philadelphia, police opened fire, killing one man and seriously wounding another. The police, as usual, claim that the workers fired first, and the word of the police has been printed as fact by the kept press of the nation.
Mother Jones is now in New York City to support the working-class women in their demand for food at prices that they can afford. She was interviewed by a reporter in her room at the Union Square Hotel.
From the New York Tribune of February 22, 1917:
“Mother” Jones To Head
Parade of 10,000
—–Will Take Delegation to President
if Mayor Fails, She Declares
—–
“Mother” Jones, aged strike leader of Colorado fame, will lead an army of 10,000 East Side woman to the city Hall next Saturday afternoon, she declares. She will ask Mayor Mitchel “just what he proposes to do” about the food shortage in New York. If his proposals are unsatisfactory she will take a delegation of “starving women” to Washington on Sunday and lay the case of New York’s poor before the President.
“Mother” Jones arrived in this city yesterday to “help the food strike along.” In her room at the Union Square Hotel last night the aged labor leader made her plans known somewhat reluctantly. Publicity, she said, might result in them being “blocked”
[She said:]
But they can’t hold this movement back. When half a million mothers in the richest city in the richest country in the world feel the pinch of hunger as they are feeling it here now nothing can prevent trouble. I came here to try to prevent it, though, and I shall do everything possible.
On Saturday I’ll lead all the women who’ll follow me down to the Mayor. More than ten thousand will go. We’ll put the matter up to him and ask for action. If he won’t give us action, some of us will go to Washington and ask the President.
Martyrs of the Cananea Strike of 1906:
Continue reading “WE NEVER FORGET: The Cananea Martyrs of June 1906”
Fellow Workers, sit back and relax. It’s time to honor the memory of Joe Hill by enjoying the songs that he left to us. For the fourth day, WE NEVER FORGET, The Labor Martyrs Project, features FW Hill’s musical and lyrical legacy. We are presenting his songs in the order in which they were first published in the Little Red Songbooks of the Industrial Workers of the World. Today we offer Part 4 of this series.
The Eighth Edition of the Little Red Songbook, published in Cleveland and dated December, 1914, was dedicated as the “Joe Hill Edition.” There were no new Joe Hill song’s in that edition, but there was a poem headed by a drawing of a wooden shoe entitled “The Rebel’s Toast.” The poem appears under the song “Liberty Forever,” but Green believes that the two are not related and states that there is no evidence to indicate that Joe Hill intended for the poem to be sung.
Continue reading “WE NEVER FORGET: Joe Hill-Songs from the Little Red Songbook, Part Four”
