1890s
Today in Labor History September 10, 1897: A sheriff and deputies killed 19 striking miners and wounded 40 others in Lattimer mine, near Hazelton, Pennsylvania during a peaceful mining protest. Many of those killed were originally brought in as strikebreakers, but then later organized and joined the strike. The miners were mostly Polish, Lithuanian, Slovak and German. The massacre was a turning point for the UMW. Working and safety conditions were terrible. 32,000 miners had died from 1870-1897, just in the northeastern coalfields of Pennsylvania. Wages had dropped 17% since the mid-1890s.
Today in Labor History September 10, 1898: Anarchist Luigi Lucheni assassinated Empress Elisabeth of Austria with a sanded-down file. The authorities promptly caught Lucheni. He claimed he had come to Geneva to kill any sovereign as an example for others (Propaganda by the Deed). He said he used the file because he couldn’t afford a stiletto. During his trial, he discovered that capital punishment had been banned in Geneva. Furious, he demanded that his trial be moved to a less civilized canton so he could be martyred. On October 19, 1910, he was found hanged in his cell. The authorities cut off his head and stuck it into formaldehyde and transferred to Vienna, where it was put on display in the Narrenterm pathology museum. They displayed it there until 2000.
1940s-1960s
Today in Labor History September 10, 1941: Trade union leaders were shot by German firing squads in retaliation for striking.
Today in Writing History September 10, 1960: Alison Bechdel, American author and illustrator was born. She is most famous for her “Dykes to Watch Out For,” comic strip.
Today in Labor History September 10, 1962: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that James Meredith could be admitted to the University of Mississippi.
Today in Labor History September 10, 1963: The 20 black children were integrated into Birmingham schools in spite of opposition by the city.