Feature story: Scale of destruction in 1877 railroad strike 'mind-boggling' (45 people died)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_579635.html

By F.A. Krift
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 27, 2008

Even 131 years after a Pittsburgh mob burned down a railroad station and 45 people died, historian David Stowell said it's hard to imagine a labor dispute with similar destruction.

"It's the equivalent of a mob burning down the headquarters of Microsoft," said Stowell of Rochester, N.Y., who wrote "Streets, Railroads, and the Great Strike of 1877." "The scale of the destruction in Pittsburgh even today is somewhat mind-boggling."

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was a nationwide response to wage cuts and railroad companies' domination of everyday American life and commerce. While strikers walked off the job in cities like Baltimore, Chicago and St. Louis, no place was as violent as Pittsburgh, Stowell said.

When the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. called upon local National Guard troops to control the crowd on July 20, the militia didn't respond. They sympathized with their neighbors. Railroad company President Thomas A. Scott asked for militia from Pittsburgh's rival city, Philadelphia, to give what he called "a rifle diet for a few days." About 600 bayonet-wielding troops arrived July 21.

"It was readily apparent that the state, whether with the National Guard or federal troops, was more than willing to make use of those troops against regular folks on behalf of interests of corporations," Stowell said.

Trying to move the crowd off the tracks, a number of Philadelphia militia men charged and stabbed several people, Stowell wrote.

The crowd threw rocks in retaliation. The militia fired their weapons. Twenty died, including one woman and three children, and 30 more were wounded.

FULL story at link.

[Faygo Kid]

1. Wow. Interesting stuff. Thanks for posting.

We take so much of the struggles for justice that came before us for granted.

It's never been easy, and we have work of our own to do.

I learned that Montgomery, Alabama, had many transit strikes for racial justice dating back to the streetcar days of the 19th century before Rosa Parks came on the scene.

She was the first to acknowledge that she was part of an historic continuum. And that all those anonymous citizens who tried and failed before her courageous success deserve every bit as much credit for paving the way.

We take too much for granted. Thanks again.