Today in Labor History—March 9

Engraving of the Amistad Mutiny, 1840 (from Wikipedia)

March 9, 1841 - The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that freed the remaining 35 survivors of the Amistad mutiny. In 1839, Joseph Cinque led 52 fellow captive Africans in a revolt on the Spanish schooner Amistad. The U.S. Navy captured the ship and President Martin Van Buren wanted to send the prisoners back to Spanish authorities in Cuba to stand trial for mutiny. But the U.S. courts recognized their rights as free citizens. (From Workday Minnesota)

Carlo Tresca, 1910 (from the Daily Bleed)

 March 9, 1879 – Anarchist militant and IWW organizer Carlo Tresca was born on this date. Tresca was an outspoken opponent of Fascism in Germany and Italy and of Soviet Communism. Tresca was murdered by an unknown assailant, presumably by fascists or the Mafia. Tresca was one of the main organizers of the Patterson Silk Strike. (From the Daily Bleed)

Salt of the Earth, Part I

March 9, 1902 - Actor Will Geer was born on this date in 1902. Best known for his role as Grandpa Walton, Geer also appeared in the groundbreaking film “Salt of the Earth,” which portrayed the struggle of Mexican American workers at the Empire Zinc Mine. He was blacklisted for his activism on labor and political issues. (From Workday Minnesota)

Frank Little's Tombstone (from Peoples World)

 March 9, 1911 – Frank Little and other IWW (Wobblies) free-speech fighters were released from jail in Fresno, California. Little was later murdered by mine owners in Montana. (From the Daily Bleed)

March 9, 1919 – An overflow crowd of Twin Cities residents attend a showing of “The Blacklist,” a film depicting the massacre of miners and their families in Ludlow, Colorado, which occurred five years before. (From Workday Minnesota)