121st Anniversary of Massacre Brings
For the 21st consecutive year, hundreds of persons gathered in early May on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan in Bay View to commemorate one of
Sheila Cochran, of Milwaukee County Labor Council, opens the event
Among the 200 or more present on the unusually mild Sunday (May 6) were labor union leaders, members and activists, residents of Bay View, historians and others, gathered for the 121st Anniversary Commemoration of the killing of seven persons on May 5, 1886 during a march of workers on behalf of the 8-hour day.
Missing this year from the event was a principal participant, former Milwaukee Mayor Frank P. Zeidler, longtime speaker at the event and committee member. He died last July 7 at age of 93, and one of his last public appearances was at the 2006 event on May 7.
Yet, Zeidler was present in the minds of those attending, and his contributions to the event were noted by the speakers. His widow, Agnes, a daughter, Anita, and a son, Michael, were also present for the occasion, which they had stated was always close to the former Mayor’s heart.
Sheila Cochran, chief officer of the Milwaukee County Labor Council, opened the session with a moment of silence for Mr. Zeidler. She said that the event commemorates the 1886 tragedy that began when 1,500 workers marched to the Bay View Rolling Mills – located near the historical marker at the intersection of
She noted that the State militia had been called out by Wis. Gov. Jeremiah Rusk, and the militia fired into the marchers, killing seven, including a 12 year old boy and a man tending getting water for his chickens.
“Thus began a new chapter in the ongoing struggle for a more humane workplace and a just society,” she said. “The struggle continues to this day, realizing that the struggle for justice is ongoing and never ending.”
Larry Penn, introduced as a “beloved folksinger in Milwaukee” and a retired Teamster, sang two songs, including his own compositions, “Ghosts of Bay View,” commemorating the tragedy, and “Trickle Down,” which discussed President Reagan’s economic policies that cheated the workers.
REMARKS OF JOHN GURDA
John Gurda, Bay View resident and
John Gurda
Gurda described the working conditions of the 1880s, the period that led up to the 8-hour day marches and the Bay View Tragedy, as “nothing less than criminal.” He said the highest paid workers in the Bay View Rolling Mill at the time were the puddlers who made $5 a day, worked 12 hours a day and six days a week. Translated to today’s wages, that’s about $8 an hour, without any benefits at all, he said. Those at the bottom of the pay scale got $1.15 a day, which translates to about $2 an hour today.
The workers in the blast furnace area faced heat regularly of about 165 degrees, he said.
“Not surprisingly in
He said that “labor was not intimidated” after the shootings. Less than three weeks after the shootings, the Knights of Labor held a parade that drew 5,000 workers, marching through 5 miles of city streets, showing “they were not going to be intimidated and they were not going away.”
Labor’s response, Gurda said, was not to respond in violence, but as a “call to action.” He quoted one of the 1886 leaders, Robert Schilling: “The intelligent citizens have a mightier weapon than the bullet: the ballot.” The result was the forming of the People’s Party which in 1886 won a majority of the County offices, a majority of the Milwaukee seats in the State Assembly and a place in Congress (Henry Smith, a millwright by trade, went to Washington). The were beaten in the following election by a fusion party composed of Democrats and Republicans, but, he said, “a seed had been planted.”
Less than a decade later, the Socialist Party emerged under the leadership of Victor Berger who believed in working with the Unions. Berger called it “the
Larry Penn sings "Ghosts of Bay View" at event.
A small group, the Social Democrats, was elected to the Common Council where they demonstrated “creativity, diligence and absolute incorruptibility,” and Milwaukeeans began to trust them eventually electing the first Socialist Mayor, Emil Seidel, in 1910, and also gaining control of the Common Council, composed mainly of people who “worked with their hands.”
Gurda said that the combination of the Socialists and organized labor transformed the city from being “a boss-ridden, staggeringly corrupt city to one of the best governed cities in
He continued: “The very notion of public service, the idea of our common wealth, is a legacy of the Socialist period in
“It was in response to the Bay View Tragedy that a spirit was born, a spirit of solidarity, a spirit of cooperation, a spirit of hope. Today, as we mark the 121st Anniversary of that event we also honor the memory of a person who embodied those ideals better than anyone, Frank P. Zeidler.”
REMARKS OF STEPHEN HAUSER:
Reading the names of the deceased was Professor Stephen Hauser, a longtime friend of the late Frank Zeidler and a participant in the Public Enterprise Committee (founded by Zeidler).
Following the tradition of Zeidler, he reflected that the victims of 1886 died not only to help their own families, but those of generations to come. He remembered Zeidler as “cherishing workers” and a “man who loved history.” Zeidler recognized, Hauser said, that history is not just about prime ministers and kings and presidents and generals but is about “average people who build communities, who sacrificed and did the work that was placed before them and turned around at the end of their lives and had seen that they created something that was worth preserving. History is created by all, and no one understood that better than Frank Zeidler.”
Stephen Hauser Hauser said that Zeidler recognized, even as a prominent Lutheran, that man’s works had to continue after their death “here on earth.” Zeidler’s good works, he would have expected, will continue with others doing the tasks he once did, he added.
Hauser noted that labor’s mission for the 8-hour day began in 1868, and in
“History has a way of calling things to attention,” he said. “They died demanding what was on the banners here, eight hours for work, eight hours for rest and eight hours for what we will. It seems like such a simple demand today, and yet it was met with cries of ‘radical’ and ‘agitator’ and these men put their lives on the line and their lives were forfeited that day in May.” 
Aggie Schwartz of Stagehands Local 18 lays memorial wreath.
He noted that two non-marchers were killed, a 13-year-old boy and an older man getting water. “That is to remind us that there are no bystanders in history,” he said.
The finding of two additional bodies – likely victims of the shootings -- several days after the event provides a “lesson that not everyone who makes history is remembered by name,” he added. “Anonymity sometimes shrouds those who also are heroes.”
He read off the names of the seven who died that day. “May their struggle and their sacrifice never be forgotten,” he concluded.
After the May 2007 event, Anita Zeidler, one of the daughters of Frank and Agnes Zeider, sent a letter to the Bay View Planning Committee. We think the letter is worth sharing. (See Below)
Dear Mr. Ken Germanson, and, members of the Wisconsin Labor History Society:
My family and I are grateful that you honored my father, Frank P. Zeidler, on Sunday, May 6, 2007 at the commemoration of the Bay View tragedy. Your ceremony was always a not-to-be-missed event on my father's appointments calendar. He had a strong sense of historic place (as anyone who ever gave him a ride knows). I think he felt history was more understandable, and the impact was greater and more real if you could see where it happened.
When we were children (long before the monument was erected on Superior and Russell) any time the family journeyed to Bay View, my father always pointed out the place and told us the story. After repeated telling, it became impossible for me to see the place, or be near it without thinking about the almost incomprehensible tragedy that occurred there. As a child I was horrified that a governor, an elected public servant like my father, could order citizens to shoot other citizens who just wanted a better life (an eight-hour work day to spend more time with their families). My father explained that the people we elect are not always wise, just or fair, and that sometimes people in power will protect their own interests with excessive force. It was a lesson that later would help me understand why the National Guard fired on anti-war demonstrators at Kent State, and even what happened two weeks ago in Los Angeles when police used excessive force at a rally for immigration reform. The struggle for a fair and just society is ongoing, and it can be threatening to the people who -do not want to share the wealth or power they hold.
But the lesson does not end with the tragic outcome. My father always pointed out that workers eventually won the eight-hour day. And I can point out that my father's own time in office demonstrates that it is possible to elect a fair and wise leader. The message my father related to us over and over was that achieving a more fair, just society takes persistent effort. Democracy works when we have the courage not only to speak up for what is right, but also to allow all voices to be heard. With the Bay View historical marker and the ceremony each year, the Wisconsin Labor History Society is giving a platform to voices that might otherwise be forgotten voices; voices that encourage us all to persist in the pursuit of what is right and fair. I think that is why this ceremony was so important to my father and why, to me, the monument and the ceremony are reminders to try to be more like my Dad.
Sincerely,
/s/ Anita Zeidler
A BRIEF HISTORY:
From the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sunday, April 30, 1995
When Bay View strike turned to bloodshed
Troops opened fire on workers demanding eight-hour day
by john gurda
We gather each year to remember a tragedy. The date, May 5, is always the same, and the place is always the site of a vanished steel mill in Bay View. Even the people are generally the same, a motley bunch that includes union activists, college professors, Bay View residents, and former mayor Frank Zeidler, the group's godfather.
The tragedy we remember took place in the first week of May, 1886. For a few days in that long-ago spring,
A general strike, affecting everyone from bakers to brewers, began on May 1 and soon brought the city to a grinding halt. On May 2, nearly 15,000 striking workers massed for the largest parade in
On May 4, a group of laborers, many of them Polish immigrants, resolved to bring the mill's leaders to heel. Nearly 700 of them gathered at St. Stanislaus Church, on the corner of 5th and Mitchell Sts., for a brisk morning walk to Bay View. When a conference with mill executives there proved fruitless, the laborers served notice that they would return.
"Uncle Jerry" Rusk called out the militia in the meantime, and the troops spent an uneasy night inside the plant gates. On the morning of May 5, they faced a phalanx of marching workers that had swelled to at least 1,500.As the crowd surged down Bay St.toward the mill, the militia commander ordered them to disperse. At a distance of 200 yards, it is doubtful that the marchers heard him above their own noise. When they continued to advance, the commander ordered his troops to open tire.
At least seven people fell dead or dying, including a 12-year-old schoolboy and a retired mill worker who was watching the commotion from his backyard. The rest of the crowd beat a hasty retreat to the city.Reactions to the incident varied wildly. Most Milwaukeeans were appalled by the carnage, but many considered the militia's actions justified.
"I seen my duty and 1 done it," crowed Gov. Rusk, staking his position as a champion of law and order. Others took the shootings as chilling evidence that industrial property was valued more highly than industrial workers.
The Bay View incident ended, for the time being, all efforts to institute the eight-hour day, but it also galvanized
A REPORT FROM 2006 EVENT:
8-Hour day marches of 1886 linked to immigrant marches of 2006 at Bay View Massacre event
Some 200 persons attended the 120th Anniversary Commemoration of the Bay View Massacre on Sunday, May 7, at the Historical Marker site in Milwaukee. The event memorializes the events of May 5, 1886 when the State Militia fired upon workers marching in an eight-hour-day rally, killing seven persons. Here is report of that event:
Though the Bay View Massacre occurred 120 years ago, it forms the background and inspiration for the ongoing struggles of the current day, such as the campaign to protect the rights of immigrants.
That was made clear by speakers at the 120th Anniversary Commemoration of the Bay View Tragedy, held on May 7th at the Bay View Rolling Mills Historical Marker Site on Milwaukee’s lakefront. The commemoration was held at the site of the May 5, 1886 massacre where the State Militia, which fired upon some 1,500 workers marching on behalf of the eight-hour day, killed seven.
This year’s commemoration was held just a few days after a massive rally in Milwaukee on behalf of the rights of immigrants, and the organizer of that event, Christine Neumann-Ortiz, as keynote speaker, linked this year’s marches with those of 120 years ago.
Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, said the commemoration ceremony highlights “the martyrdom of Wisconsin's immigrant workers who gave their lives in the struggle for the eight-hour day so that future generations could live in dignity.”
She said that now, 120 years later, the immigrant labor movement is under attack as Congress considers pending legislation that would create a permanent criminalized underclass of workers and criminalizes millions of US citizens for helping an immigrant.
“Despite these attacks, the tradition of the American labor movement -- enriched by its ethnic diversity and heritage -- is a beacon of hope for future generations once again,” she said.
Neumann-Ortiz said that on May 1, 2006 close to 2 million working class families and their allies marched in over 200 cities. In Milwaukee, close to 70,000 marched from S. 5th and W. Washington streets to Veteran's Park—a number twice as big as the 30,000 that marched on March 23, 2006. She said:
“They came despite potential retributions from employers, false rumors of widespread raids, and the threat of thunderstorms and rain. Old, young, and the handicapped joined thousands more in a two and a half mile long trek.
“They marched seeking immigration laws that reflect American values of family unity, worker rights, due process, and a path to citizenship.
“. . . Our hope for a better quality of life for future generations is tied to this struggle, and I have nothing but the utmost faith that we will prevail. Thank you. Solidarity.”
Doug Drake of the United Steelworkers, who emceed the event, introduced Neumann-Ortiz, calling her “a symbol of the invisible in our society.” He said that “through her work, those who are normally invisible, the hotel maids, the restaurant cooks, the dishwashers, those who toil in foundries and tanneries have become visible to everyone. Their contributions to society have become clear to all of us.”
In his introductory remarks, he noted that this year’s ceremony marked the 20th straight year in which persons have gathered to honor the seven persons killed by the State militia during a May 1886 March for the eight-hour day. Some 200 persons, including many labor and public officials, attended this year’s event. He outlined the events leading up to the May 5, 1886 tragedy, noting that the marching workers came from recent immigrant backgrounds and had joined together to begin to improve their horrendous working conditions of the day.
“And the tragic events of May 5, 1886 are something that we have to bear witness to and make sure that the world does not forget,” he said. The event, he said, “ended the bloodiest labor disturbance in Wisconsin history and this began a new chapter in an ongoing struggle for a more just and more humane workplace and economic and social justice in our society.”
Subsequently, he said, workers throughout the world have celebrated May 1st as a “workers holiday,” commemorating the struggles of U.S. workers for the eight-hour day. This struggle continues today, realizing “the quest for justice is never over.”
Always a popular speaker at the commemoration event, Former Mayor Frank Zeidler (now 93 years old) recalled the 1886 event, noting that Gov. Jeremiah Rusk had assigned Colonel Treaumer to lead the militia, a man who had Civil War experience and was used to ordering troops to fire upon other troops. It was clear that Treaumer wouldn’t be hesitant to issue an order to fire upon the marchers if they kept coming, he said.
The tragedy was part of a nationwide struggle of workers, beginning in the 1870s for better conditions for workers, who worked 10 hours a day, 12 hours a day six days a week and they had to walk to work and it might take them an hour each way, and there wasn’t much time to live. “Under those terrible conditions, naturally there was a concern to reduce the workday, but the resistance was great,” he said. The newspapers of the day said businesses couldn’t afford to reduce hours to eight, he added.
Even though the drive for the 8-hour day collapsed after the Massacre, workers began a movement within two years that to elect a worker friendly a Common Council and County Board. “They began a movement that brought many great benefits to the community,” he said. Zeidler mentioned workers compensation, Social Security and other things that workers enjoy today came “as a result of that group.
He praised the work of the committee of the labor history society and other groups like the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom as being the “building stones of world peace and world comity between people and also the improvements of the conditions of labor.” at the forefront of developing much peace and comity in the world.
Jean Haase, of the Older Women’s League and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, discussed the historical perspective on the role of women and their contributions to the fight for justice, focusing on Jane Addams, famed for her Hull House work, and Helen Keller, who overcame twin handicaps of being blind and deaf.
“Too much of labor history has been omitted from the history books, and this includes two women, Jane Addams and Helen Keller.
“The truth is they did a lot more than” what is popularly known, Haase said. “They fought valiantly for progressive causes; they were very concerned about the social and economic systems that were taking place in this country and they were champions of the working class.”
Addams worked toward forming unions and coops as a way to assure people have a say in controlling their lives. She assisted in forming several unions for women, including one in the garment industry, lobbied for child labor laws, the eight-hour day and workers compension, Haase said.
Helen Keller was “really a radical socialist,” this is omitted in most history books, she said. She was a lifelong supporter of the labor movement, and even supported and joined some radical groups like the Industrial Workers of the world.
“History books have simply failed to tell us about that part of their lives,” Hasse said. “Too many of these same texts have omitted facts about the labor movement and its courageous struggles. Our children need to hear these stories to better understand how their legacy came to be.”
She urged the teaching of labor history and women’s history in the schools.
Among the guests were a number of public officials, all of whom said brief remarks:
State Rep. Jon Richards, who represents the area of the site and assistant minority leader in the Assembly, said he senses “the winds of change coming upon Wisconsin in this election because we have a crowd in Madison who is a lot more interested in making backroom deals than dealing with the middle-class squeeze so many Wisconsin families are facing.” He cited the failure of the Republican-controlled Legislature to deal with the minimum wage, comprehensive health care reform, ethics reform, and the struggle families face in sending their children to college.
St. Rep. Chris Sinicki quipped that the “good news is the Legislature is out for the summer and we can’t do any more damage and the bad news is the damage has already been done.” She said it was important that Democrats win in November.
Marina Dimitrejvic, County Supervisor, said that the County Board will not allow the County to make cuts among the workforce, and fine a “creative way to keep our Milwaukee County services preserved.”
State Rep. Fred Kessler (D-Milwaukee) said the people “are now fed up” with the Republicans after they have controlled the Congress for six years and the State Legislature for ten years, and that the Democrats will be successful in November. To be successful, he said, “it requires us to work hard, but we’re going to do it.”
Alderman Tony Zielinski recalled that it is proper to honor these workers since they were “putting their own lives on the line” to fight for their rights. “Our new battlefront involves these big corporations taking these good paying jobs overseas to these sweatshops taking advantage of these workers by taking our good paying jobs out of the country.” “We can win that battle if we work hard enough,” he said.
Also present was State Rep. Josh Zepnick and Joan Kessler.
Resources: The Bay View Tragedy and Its Impact
Suggested Readings
Workers and Unions in Wisconsin History: A Labor History Anthology. By Darryl Holter. State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 1999. (See Pages 34-46 "The Bay View Tragedy," by Robert Nesbit, an excerpt from The History of Wisconsin, Volume III, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, 1985.)
Development of the Labor Movement in Milwaukee. By Thomas W. Gavett. University of Wisconsin Press. Madison, Wis., 1965. (See Pages 50-71: Chapter 5 - RIOT!) NOTE: This book is out of print, but may be available in major Wisconsin libraries.
The Labor Movement in Wisconsin: A History. By Robert W. Ozanne, State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Madison, Wis. 1984. (Chapter One: "The First Unions")
Additional Readings
Labor's Untold Story. By Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais. United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), 1965 (Second Edition). (See Pages 65-104: Chapter III - The Iron Heel).
The Badger State: A Documentary History of Wisconsin. By Barbara and Justus Paul. October 1979. (See Pages 341-351.
May Day: A Short History of the International Workers' Holiday 1886-1986. By Philip S. Foner. International Publishers. New York. 1986.
The American: A Middle Western Legend. By Howard Fast. Duell, Sloan & Pearce. 1946. This novel was a best seller when published more than 50 years ago. It tells the story of John Peter Altgeld, an Illinois governor who showed surprising political courage in the aftermath of the Haymarket Tragedy.
Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America. By J. Anthony Lukas. Simon % Schuster. 1997. Although this concerns an 1890s labor struggle in the Idaho mines, the author traces much labor history in the late 19th Century, including mentions of Wisconsin incidents. A large book, but worth it for interested readers.
For an extensive Labor History reference list please visit the Wisconsin Labor History Society Reference Page.
Suggested Web sites
An Excellent summary of the Bay View Tragedy is available at the following website: www.execpc.com/~blake. This site is developed by David Semenske of Wauwatosa.
A good start into the web is through the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO site, www.wisaflcio.org. Click on "labor history" and find other links, plus a good bibliography.
And, there's our sister society, the Illinois Labor History website at www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/.
See also the Wisconsin Labor History Society Links Page.
Provided by: Kenneth A. Germanson, President, Wisconsin Labor History Society
