(Published in Fifth Estate, Spring 2022) In the wake of the punitive No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top legislation of the Bush and Obama years, education reform has turned one hundred and eighty degrees. Today, many schools are implementing much more noncoercive practices, like restorative justice and culturally sensitive teaching, which aim […]
The Modern School Movement Read More »
The Birth of the Modern School Movement The Modern School (Escuela Moderna) was created in Spain by the anarchist educator Francisco Ferrer (1859-1909). His book, The Origin and Ideals of the Modern School, argued for the co-education of both boys and girls, as well as the rich and poor. During Ferrer’s days, the Spanish literacy rate was only
Louise Michel was born in Vroncourt, France on May 29, 1830. Michel was a leader of the 1871 Paris Commune and a founder of anarcha-feminism. As a child, she always empathized with the downtrodden and, particularly, with animals. Indeed, she attributed the origin of her revolt to her horror at seeing animals abused. “I used
On April 20, 1914 the Colorado National Guard and private security guards opened fire on a mining camp in the Ludlow Massacre, in Ludlow, Colorado, killing 21 people, including women, and at least twelve children. By the end of the strike, they had killed more than 75 people (over 200 from 1913-1914). Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I),
The Ludlow Massacre Read More »
Today in Labor History January 11, 532: One of the first documented sports hooligan riots escalated into a full-scale revolt against Emperor Justinian I in Constantinople. The Nika Riot began as a quarrel between fans of two different chariot teams, the Blues and the Greens. Over the course of a week, participants burned down nearly
Today in Labor History January 11 Read More »
1800s Today in Labor History January 10, 1859: Anarchist Spanish educator Francisco Ferrer was born. Ferrer started the first Modern Schools in Spain and inspired hundreds more to be created throughout the world. He opposed the Church’s monopoly over education and created Spain’s first secular, co-educational schools. In 1909, a kangaroo court convicted him of
Today in Labor History January 10 Read More »
Today in Labor History December 5, 1492: Columbus became the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola, setting in motion the genocide of Indigenous Americans. Today in Labor History December 5, 1798: Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was recruited to run a new orphanage in the Swiss town of Stans. This was immediately after
Today in Labor History December 5 Read More »
Today in Labor History November 18, 1909: Two U.S. warships sailed to Nicaragua after its president, José Santos Zelaya, executed 500 rebels (including two Americans). 1910s Today in Labor History November 18, 1910: Black Friday: Hundreds of suffragettes marched to the British Parliament in London to demand voting rights for women. The police beat many of them. Today in Labor History November 18, 1918: An anarchist
Today in Labor History November 18 Read More »
Today in Labor History October 13, 1902: Teddy Roosevelt threatened to send in federal troops as strikebreakers to crush a coal strike. The strike by anthracite coal miners in eastern Pennsylvania was led by the United Mineworkers of America (UMWA). The region had had dozens of previous strikes led by earlier and now defunct unions
Today in Labor History October 13 Read More »
Today in Labor History 10/3/1873: The authorities hanged Chief Kintpuash for the Modoc War in California. 53 Modoc warriors killed 55 U.S. troops, including the only general to die in the Indian Wars. The authorities eventually captured Kintpuash and chopped off his head. They displayed it for decades at the Army Medical Museum in Washington,
Today in Labor History October 3 Read More »