Today in Labor History July 29, 1848: The police put down the Tipperary Revolt against British rule. The Young Ireland movement led this nationalist rebellion, which was part of a wave of European revolutions that occurred that year. Because the revolt occurred in the wake of the Great Famine, and the Irish were still suffering from hunger and poverty, it is also sometimes called the Famine Rebellion. During the revolt, the rebels chased an Irish Constabulary into the Widow McCormack’s house in Ballingarry, South Tipperary, where they took her children hostage. She demanded to be let in, but the cops refused. Rebel leaders tried negotiating with the cops, so that no one would get hurt. “We’re all Irishmen,” they said. “Put down your guns and you’re free to go.” However, the cops began firing and a gunfight ensued, lasting hours, until a large group of police reinforcements chased the rebels off. The authorities later arrested many of the leaders and sent them to the penal colony in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania).
The Tipperary Revolt is part of Mamai’s backstory in my first novel, “Anywhere But Schuylkill.”
1900s
Today in Labor History July 29, 1900: Italian anarchist Gaetano Bresci assassinated King Umberto of Italy. He did it to avenge the hundreds of workers the army killed during the Milan insurrection of 1898. The authorities arrested Bresci. The authorities later found him strangled (or strangled him) in his cell at Santo Stefano Prison, on May 22, 1901. Anarchist regarded him as a martyr. His act of regicide inspired Leon Czolgosz to assassinate President McKinley.
Today in Labor History July 29, 1903: The first delegation from Mother Jones’ March of the Mill Children arrived at Teddy Roosevelt’s summer home in Oyster Bay, Long Island. They went there to publicize the harsh conditions of child labor. Roosevelt wouldn’t allow them through the gates. In 1901, the mill workers in Pennsylvania went on strike. Many were young women and girls demanding adult wages. At the time, fully one in every six American children worked for an employer. Most worked at extremely low pay and often under dangerous conditions. Many of the kids had lost fingers or limbs.
“Kids on Strike!” (2003) described Jones’s Children’s Crusade.
1970s
Today in Labor History July 29, 1970: After five years on strike, the United Farm Workers finally won a contract with California grape growers.