Today in Labor History—January 11

Blake's "Lovers' Whirlwind" Illustration for Dante's Inferno (from Wikipedia)

January 11, 1804 -- The Sussex Examiner reported that English poet William Blake was tried for sedition for saying "Damn the king and damn his soldiers." (From the Daily Bleed)

January 11, 1908 – A General Strike occurred in Buenos Aires Argentina.(From the Daily Bleed)

New York Modern School, 1911

January 11, 1911 – The first American "Modern School," based on ideas of Francisco Ferrer, was founded by a group including Leonard Abbott, Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, in New York City. (From the Daily Bleed)

Children of Striking Textile Workers Being Sent to Live With Family in NY

January 11, 1912 – The IWW-organized (Industrial Workers of the World) "Bread & Roses" textile strike of 32,000 women and children began on this date in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The first to walk out were a group of Polish women who, upon collecting their pay, exclaimed that they had been cheated & promptly abandoned their looms. The Strike lasted 10 weeks, beginning after the legislature cut maximum working hours for women and children from 56 to 54 hours per week and the employers cut their pay along with the hours. Many sent their children to live with family or comrades in New York during the strike. The Modern School organizers and parents took in many of these children. (From the Daily Bleed)

January, 11, 1936 – Auto workers engaged in a sit-down strike at General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan. (From the Daily Bleed)