A while back, my niece Sophie convinced me to watch the Disney live action musical Newsies. The 1992 film features an 18 year old Christian Bale as a homeless New York City newsboy who organizes an unauthorized strike against the biggest newspapers in the city. The story is peppered through with real names, like Joseph Pulitzer and Teddy Roosevelt, so I was pretty sure it was at least loosely based on a real story, and it made me wonder if Boston’s newsboys had ever gone on an equally adorable strike. I uncovered the story of a real-life newsboy strike in Boston in 1894, but it didn’t have that much in common with the movie. In the course of researching the 1894 strike, I learned a lot about newsboys as an emblem of child labor in Boston during the Progressive Era, at a time when reformers thought it better to provide protections that would legitimize child labor rather than eliminating it.
Tag: labor
The Boston Cowboy Strike (episode 313)
In this episode, we explore the 1936 Boston cowboy strike, a one-day wildcat strike that became the founding moment for a labor union that still exists today. Staged by an organization that became known as the Cowboy Turtle Association at the old Boston Garden, this was the first rodeo strike in the world. While I call it a cowboy strike, cowgirls were an important feature of this particular rodeo, and the union’s longterm success is due in no small part to the wife of a champion cowboy. Why was a cowboy union formed in Boston, of all places? And how did it get the name Cowboy Turtle Association? Listen now!
Hat tip to listener Sam S for suggesting this week’s topic!
Boy Wonder Arrested as Ringleader when Reds Riot in Roxbury (episode 221)
On May Day in 1919, Roxbury socialists marched in support of a textile workers’ strike in Lawrence. The afternoon turned violent, with police firing shots to disperse the crowd. In the aftermath, two officers were killed and a mob formed that hunted down and viciously beat many of the marchers. As the smoke cleared, it became evident that one of the leaders of the march was a celebrity: William James Sidis, the boy wonder.
Continue reading Boy Wonder Arrested as Ringleader when Reds Riot in Roxbury (episode 221)
A Shooting at the State House (episode 209)
From our viewpoint in modern Massachusetts, with stringent gun licensing and background check laws, it’s hard to imagine how a young man with an extensive criminal record who had been involuntarily committed to multiple mental health institutions could walk into a store and walk back out with a shiny new handgun. And from a post-9/11 point of view, with security at the forefront of every public space, it’s hard to imagine how an uninvited visitor could walk right into the governor’s State House office and open fire. But on December 5, 1907, that’s exactly what happened, when a disturbed man with a gun and a grudge decided to pay a visit to our seat of government.
Continue reading A Shooting at the State House (episode 209)
Episode 28: The 1919 Boston Police Strike
This week, we take an in depth look at the 1919 Boston Police Strike and ensuing riots. In the post-WW1 inflation of the summer of 1919, Boston police officers were earning wages set in 1857. Around the country, workers were striking, while the upper classes feared a Bolshevik-influenced revolution. When 72% of the police force walked off the job, lawlessness ruled in Boston for several days. Governor Calvin Coolidge sent in the state militia, and emerged a hero, paving his way to the White House. Listen to the story!