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 2, 1800: Slave rebellion leader Nat Turner was born. In August, 1831, Turner led the only effective, sustained slave revolt in U.S. history. They killed over 50 people, mostly whites, but the authorities put down the rebellion after a few days. Turner survived in hiding for several months. White slave

Today in Labor History October 1, 1838: The Cherokees began the “The Trail of Tears” forced march in which hundreds died of sickness, dehydration, and exposure. Today in Labor History October 1, 1851: 10,000 New Yorkers busted up a police station in Syracuse to free an escaped slave. The authorities arrested William “Jerry” Henry, a

1910s-1920s Today in Labor History September 22, 1919: 400,000 steelworkers in 50 cities struck to protest intolerable working conditions. Union leaders believed that if they could organizer the steel workers, it would cause a national wave of unionization. Thus began the Great Steel Strike of 1919. The bosses called upon the federal troops and crushed

1890s Today in Labor History September 21, 1896: The authorities sent the militia to Leadville, Colorado, to bust a miners’ strike. Leadville was a leading mining community during the latter half of the 19th century due to its rich silver deposits. Colorado’s mineral wealth turned it into the nation’s main mining region, and made families like