You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age. Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
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Sunday April 19, 1914
Ludlow Tent Colony, Colorado - Greek Easter, a Day of Celebration
A Cook at Ludlow Sharpens His Knives
Today is a gala day in the Ludlow Tent Colony for the Greek Easter is being celebrated, and the Greeks say that they will outdo the Catholics in their celebration of this Holy Day. The residents of the colony come from many different nationalities, and today they are decked out in their various national costumes bringing the colony to life in a riot of color. Snow still covers the prairie here and there, but the sun shines warm on the strikers and their families this Easter Day.
Louie Tikas, leader of the colony, is resplendent in his traditional Cretan vrakes. He walks through the colony greeting every one with a kiss and the joyful cry of "Christ Is Risen." Louie's bright smile is welcomed at every tent. He is well respected for his calm manner and steadfast courage.
Music fills the air and the children play around the tents. Later today, after church services, there will be a feast in the main tent. A lamb has been put on the fire, and there are barrels of beer for the adults.
After the feast the colonist will play a game of baseball in the ball park built next to the tents. American style gym bloomers have been provided as an Easter present for the women, and one of the games will be played men against the women with the women wearing their new bloomers for the first time.
SOURCES
Out of the Depths
The Story of John R. Lawson, a Labor Leader
-by Barron B. Beshoar
(1st ed 1942)
CO, 1980
Buried Unsung
Louis Tikas and the Ludlow Massacre
-by Zeese Papanikolas
U of Utah Press, 1982
Photo: A Cook at the Ludlow Tent Colony Sharpens His Knives
http://www.du.edu/...
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Saturday April 19, 2014
More on the Greek Easter at the Ludlow Tent Colony
The Children of the Ludlow Tent Colony
Mary Thomas describes that last joyful day:
We all looked neat and clean in our fixed-over clothes. The children had sung beautifully at the services, seeming to sense the significance of this holy day. The lovely services had touched me deeply. It was my first Easter away from my religious Welsh home where Easter meant so much, with the family singing hymns together. Suddenly I became homesick and despondent. Cedi [Costa] and Margo [Gorci] noticed my gloomy mood as we walked toward our tent homes.
"What's wrong, Maria?" asked Margo.
"Oh, don't mind me," I answered. "I suppose because it's Easter which was such a big day in my Welsh home. I'm just homesick, that's all. I'll get over it."
"Aren't we all," said Cedi. "I would give anything to be in my own religious home in Italia, today." Margo nodded in agreement, and we three shed a few tears....
We each went toward our own tents to change our clothes. I broke into song, singing a Welsh hymn. Margo and Cedi stopped to listen.
"What is that you are singing, Maria?"
I explained it was my mother's favorite hymn, "Aberystwith." Margo and Cedi were spellbound by it, and singing it helped soothe some of my feeling of loneliness for my homeland this Easter morning.
Later talking with Charlie Costa and Tony Gorci, husbands of Cedi and Margo, the subject of the strike troubles came up and Cedi became upset:
"Please, please," said Cedi, "let's forget for today all about the strike, the guards, Rockefeller and the union. Today let's celebrate our Lord's arising."
"That's right, Mama," said Charley as he put his arm around his pretty wife whom he adored, and kissed her affectionately on the cheek. "Today we have fun."
Baseball Game at the Ludlow Tent Colony
In the afternoon they all went over to the ballpark to enjoy the baseball game:
Suddenly everything came to a blood-curdling halt. The mine guards, dressed in cavalry uniforms, rode onto the field, deliberately going through the crowds of men gathered for the upcoming events. Back and forth they rode, shouting vile remarks. The men dared not to answer back for fear some of the women and children might be hurt. But this didn't stop the women from yelling at them, telling them what they were, and in no uncertain terms.
Louie Tikas tried to calm things down, but wasn't very successful. The guards sneered back. "Go ahead and have your fun today. Tomorrow we'll have ours." With this menacing statement they spurred their horses again through the groups of men on the field, and rode off.
SOURCE
Those Damn Foreigners
-by Mary T. O'Neal
Minerva Book, 1971
Photo:
1). The Children of the Ludlow Tent Colony
http://www.is.wayne.edu/...
2). A Baseball Game at the Ludlow Tent Colony
http://www.du.edu/...
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Christ the Lord Is Risen Today - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Christ the Lord is ris’n today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heav’ns, and earth, reply, Alleluia!
-Charles Wesley