Today in Labor History—January 2

Portrait of Absalom Jones by Raphaelle Peale (1774–1825), Delaware Art Museum

January 2, 1800 – The free black community of Philadelphia, led by Absalom Jones, petitioned Congress to abolish slavery and to end the fugitive slave act of 1793. (From the Daily Bleed and USHistory.org)

January 2, 1873 -- Anton Pannekoek (1873-1960) was born on this date. Pannekoek was a Dutch astronomer, mathematician and radical left-communist. Among other works, he published the pamphlet Darwinism and Marxism, 1916, which strongly attacked the social Darwinists, like Spencer. He also wrote the classic, “Workers Councils.” (From the Daily Bleed)

January 2, 1905 - A conference of 23 industrial unionists met in Chicago and issued a manifesto calling for an industrial Union Congress to be held in Chicago on June 27—a meeting that would lead to the formation of the Industrial Workers of the World (or IWW or "Wobblies").  (From Workday Minnesota)