On this day in labor history, the year was 1919.
That was the day May Day celebrators in Cleveland, Ohio were attacked as they marched to protest the imprisonment of Socialist, Eugene V. Debs.
1919 was a year of massive upheaval, marked by countless strikes and protests, riots and bomb threats.
But much of the country was still caught up in the jingoism of the war.
Debs had just entered prison to serve a ten-year sentence.
He had been convicted in Cleveland of sedition for an anti-war speech he gave in Canton, Ohio the year before.
Thousands of trade unionists, anarchists, socialists and communists marched towards Public Square in downtown Cleveland.
Prominent Socialist Charles Ruthenberg led one of the contingents.
He planned to address the rally in defense of Debs and also to promote his candidacy in the upcoming mayoral elections.
May Day marchers carried Red flags and American flags, and banners reading “Workers of the World, Unite.”
Liberty Loan workers stopped them en route, demanding they lower their flags.
Marchers refused and attempted to proceed towards downtown.
Fighting broke out in the streets and lasted for hours until mounted police and army tanks charged the crowd.
Two were killed, at least 40 seriously injured and as many as 120 were arrested.
Ruthenberg was charged with “assault with intent to kill,” though charges were later dismissed.
Socialist Party headquarters were ransacked.
The city immediately moved to restrict parades and socialist meetings, and banned red flags.
Local newspapers were quick to scapegoat immigrants and their supposed Bolshevik sympathies for the riot.
The attack in Cleveland served as an early warning of the Red Scare that would fully erupt by the end of the year.
December 9 - The Cordiner Doctrine
December 8 - The American Federation of Labor is Founded
December 7 - Strong Arming Goldminers
December 6 - Breaking Through the Racial Divide
December 5 - Striking in Solidarity
December 4 - Organizing to End Slavery
December 3 - Learning & Labor at Oberlin
December 2 - 21st Century Corporate Greed
December 1 - Standing Up for Themselves and Their Patients
November 30 - Angel of the Stockyards is Born
November 29 - The Fight for $15 & A Union
November 28 - Disaster in the Mines
November 27 - Death Trap in Newark
November 26 - The Birth of William Sylvis
November 25 - Chicago Printers Walk Off the Job
November 24 - The Hollywood Ten
November 23 - The Thibodaux Massacre
November 22 - Uprising of the 20,000
November 21 - Autoworkers Join the Postwar Strike Wave
November 20 - Birth of the Time Clock
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