On this day in 1912 the “Bread and Roses” textile strike began in Lawrence, Mass. The women-led strike, organized by the International Workers of the World (IWW) lasted for a month and united some 30,000 workers. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Big Bill Haywood participated in and supported the strike action. After police beat and clubbed hundreds of women and children en route to Philadelphia for the duration of the strike, an event photographed and reported on by the press, the labor action received national attention and was quickly settled on terms favorable to the workers.
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