1700s
Today in Labor History May 9, 1726: The authorities executed five men for violating Britain’s Buggery Act 1533. They had been arrested at Mother Clap’s, a well-known “Molly House,” or gay tavern.
Today in Labor History May 9, 1763: The Siege of Fort Detroit began today. It was an unsuccessful attempt by Native Americans to capture Fort Detroit from the British during Pontiac’s Rebellion.
1800-1830s
May 9, 1800: John Brown, anti-slavery freedom fighter, was born.
Today in Labor History May 9, 1837: Women met in NYC for the first Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women. Attendees included women of color, wives and daughters of slaveholders, as well as poor women. One of the leaders of the convention, Sarah Grimke, insisted on the participation of black women. Grimke was also a founder of the women’s suffrage movement. However, only five black women attended. This was likely due to the fact that few black women had the resources to travel to New York.
1870s-1890s
May 9, 1873: The Vienna Stock exchange crashed. As a result, the Long Depression began in Europe. The Long Depression was one of the worst depressions in history, hitting both Europe and the U.S. hard. In some ways, it was worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s. My novel, Anywhere But Schuylkill, takes place during the Long Depression.
Today in Labor History May 9, 1877: 2,541 people died because of a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Peru. As a result of the large temblor, there was a tsunami that killed people in Hawaii and Japan.
May 9, 1892: A coal mine exploded at Roslyn, Washington, killing 45 mine workers.
1900s
Today in Labor History May 9, 1900: Striking tram workers blew up a tramcar during riots in St. Louis.
May 9, 1907: Big Bill Haywood went on trial for murder in the bombing death of former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg. Clarence Darrow defended Haywood and got him acquitted. Steunenberg had brutally suppressed the state’s miners.
Today in Labor History May 9, 1909: Japanese sugarcane workers struck at the Aiea Plantation in Oahu. They demanded the same pay as Portuguese and Puerto Rican workers. Ultimately 7,000 workers and their families remained out until August, when the strike was broken.
1910s-1920s
May 9, 1918: Bolshevik troops opened fire on workers protesting food shortages in the town of Kolpino.
Today in Labor History May 9, 1921: Daniel Berrigan, American priest, poet, and anti-war activist was born. He was a member of the Catonsville Nine, who burned draft files to protest the Vietnam War. He was also the first priest to make the FBI’s “most wanted list.”
The West Coast Waterfront Strike
May 9, 1934: Longshoremen began a strike for a union hiring hall and union recognition. Ultimately, this led to the San Francisco general strike. After World War One, West Coast longshoremen were poorly organized, or they belong to company unions. The IWW had tried to organize them, with some successes, like in San Pedro, in 1922. However, they were invariably crushed by injunctions, imprisonment, deportation and vigilante violence. While longshoremen lacked a well-organized union, they retained a syndicalist sentiment and militancy. Many Wobblies were still working the docks and played an important role in the strikes of 1934.
On May 9, 1934, longshoremen walked off the job at ports up and down the West Coast. Sailors soon joined them. Goons shot at strikers in San Pedro. There was also violence in Oakland and San Francisco. Street battles between the cops and strikers continued in San Francisco, heating up on July 3. Things came to a head on Bloody Thursday, July 5, when police shot 3 workers (two of them died). The attack led to a four-day general strike that effectively shut down commerce in San Francisco, despite police violence and attempts to weaken it by national unions.
1930s-1940
Today in Labor History May 9, 1937: Hollywood studio mogul Louis B. Mayer recognized the Screen Actors Guild. SAG leaders had told Mayer that 99% of all actors would walk out the next morning if he didn’t recognize the union. 5,000 actors attended a victory gathering the following day at Hollywood Legion Stadium. The next day, SAG membership increased 400%.
May 9, 1946 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist was born on this day. Along with her husband, she cofounded Belge publishing house. She published books on the Armenian Genocide and the human rights of Turkey’s Kurdish population. As a result, the government imprisoned her repeatedly. Amnesty International designated her a prison of conscience.
1970s
Today in Labor History May 9, 1971: Labor leader Walter Reuther and his wife May died suspiciously in an airplane crash. Repeated attempts had been made on Reuther’s live going back to 1938.
May 9, 1972: A general strike began in Quebec in protest of the jailing of three labor leaders, Louis Laberge, Marcel Pepin, Yvon Charbonneau.
Today in Labor History May 9, 1972: Four thousand garment workers, mostly Hispanic women, struck for union recognition at the Farah Manufacturing Co. in El Paso, Texas. The strike continued into 1974. Sylvia Trevino started the strike when she demanded union representation. The boss threatened to fire or penalize anyone who joined the strike. After a month on strike, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America launched a boycott of Farah products. In January, 1974, the workers won a union contract, with job security, healthcare and a grievance system.
1980s-1990s
Today in Writing History May 9, 1981: Nelson Algren, American novelist and short story writer died. His most famous book was “The Man With The Golden Arm,” which was made into a film in 1955. He was called the “bard of the down-and-outer” based on his numerous stories about the poor, beaten down and addicted. Algren was also called a “gut radical.” His heroes included Big Bill Haywood, Eugene Debs and Clarence Darrow. He claims he never joined the Communist Party, but he participated in the John Reed Club and was an honorary co-chair of the “Save Ethel and Julius Rosenberg Committee.” The FBI surveilled him and had a 500-page dossier on him.
May 9, 1992: Westray Mine disaster killed 26 workers in Nova Scotia. An inquiry found that the mine was mismanaged and safety was ignored. However, no managers or owners were punished. They permanently closed the mine after the disaster, throwing 117 miners out of work. Six years later, the company paid them 12 weeks’ severance.