Industrial Workers of the World Exhibit

This exhibit goes into depth about the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.). The IWW thinks that all workers should be united within group or family as a class and that the wage system should be changed. It has also stood against racial discrimination between workers.

The I.W.W. was founded in June 1905 in Chicago by a group of about 200 men and women that thought that workers should be equal and should stick together as a brotherhood. These men and women strongly believed that the policies of the American Federation of Labor were unjust to the workers in America.

The I.W.W.'s first organizers included Big Bill Haywood, Daniel De Leon, Eugene V. Debs, Thomas J Hagerty, Lucy Parsons, Mary Harris Jones (commonly known as "Mother Jones"), William Trautmann, Vincent Saint John, Ralph Chaplin, and many others. In this exhibit we touch base with the achievements of some of these people.

News Peice

Strikers Killed in Mine Massacre

Strikers in coal mines in Colorado were attacked with machine guns on November 29th. John Eastenes, 34, of Lafayette, married and father of six children, died instantly. Nick Spanudakhis, 34, Lafayette, lived only a few minutes. Frank Kovich of Erie, Rene Jacques, 26, of Louisville and 21 year old Jerry Davis died hours later in the hospital. The American flag Davis carried during the strike was punctured with seventeen bullet holes and stained with his blood. Mike Vidovich of Erie, 35, lies injured in the county hospital.

The strike started on November 21^st 1927, five hundred miners came and some brought there wives and kids. They all arrived at the north gate before dawn. They carried three American flags between them. That morning the state police met them to bar there path. The miners were surprised to see even though the police were dressed in civilian clothes, they were armed with pistols, rifles, riot guns and tear gas grenades.

The strikers forced there way through the wooden gate. Hundreds of angry miners pushed forward while some scaled the fence east of the gate. The police quickly retreated 120 yards inside the fence. Louis Scherf fired two 45 caliber rounds over the heads of the strikers, which did not intimidate them. Then shortly after Scherf’s men fired shots right into the rumbling crowd. Twelve miners lay scattered on ground some moving in agony, and some not moving at all.

State police later testified that no machine guns were used in the fight. Some miners and witnesses’ testified saying machine gun were used in the fight several times. There continued to be violent confrontations during the strike. Two strike supporters were killed in Walsenburg not long ago.

1970s Stock Market Game

Yes i think that I was a successful entrepreneur for two reasons, one, because I took risks (thought out risks) and that is what an entrepreneur does. Two, because I bought low and sold high every time a bought shares.

The strategy I think was the most important was buying stock at a low price then selling it again at a higher price when the stock price is greater. This strategy is what I based most of my buying on. The second strategy that helped me was "you got to spend money to make money" because it reminded me that I have to buy a few shares and take risks if I wanted to end up with a lot of money.

After playing this game I strongly think that "buy low sell high" is the most important key to being a successful entrepreneur because when I was buying and selling stock I found that you will always make a profit, and that is what happened to me.

Descirptive Peice on Big Bill Haywood

Big Bill Haywood

Journal entry #1: May 6th, 1878

Yesterday, while working vigorously in the mines, side by side with other miners, the president of the Western Federation of Miners (W.F.M.) arrived to give a speech. A big commotion arose, and I wiggled my way through to the front of the crowd. He gave an enlightening speech which filled me with inspiration. The speech the man gave opened my eyes to the problems around me. Even though I am only a 9 year old boy, I can still make a difference! As soon as the speech was over, I raced down to the W.F.M. “sign up” stand. I was surprised to see the amount of people standing in line waiting to sign up! After a tiresome thirty minutes waiting in line, I had finally arrived to the front of the cue. “Name and signature kid”, a man with a cold rusty vo ice standing behind the stand called out at me. As pen hit paper I was jumping with a sense of happiness that I had never felt before! As soon as I left the stand I realized that I had just played my first roll in the American Labor Movement!

I left the mines with my chest pushed out and feeling as proud as I could possibly feel. I had left early because I couldn’t wait to tell my family what had happened at the mines that day. When I arrived from my time-consuming and exhausting walk home I raced over to the lounge where my mother was busy chatting with a friend to give details to her on what had happened, and as I did I wondered what my father would have thought of me if he didn’t pass away when I was three years old. My mother was proud and pleased to hear that I had fallen in deep interest with something and was less interested in what I was inspired by. I had never had such a good night sleep as I did that night.

The next morning at the crack of dawn I was woken up by my mothers soothing voice and gentle touch. I felt tired and grumpy until I realized what I had done the day before. Then I went off on my long and lonely walk to mines after having a good big hot breakfast of oatmeal. Mining has been hard for me this year due to my injury I caused to my right eye while whittling, the doctor said it has been permanently injured and mother says we can’t afford to get it replaced with a glass eye. But despite my injury, half way through the day it hit me, the long hours and small pay did not matter to me anymore, and nothing anyone could have said and done would have changed the way I felt! I had finally found a passion.

Image by:
http://www.pensler.com/images/Rivera%20Miners.jpg

Goals

My two goals for this quarter were...

1. being able to make my writing more descriptive .

This goal has been accomplished half way through. I have learned how to show my audience when writing versus just telling them what is going on, this process makes me use more descriptive verbs. But I am still practicing this.

2. become a faster reader.

This goal has been accomplished but is always something to work on. While reading my AR book this quarter I have realized that I am becoming a faster reader and that I'm reading more every night.

Interview with Big Bill Haywood

Interview with Big Bill Haywood

William Dudley Haywood (February 4, 1869–May 18, 1928) more commonly known as Big Bill Haywood. Big Bill was the founder and leader of the I.W.W (Industrial Workers of the World) and also played a big roll in the figure of the American Labor Movement. During the first two decades of the 20th century, he was involved in many important labor battles, including the Colorado Labor Wars, the Lawrence textile strike, and other textile strikes in Massachusetts and New Jersey.

What is your philosophy on industrial unionism?
I am convinced that the system under which workers worked hard is unfair and unjust. I have seen many men die in unsafe mine tunnels and once I suffered a mine injury the only help and support I got was from my fellow miners. I have differed all my life with the principles and methods of the condemned.

Did working in the mines at a young age inspire you in any way?
Yes it did, and it did in a very big way. When I was working in the mines the president of the Western Federation of Miners (W.F.M.) gave a speech and that inspired me to do something to change the problem. I signed up to be a member of the WFM shortly after and thus beginning my involvement in the American Labor Movement.

How did you feel about being sentenced for 20 years in prison?
I was filled with anger and thought that it was not right for me to be put in jail. As a reaction to my feelings I fled to Russia as soon as I got a chance! Once I was there I served as an advisor to Lenin’s Bolshevik government.

Tell me a little bit about racial unity in the labor movement.
I strongly believe that workers of all ethnicities should organize into the same union! I was one of the first people to back up my idea that we should have racial unity in the labor movement. We are big enough to take in the black man, the white man; big enough to take in all nationalities.

Have your ruthless strike tactics ever failed to succeed?
Yes, many times, but to succeed you have to know what doesn’t work. This was shown in the Paterson Silk Strike when 1,850 of our strikers were arrested. Despite our fundraising efforts the strike ended up a failure.

Net Effect of the Industrial Revolution

Negatives:

• many people lost their jobs
• factory life was dangerous and dirty
• factory deaths and injuries
• working hours were long in factories
• protesting laborers
• police shot raging protesters
• more pollution
  
• children had small wages
  

Positive:

• life was regulated by clocks
• products were produced in commodities
• families got housing if worked in factory
• families got to work together
• the public got a larger selection of what they could buy
• more jobs for people
• more education
• cheaper prices
• much higher quality goods coming from competition