Centennial of the Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Do you remember when workers struck for culture benefits??

The Baffler No. 20 reminds us that this is the 100th anniversary of the two-month-long textile workers strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts.  The workers objective was to win a reduction in their fifty-six-hour work week and, famously, to have time for "art and love and beauty in their lives."  This was the Bread and Rose strike recounted in James Oppenheim's poem:

Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for--but we fight for roses, too!

Less famous about this strike is the class credits awarded to the male students at Harvard College who joined a militia force to keep order at the Lawrence mills.  The image of the horse-mounted college men   confronting the mostly female strikers is incongruous.

The workers won their hour and wage demands.

To the Editor, The Baffler No. 20:  We have commemorated this strike both in print (this blog) and on radio (Bexley Public Radio, WCRX_LP, 102.1 FM).  Our small contribution to memory of this strike.

The Editorial Collective of WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

HELP BEXLEY PUBLIC RADIO UPGRADE ITS ANTENNA. SEND YOUR MONEY PROMPTLY. BE GENEROUS.

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Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM Editorial Collective.