(from Lorraine Haeffel, Wisconsin Labor Historical Society):
I am a volunteer for Wisconsin Labor Historical Society. I am trying to help attendance at the event this year. It would be a very good place for a rally for solidarity over bargaining rights.
The annual event is the Bay View Tragedy. In 1886, seven men were killed by Wisconsin Militia when marching for the 8 hour day. It still took over 50 years before it was obtained.
Below this message you will see the official announcement of the annual Bay View Tragedy event. Stump speeches mention 'the strong labor history of WI'... what they don't do is give an example. I can't think of another example that trumps this one where 7 people were killed by the WI militia when marching for the 8 hour day.
The event is two days from the primary. There seems to be memory loss and complacency showing Scottie is neck to neck in the polls. Let's get the fire we had last spring back. Many lines were crossed by many when they took away the bargaining rights of state employees. Stand with us in this cause. If you come, the press will come and the message can be heard and read in the media.
We all need to show our solidarity...
I am inviting many other state politicians to come and show their solidarity with each other over the loss of the bargaining rights of state employees. Not only Solidarity with the crowd, but solidarity with each other. You will be recognized for attending, you will be added to the media, you will probably get an interview with media.
Once I have confirmation of attendance from everyone, I will be notifying the media: papers, web sites, radio, TV.
Please come and be a part of a rally just two days before the primary election! I feel this is a win-win for all of us.
~ Lorraine Haeffel - volunteer for the WI Labor Historical Society
126th Anniversary of Bay View Tragedy
to relive deaths of 8-hour day marchers
May 6th Ceremony marks Wisconsin’s most historic labor incident
The Commemoration of the 126th Anniversary of the killing of seven persons in an 8-hour day rally will be followed this year with a discussion forum on the importance of the incident and its meaning in the present era.
The annual Commemoration of the Bay View Tragedy is to be held at 3 p.m., Sunday, May 6, 2012 at the Bay View Rolling Mills State Historical marker site at S. Superior St. and E. Russell Ave., on Milwaukee’s lakefront. It commemorates the tragedy of May 5, 1886 when the State Militia shot into some 1,500 workers marching in an 8-hour-day rally and killed seven in front of the old Bay View Rolling Mills, then Milwaukee’s largest manufacturing plant.
This year’s free outdoor ceremony will be followed up with a discussion forum beginning at about 4 p.m. led by Milwaukee Historian John Gurda, who will open the session with remarks and then look for comments from a panel of historians and worker activists, as well as the audience. The forum will be held at the Club Garibaldi, 2501 S. Superior St.
The outdoor event — similar to the ceremonies that have been held annually for the last 26 years — will feature an address by Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Stephanie Bloomingdale.
The program will also include a re-enactment of the May 5, 1886 event, featuring actors reading from speeches of the period, accompanied by players of the Milwaukee Public Theatre dressed in period costumes, supported by larger-than-life-sized puppets.
Larry Penn, folksinger and retired Teamster, will perform several songs, including his own, “Ghosts of Bay View,” and “Solidarity Forever.”
Members of the family of the late Mayor Frank P. Zeidler will participate in the ceremony, which includes the placing of a wreath honoring the workers who were killed. Zeidler, Milwaukee mayor from 1948 to 1960, died at age 93 in 2006 and was a regular speaker at the event.
Since 1986, members of the Wisconsin Labor History Society, the Bay View Historical Society and others have been holding this celebration to memorialize the tragedy, which was Wisconsin’s most dramatic labor event, and was important in the struggle of workers and their unions to gain decent wages, hours and conditions.
More than 400 persons attended last year’s ceremony, including many public officials.
The event is sponsored by the Wisconsin Labor History Society and this year is funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment of the Humanities. The Wisconsin Humanities Council supports and creates programs that use history, culture and discussion to strengthen community life for everyone.
