Labor History

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

Today in Labor History February 7, 1817: Frederick Douglass was born on this date in Tuckahoe, Maryland. After escaping slavery, he became a national leader of the abolition movement. He also supported the women’s suffrage movement and ran for vice president as running mate to Victoria Woodhull on the Equal Rights Party ticket. In addition

Today in Labor History February 6, 1694: The Brazilian authorities captured Dandara, warrior queen  of the runaway slaves in Quilombo dos Palmares. She committed suicide to avoid being forced back into slavery. Quilombo dos Palmares was a community of Afro-Brazilian people who freed themselves from enslavement. The community survived for nearly 90 years, before the government finally suppressed

1910s-1950s Today in Labor History February 5, 1917: U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 over President Wilson’s veto. Also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, it was one of many anti-Asian laws passed by Congress between the 1860s and World War II. However, there were plenty of other xenophobic, nativist and anti-left