Labor History

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 […]

1910s Today in Labor History February 11, 1916: Flo Kennedy was born in on this date Kansas City, Missouri. She was a feminist and civil-rights activist As a lawyer, Kennedy represented Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and H. Rap Brown. In 1972 she formed the Feminist Party. She also filed an Internal Revenue Service complaint alleging

Today in Labor History February 10, 1355: The St Scholastica Day riot broke out in Oxford, England. 63 scholars and up to 30 locals died in rioting. It started when two students from the University of Oxford complained about the quality of wine in a Tavern. The students’ quarrel with the tavern-keeper escalated to blows. Other customers joined in and

Today in Labor History February 9, 1886: President Cleveland declared martial law in Seattle because of anti-Chinese violence instigated by the Knights of Labor. The union, which was one of the first to organize workers of different ethnicities, as well as women, was notorious for their anti-Chinese sentiment. They participated in numerous other anti-Chinese riots

Today in Labor History February 8, 1805: Louis-Auguste Blanqui was born. He was a French revolutionary and participant in the Paris Commune. Blanqui took an active role in most republican conspiracies of the early to mid 1800s, both in France, and in Italy with the  Carbonari society, including the July Revolution of 1830. In 1840, the authorities condemned