Haymaket Memorial

I am currently sitting in the Chicago Airport due to the incredible efficiency of our airlines. The good news is that I was able to get to visit the Haymarket Memorial today during lunch. It was rather difficult as I was not able to find the address of the memorial even after calling the Chicago Historical Society and Chicago Cultural Affairs Office.

Thanks to a few bloggers and the Illinois Labor Historical Society I was able to find it and fortunately it was within walking distance of my Oracle training facility. The memorial is a few paces north of the intersection of W Randolf St. and N Desplaines St. about three blocks west of the Theater District.

Haymarket is memorialized internationally during May Day, also know as International Labor Day. A description of the tragic event follows:

On May 3, 1886, violence erupted at the McCormick Reaper Works during an assembly of strikers. That evening a small group of anarchists met to plan a rally the next day in response to the McCormick incident.

The rally began about 8:30 p.m. May 4 at the Haymarket, a site on Randolph between Halsted and Des Plaines Street, but due to low attendance it was moved a half block away to Des Plaines Street north of Randolph Street. After 10 p.m., as the rally drew to a close, 176 policemen led by Inspector John Bonfield moved in demanding immediate dispersal of the remaining 200 workers. Suddenly a bomb exploded. In the chaos that followed shots were fired by police and perhaps by workers. One police officer was killed by the bomb, six officers died later and sixty others were injured. No official count was made of civilian deaths or injuries probably because friends and/or relatives carried them off immediately. Medical evidence later showed that most of the injuries suffered by the police were caused by their own bullets.

All well known anarchists and socialists were rounded up and arrested in the days following the riot. Thirty one of them were named in criminal indictments and eight held for trial.

Although the bomb thrower has never been identified the eight indicted men were convicted by a court which held that the "inflammatory speeches and publications" of these eight incited the actions of the mob. The Illinois and U.S. Supreme Courts upheld the verdict.

On November 11, 1887 four of the accused were hanged. One committed suicide in jail, two had their sentences commuted to life in prison and one remained in prison even though there was no case against him. [See photo.]

After John P. Altgeld became Governor in 1893, the petitions for pardon that had been presented to and refused by his predecessor Richard Oglesby, were again introduced. After a careful review of the case Altgeld granted a full pardon on June 26, 1893. In his remarks he claimed the jury was selected to convict and the judge so prejudiced against the defendants that a fair trial was impossible.1

The monument standing there today (pictured with yours truly) is not the original monument. A statue was dedicated on the site in the 1890s. The statue was attacked by vandals many times and even blown up on several occasions. Mayor Daley in 1970 even had a 24/7 police watch established to guard the statue. Today it stands within the Chicago Police Academy and can only be seen by appointment.

Nevertheless, it is very easy to visit the memorial currently standing on N Desplaines St. Below is a map showing the exact location. I'll upload more pictures over the weekend.

Takes More Than Guns to Kill a Man

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
Alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.

"In Salt Lake, Joe," says I to him,
him standing by my bed,
"They framed you on a murder charge,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead,"
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead."

"The Copper Bosses killed you Joe,
they shot you Joe" says I.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man"
Says Joe "I didn't die"
Says Joe "I didn't die"

And standing there as big as life
and smiling with his eyes.
Says Joe "What they can never kill
went on to organize,
went on to organize"

From San Diego up to Maine,
in every mine and mill,
where working-men defend their rights,
it's there you find Joe Hill,
it's there you find Joe Hill!

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
alive as you and me.
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" said he,
"I never died" said he.

Joe Hill was an IWW organizer who worked hard to build the union for exploited copper workers in the Western US. He was framed for murder and shot by the state of Utah in 1915. His last words were "Fire!"

A for Anarchy

Also related to V For Vendetta, another post from tothebarricades.blogspot.com:

The website aforanarchy.com is intended to introduce fans of the film/graphic novel V For Vendetta to the history and philosophy of Anarchy. V For Vendetta was originally a comic produced in the mid 1980s by Alan Moore and David Lloyd about a man who destroys the corrupt state he lives in, promoting Anarchy to the masses all the while. This core message of Anarchy has been [twisted] in the film verison.

It is clear that the movie does indeed distort anarchism. Especially in the scene describing the run-up to November 5th which shows mass riots and violence on the part of the general population. Nevertheless, the movie does expose casual viewers to a cross section of ideas that they generally would not be aware of. The idea that a government would orchestrate a massive terrorist event on its own soil to scare the population into fascist compliance is particularly noteworthy.

I was also dissapointed that Evey did not vocalize what she came to realize was more important than her own life, which I believe was dignity.

Victory for Greek Comrades

Greek Anarchist comrades force the police to adhere to the law.

Indymedia Athens reports that Anarchists and their comrades have risen up to protect their rights, and have been met by violent force:

During a book presentation, policemen-bodyguards of PASOK's ex-ministers Verelis and Venizelos, were armed within the premises of the Athens Polytechnic School (NTUA) campus at downtown Athens. (This constitutes a violation of Academic Asylum laws, valid in Greece since the collapse of the military colonels' junta in 1974, mainly propelled by student uprising in November 1973 in the same campus.)

Anarchist and lefist comrades tried to make the policemen-bodyguards leave the campus and conflicted with them. The result was gunfires one of which injured one comrade, at the leg. He was transported to the Laiko Hospital.

After baring several people from leaving the University, the comrades were surrounded by over 150 riot police. However, after peaceful but tense negotiations, the government issued and apology and everyone was able to leave without further incident. A powerful portriat of the power of solidarity to effect a peaceful conclusion to a potentially explosive situation. Contrast the actions of the Greek government in this case, with those of the US government at the Branch Davidian compound in 1993. Although the story behind these events is different, the basic scenario is the same: the government has surrounded a "violent group" with massive force and holding the group under siege.[edited by author May 16, 2005]

Thank you to Sean for full story, posted at To The Barricades