1900s
Today in Labor History August 15, 1906: W.E.B. DuBois demanded equal citizenship rights for African-Americans during the second meeting of the Niagara Movement, saying, “We will not be satisfied to take one jot or little less than our full manhood.” Founders of the movement named it for the “mighty current” of change they hoped to achieve. DuBois made his famous statement at Harper’s Ferry, sight of the failed insurrection led by John Brown, in 1859. For a wonderful speculative fiction story based on the premise that John Brown had succeeded in his raid, with the help of Harriet Tubman, read Terry Bisson’s “Fire on the Mountain” (1988).
In addition to cofounding the Niagara Movement, DuBois also cofounded the NAACP. He devoted his life to fighting racism, segregation, Jim Crow and lynchings. DuBois opposed capitalism and blamed it for much of the racism in America. He was also a prolific writer, an anti-nuclear and peace activist, and a proponent of Pan-Africanism.
1910s
Today in Labor History August 15, 1918: The American 27th Infantry landed in Vladivostok to join a Japanese-initiated attack against Bolshevist forces. The soldiers suffered from problems with fuel, ammunition, supplies, and food. Their horses, used to temperate climates, couldn’t function in sub-zero Russia. And their water-cooled machine guns froze and became useless. During their 19 months in Siberia, 189 U.S. soldiers died.
Upton Sinclair referenced the Siberian expedition in his novel “Oil!” and blamed capitalist motives for the intervention.