Today in Labor History Jan 10 Wobblie organizer and singer Joe Hill allegedly kills two men

[Omaha Steve]

January 10

In what is described as the worst industrial disaster in state history, the Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Mass., collapses, trapping 900 workers, mostly Irish women. More than 100 die, scores more injured in the collapse and ensuing fire. Too much machinery had been crammed into the building - 1860

Birthdate of Mary Kenney O’Sullivan, first AFL woman organizer. In 1880 she organized the Woman’s Bookbinder Union and in 1903 was a founder of the National Women’s Trade Union League - 1864

Wobblie organizer and singer Joe Hill allegedly kills two men during a grocery store hold-up in Utah. He ultimately hangs for the crime despite much speculation that he was framed - 1914

The Supreme Court lets stand implementation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) despite the lack of an Environmental Impact Statement - 1944
(Could somebody look up the correct year on this and reply PLEASE!)

Former AFL-CIO President George Meany dies at age 85. The one-time plumber led the labor federation from the time of the AFL and CIO merger in 1955 until shortly before his death - 1980



And this: January 10, 1980 - George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO, died at age 85. A native of New York City, Meany followed in his father's footsteps and became a plumber. He was a union man from the start and rose through several labor posts, becoming president of the American Federation of Labor in 1952. He presided over the AFL's merger with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1955.

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_01_10_2010

[panader0]

1. No doubt Joe Hill was framed.

[StarfarerBill]

2. "Don't waste any time in mourning; organize!"

Joe was a working-class hero in every sense of the term.

[aquart]

3. None at all.

[earthboundmisfit]

4. Jan. 10. 1994

Jan. 10. 1994: U.S. Supreme Court lets stand implementation of North American Free Trade Agreement despite lack of an Environmental Impact Statement.
per http://eatthestate.org/02-17/ReclaimHistory.htm

[dcsmart]

5. #5

[struggle4progress]

6. The Rebel Girl

... Hill began corresponding with Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a prominent I. W. W. organizer ... Nine months later, as he faced execution, he wrote to her, You have been an inspiration ... As you furnished the idea I will now that I am gone give you all the credit for that song, and be sure to locate a few more Rebel Girls like yourself, because they are needed and needed badly ...
There are women of many descriptions in this queer world, as everyone knows.
Some are living in beautiful mansions and are wearing the finest of clothes.
There are blue blooded queens and princesses, who have charms made of diamonds and pearl.
But the only and thoroughbred lady is the Rebel Girl ... http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/rebgirl.html

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: "The Rebel Girl"
... She joined the IWW in 1906 at 16. Of the IWW Flynn wrote, "It blazed a trail like a great comet across the American labor scene from 1905 to 1920" ... Gurley's first real participation in the IWW free speech fight and second arrest occurred in Missoula, Mont. in the fall of 1908. The city council had passed an ordinance making street speech unlawful. The IWW decided to defy this ordinance as unconstitutional, a violation of the First Amendment. Speaker after speaker was arrested, including Flynn ... 1912 brought the Lawrence, Mass. mill strike: 14,000 people went out and the mills remained empty for three months. The strikers spoke in 25 different languages and 45 different dialects. With the arrest of the original leaders, Gurley and Haywood were brought into the strike. They addressed 10 meetings a day. Police brutality and hunger forced the strike committee to send their children out of town to sympathizers who volunteered to take them for the duration of the strike. Gurley was in charge of the evacuation of the children. On Feb. 22 the police arrested the children at the train station ... http://www.kued.org/productions/joehill/faces/flynn.html

The Rebel Girl (Hazel Dickens)
... The begining of this video, is an audio narrative by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, with images of her, as well as a quote of hers about women in the IWW ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHNwKN5D-Co
http://4.bp.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/_VCpUGI6IJTM/Relvl7uJzYI/AAAAAAAAAEs/g9LO2O_SNuA/s320/hazel+head+shot.jpg
... One of the most haunting moments in film ... is that of a folk singer standing by the grave of a slain West Virginia coal miner singing a simple and heartwrenching hymn. That scene is in John Sayles film "Matewan" about unions and mine workers, and that singer is bluegrass maven Hazel Dickens ... http://paulettefilms.blogspot.com/2007/03/indomitable-hazel-dickens.html
... Hazel Dickens would appear to follow the typical trajectory of many young rural Appalachian women from rural West Virginia raised in coal-mining communities in the 1950s. She grew up near Montcalm, West Virginia, one of 11 children, and moved away in her teens to work in the factories of Baltimore ... http://www.hrmusic.com/artists/hdart.html

[Stevepol]

7. Good song. Thx for the post.