Today in Labor History June 2, 1919: Anarchist Galleanists carried out a series of 9 coordinated bombings across the Eastern United States. They damaged the homes of U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, as well as then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt. They also targeted a number of judges. None of the targeted men died, although a night watchman, a former editor of the Galleanist publication “Cronaca Sovversiva,” did accidentally get killed. The bombs were delivered in packages that included the following note: “War, Class war, and you were the first to wage it under the cover of the powerful institutions you call order, in the darkness of your laws. There will have to be bloodshed; we will not dodge; there will have to be murder: we will kill, because it is necessary; there will have to be destruction; we will destroy to rid the world of your tyrannical institutions.”

The response by Palmer included mass illegal search and seizures, unwarranted arrests and the deportation of several hundred suspected radicals and anarchists. He also carried the nationwide witch hunts known as the Palmer raids in November 1919 and January 1920, arresting 10,000 anarchists, communists, and labor leaders, imprisoning 3,500, and deporting 556, including Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), was founded in response to the raid, by IWW organizer Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Helen Keller, and others.

For Pride Month: rather cool graffiti from Lübeck in 2019.
#pride #transrightsarehumanrights #sylviarivera #emmagoldman

Today in Labor History May 18, 1814: Russian anarchist militant and philosopher Mikhail Bakunin was born. In Paris, in the 1840’s, he met Marx and Proudhon, who were early influences on him. He was later expelled from France for opposing Russia’s occupation of Poland. In 1849, the authorities arrested him in Dresden for participating in the Czech rebellion of 1848. They deported him back to Russia, where the authorities imprisoned him and then exiled him to Siberia in 1857. However, he escaped through Japan and fled to the U.S. and then England.

In 1868, he joined the International Working Men’s Association, leading the rapidly growing anarchist faction. He argued for federations of self-governing workplaces and communes to replace the state. This was in contrast to Marx, who argued for the state to help bring about socialism. In 1872, they expelled Bakunin from the International. Bakunin had an influence on the IWW, Noam Chomsky, Peter Kropotkin, Herbert Marcuse, Emma Goldman, and the Spanish CNT and FAI.

Today in Labor History May 14, 1940: Emma Goldman (1869-1940) died in Toronto, at the age of 70. She had been raising money for anti-Franco forces in Spain. Goldman emigrated to the U.S. from Lithuania in 1885. The Haymarket Affair radicalized her and attracted her to the anarchist movement. She planned the assassination of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, along with her lover Alexander Berkman. However, Frick survived and Berkman was sentenced to 22 years in prison. After that, she renounced “propaganda by the deed.” Nevertheless, she continued to agitate for women’s and workers’ rights and for anarchism. And she went to prison numerous times for “inciting to riot” and for distributing information about birth control. She also went to prison in 1917 for “inducing persons not to register” for the draft. When she was released, the U.S. deported her, and 248 other radicals, to Russia. She initially supported the “workers’ revolution.” However, after learning about the violent suppression of the Kronstadt rebellion by the Bolsheviks, she denounced the Soviet Union.

„Ich mag verhaftet werden, ich mag ins Gefängnis geschmissen werden, aber ich werde nie Ruhe geben! Ich werde nie Autoritäten dulden oder mich ihnen fügen, noch werde ich Frieden machen mit einem System, das Frauen zu nichts als einem Brutkasten degradiert!“ Emma Goldman, heute 1940 in Toronto gestorben, prekär lebend + fast vergessen. Ihr Leben mit O-Ton: https://dietzberlin.de/produkt/emma-goldman-oder-freiheit-um-jeden-preis

„Guckt euch die 5th Avenue an! Jedes Haus ist eine Festung des Geldes und der Macht. (…) Geht hin und fordert Arbeit! Wenn sie euch keine Arbeit geben, fordert Brot! Wenn sie es euch verweigern, holt es euch! Es ist euer Recht!“ — Emma Goldman, #OTD 1940 gestorben. Euch ans Leseherz gelegt: https://dietzberlin.de/produkt/emma-goldman-oder-freiheit-um-jeden-preis

I was shocked that there was not a single book by Emma Goldman in my local public library.

So I looked her up, and came across this 1919 work I hadn't seen before.

DEPORTATION - Its Meaning and Menace

It seems deportation without due process to gulags overseas is as American as apple pie.

Se votare cambiasse qualcosa, sarebbe illegale

Emma Goldman

It's Mayday
A day to dismay those that control you through pay.
The Pinkertons are back and it's time to act. The bourgeoisie army is here and that's a fact.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2162

Today in labor history April 30 1886: 50,000 workers in Chicago were on strike. 30,000 more joined in the next day. The strike halted most of Chicago’s manufacturing. On May 3rd, the Chicago cops killed four unionists. Activists organized a mass public meeting and demonstration in Haymarket Square on May 4. During the meeting, somebody threw a bomb at the cops. The explosion and subsequent gunfire killed seven cops and four civilians. Nobody ever identified the bomber. None of the killer cops was charged. However, the authorities started arresting anarchists throughout Chicago.

Ultimately, they tried and convicted eight anarchist leaders in a kangaroo court. The men were: August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fisher, George Engel, Louis Lingg, Michael Schwab, Samuel Felden and Oscar Neebe. Only two of the men were even present when the bomb was thrown. The court convicted seven of murder and sentenced them to death. Neebe was give fifteen years. Parson’s brother testified at the trial that the real bomb thrower was a Pinkerton agent provocateur. This was entirely consistent with the Pinkertons modus operandi. They used the agent provocateur, James McParland, to entrap and convict the Molly Maguires. As a result, twenty of them were hanged and the Pennsylvania mining union was crushed. McParland also tried to entrap WFM leader, Big Bill Haywood, for the murder of Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg. Steunenberg had crushed the WFM strike in 1899, the same one in which the WFM had blown up a colliery. However, Haywood had Clarence Darrow representing him. And Darrow proved his innocence.

On November 11, 1887, they executed Spies, Parson, Fisher and Engel. They sang the Marseillaise, the revolutionary anthem, as they marched to the gallows. The authorities arrested family members who attempted to see them one last time. This included Parson’s wife, Lucy, who was also a significant anarchist organizer and orator. In 1905, she helped cofound the IWW. Moments before he died, Spies shouted, "The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today." And Engel and Fischer called out, "Hurrah for anarchism!" Parsons tried to speak, but was cut off by the trap door opening beneath him.

Workers throughout the world protested the trial, conviction and executions. Prominent people spoke out against it, including Clarence Darrow, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and William Morris. The Haymarket Affair inspired thousands to join the anarchist movement, including Emma Goldman. And it is the inspiration for International Workers’ Day, which is celebrated on May 1st in nearly every country in the world except the U.S.

You can read my complete bio of Lucy Parsons here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/03/24/lucy-parsons/

You can read my article on the Pinkertons here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/04/union-busting-by-the-pinkertons/

And my article on the Molly Maguires Here:
https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/13/the-myth-of-the-molly-maguires/

@bmacDonald94 iowa trivia here in #iow (iowa city, ia) we have one of the few remaining independent women's healthcare clinics in the country. The Emma Goldman Clinic.

they do incredibly important work that people can't benefit from otherwise for miles and miles.

Today in Labor History April 20, 1914: National Guards opened fire on a mining camp during a strike in Ludlow, Colorado, killing five miners, two women, and twelve children. By the end of the strike, they had killed more than 75 people. The strike involved 10,000 members of the united Mine Workers of America (UMW), 1,200 of whom had been living in the Ludlow tent colony. Many of the “Guards” were actually goons and vigilantes hired by the Ludlow Mine Field owner, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. During the assault, they opened fire on strikers and their families with machine guns and set fire to the camp.

Mining was (and still is) a dangerous job. At the time, Colorado miners were dying on the job at a rate of more than 7 deaths per 1,000 employees. The working conditions were not only unsafe, but terribly unfair, too. Workers were paid by the ton for coal that they extracted, but weren’t paid for so-called “dead work” like shoring up unstable roofs and tunnels. This system encouraged miners to risk their lives by ignoring safety precautions and preparations so that they would have more time to extract and deliver coal. Miners also lived in “company towns” where the boss not only owned their housing and the stores that supplied their food and clothing, but charged inflated prices for these services. Furthermore, the workers were paid in “scrip,” a currency that was valid only in the company towns. So even if workers had a way to get to another store, they had no money to purchase anything. Therefore, much of what the miners earned went back into the pockets of their bosses.

In the wake of the Ludlow Massacre, bands of armed miners attacked mine guards and anti-union establishments. In nearby Trinidad, they openly distributed arms from the UMWA headquarters. Over the next ten days, miners attacked mines, killing or driving off guards and scabs, and setting building on fire. They also fought sporadic skirmishes with the Colorado National Guard. In June of 1914, a number of anarchists decided to seek revenge on Rockefeller. Alexander Berkman (a former lover, and friend, of Emma Goldman) helped plan the assassination at the New York Ferrer Center. This was also the home to the anarchist Modern School, which Berkman helped create. However, the bomb exploded prematurely, killing three anarchists. These events led to infiltration of the school and center by undercover cops.

You can read my complete article on Ludlow and the Colorado Labor Wars here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/20/the-ludlow-massacre/

And my complete article on the Modern School Movement here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2022/04/30/the-modern-school-movement/

From time immemorial the wise and practical have denounced every heroic spirit. Yet it has not been they who have influenced our lives. The idealists and visionaries, foolish enough to throw caution to the winds and express their ardour and faith in some supreme deed, have advanced mankind and have enriched the world.

— #EmmaGoldman

Emma Goldman : L’émancipation comme véritable mesure du progrès

Emma Goldman approfondit sa critique du progrès technocratique. Pour elle, le vrai progrès se mesure à l'émancipation individuelle et collective. Son approche holistique résonne avec les débats actuels sur l'innovation responsable. Une pensée toujours pertinente à (re)découvrir ! #EmmaGoldman #ProgrèsSocial #AnarchismeFéministe Emma Goldman : L'émancipation comme véritable mesure du progrès Dans notre…

https://homohortus31.wordpress.com/2025/03/03/emma-goldman-lemancipation-comme-veritable-mesure-du-progres/

Today in Labor History March 3, 1903: U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1903, also called the Anarchist Exclusion Act, which bolstered previous immigration law, while adding four new classes of banned people: anarchists, people with epilepsy, beggars, and importers of prostitutes. Congress first discussed banning anarchists from entering the U.S. in 1889, in the wake of the Haymarket affair, when 8 innocent anarchists were framed for a bombing at a public demonstration in support of the eight-hour workday. Then, in 1901, Leon F. Czolgosz, a self-proclaimed anarchist, assassinated President William McKinley. The police responded by arresting numerous anarchists who had no connection whatsoever to the assassination, including Emma Goldman. The new immigration law had minimal effect. Over the next 11 years, only 11 anarchists were denied entry into the U.S., and four were expelled, under the law, including British anarchist John Turner.

Emma Goldman : Progrès ≠ Innovations

Emma Goldman critique l'équation progrès = innovations. Pour elle, le vrai progrès est social, pas juste technique. Elle prône une vision holistique du progrès centrée sur l'émancipation et l'autonomie des individus, remettant en question l'approche technocratique. Une réflexion toujours d'actualité. #EmmaGoldman #CritiqueDuProgrès #ÉthiqueTechnologique Emma Goldman, figure majeure de l'anarchisme et du féminisme, offre une…

https://homohortus31.wordpress.com/2025/02/24/%f0%9f%94%ac%f0%9f%9a%ab-emma-goldman-progres-%e2%89%a0-innovations/

February 11, 1916 - Emma Goldman was arrested for lecturing on birth control, presumed a violation of the 1873 Comstock Law which prohibited distribution of literature on birth control, considered obscene under the act.

Goldman considered such knowledge essential to women's reproductive and economic freedom; she had worked as a nurse and midwife among poor immigrant workers on New York’s Lower East Side in the 1890s. She also organized for women's suffrage, later opposed U.S. involvement in World War I, and was imprisoned for allegedly obstructing military conscription.

“. . . those like myself who are disseminating knowledge [of birth control] are not doing so because of personal gain or because we consider it obscene or lewd. We do it because we know the desperate condition among the masses of workers and even professional people, when they cannot meet the demands of numerous children.” ~ Goldman letter to the press following her arrest