Today in Labor History February 12, 1809: Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was born on this date in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The Origin of Species, published November 24, 1859, sold out immediately.
Today in Labor History February 12, 1825: The Creek gave up the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and started the westward migration.
Today in Labor History February 12, 1853: Illinois passed a law requiring any blacks entering the state & staying more than 10 days to pay a $50 fine. If unable to pay, they would be sold into slavery for a period commensurate with the fine. It was one of many state laws in the supposedly anti-slavery North that helped perpetuate slavery in the South.
1880s
Today in Labor History February 12, 1880: John L. Lewis was born. He was president of the United Mine Workers (UMW) from 1920-1960, and founder of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). In 1938, the American Federation of Labor kicked out the Committee for Industrial Organization. Lewis then formed the CIO, which organized millions of unskilled, mass production workers into unions in the 1930s and 1940s. In the 1920s, he used red-baiting, stolen elections and violence to expel the communists from the UMWA. Yet he refused to make his officials take the non-Communism required by Taft-Hartley. Canadian labor leader J.B. McLachlan called Lewis a traitor to the working class.
Today in Labor History February 12, 1889: Antonín Dvořák’s Jakobín premiered at the National Theater in Prague. The three-act opera was one of Dvořák’s peasant operas. Marie Červinková-Riegrová wrote the libretto, based on the story “At the Ducal Court,” by Alois Jirásek. In the story, the Count disowns his son, Bohuš, for his alleged ties with the French Revolutionaries known as Jacobins.
1890s-1900s
Today in Labor History February 12, 1894: Anarchist Émile Henry hurled a bomb into the Cafe Terminus in Paris, killing one person and wounding 20. In 1892, Henry set a time bomb at the offices of the Carmaux Mining Company, killing 5 cops.
February 12, 1909: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on this date by W.E.B. DuBois & others, New York City.
1910s-1920s
Today in Labor History February 12, 1913: The authorities arrested Mary Harris “Mother” Jones during a protest against conditions in the West Virginia mines. (On May 8, newly-elected Governor Hatfield released her from jail.) A government official once called Mary Jones “The most dangerous woman in America.” She was still out there at age 83. No rockin’ chair for her.
February 12, 1913: A New York commission reported widespread violations of child labor laws.
Today in Labor History February 12, 1921: Bolsheviks launched a revolt in Georgia, leading up to the Red Army invasion of Georgia.
1940s
February 12, 1946: Picketers demanded amnesty for jailed war resisters at Danbury Federal Penitentiary, Connecticut.
Today in Labor History February 12, 1946: Police in South Carolina severely beat African American army veteran Isaac Woodard. The beating was so severe it blinded him in both eyes. The incident helped to galvanize the civil rights movement. It also provided some of the inspiration for the Orson Welles’ film “Touch of Evil.” The authorities did nothing, so President Truman ordered a federal investigation. They tried Sheriff Lynwood Shull and the all-white jury acquitted him.
February 12, 1947: 60 anti-draft demonstrators burned their draft cards in New York City during an antiwar demonstration. Between 400 and 500 veterans and conscientious objectors from World Wars I and II burned their draft cards in two demonstrations, in front of the White House in Washington and at the Labor Temple in New York City, in protest of a proposed universal conscription law. Civil Rights organizers James Peck, Bayard Rustin and A.J. Muste helped organize the anti-draft protests.
1980s-2000s
Today in Labor History February 12, 1983: One hundred women protested in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq’s proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. However, they were successful in repealing the law.
February 12, 2004: San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.