On this day in Labor History the year was 1924.
Three-hundred members of the International Workers of the World, or Wobblies, gathered at their union hall in San Pedro California.
They were holding a benefit for two of their members who had been killed in a railway accident.
For the past year, the KKK had targeted the San Pedro IWW members.
The Wobblies had led a strike of longshoreman the year before.
Famous Socialist author Upton Sinclair had visited San Pedro to address the striking members of the Marine Transport Workers.
Known for his books such as the Jungle, Sinclair wrote novels depicting the harsh conditions of industrial work.
To begin his speech Sinclair planned to read the Bill of Rights.
As he was reading the First Amendment—the one guaranteeing the right to free speech— he was arrested by police.
The police and KKK members continued to harass the striking workers.
Even after the strike ended, anger against the IWW simmered.
That anger boiled over when KKK thugs stormed the benefit meeting, beating IWW members.
They tarred and feathered some.
They also flung scalding-hot coffee at two children, who had to be hospitalized due to their injuries.
A photographer who captured images of the injured children wrote a description of the events.
"Andrew Kruglis, age 9 is in a serious condition he was the first one out of the Hall. As the fiends came rushing in, Andrew ran as fast as he could for a block when overcome by a man in blue who threw a pot of boiling grease on his bare legs.”
In addition to the injuries caused, the raiders also destroyed the contents of the union hall.
The violence at San Pedro was just one chapter of ongoing harassment against IWW organizing up and down the west coast.
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Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show