One hundred forty years ago this month, a labor stoppage that started on July 14, 1877 in Martinsburg, W. Va. – where workers on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad struck to protest their third wage cut in a year – quickly spread along the nation’s rail network. From Maryland to Missouri, railroad workers protested what they felt was a stranglehold by corporate interests. In a nation struggling to recover from a financial panic, with high unemployment and growing immigrant populations, tension was high.

In multiple locations, sympathetic workers from other industries such as coal miners and mill workers joined in. For 45 days, national unrest reigned. Some called it the “Great Upheaval.” Many Americans feared it was the start of another Civil War.

Pittsburgh witnessed some of the most extreme violence. Here, fury at the Pennsylvania Railroad (which announced a 10% wage cut in June) and local sympathy for the strikers prompted state officials to send in a Philadelphia-based militia force. On July 21, as these troops faced a crowd that had gathered around the 28th street crossing near Liberty Ave., pistol shots rang out. To this day, no one is sure who fired first. In response, the militia shot into the crowd, killing more than 20 people.

Stunned strikers and onlookers dispersed, but the act ultimately ignited a fiery riot. By that evening and through July 22, thousands of people flooded city streets, clashing with the militia and each other. Fire destroyed more than 30 buildings, including the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Union Depot, and thousands of pieces of rolling stock, including locomotive engines and rail cars. Cannons were placed on bridges into Allegheny City to prevent the angry mob from crossing. By the time the violence began to subside, a large section of Pittsburgh lay in ruins.

S.V. Albee recorded this aftermath, composing images that emphasized the scale of the destruction. He took more than forty photographs for stereograph cards, a popular 19th century parlor amusement that allowed people to see three-dimensional views of famous scenes. That people might be interested in such images can be seen in the cards themselves, which capture onlookers strolling amid the ruins.

-- Picturing Protest: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877

Please :vote: for a New Comm called c/Labour :worker: A union / labour organizing specific comm :iww:

Here is a list of Trans rights organizations you can support :cat-trans:

Buy coffee and learn more about the Zapatistas in Chiapas here :EZLN:

Resources for Palestine :palestine-heart:

Here are some resourses on Prison Abolition :brick-police:

Foundations of Leninism :USSR:

:lenin-shining: :unity: :kropotkin-shining:

Anarchism and Other Essays :ancom:

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Yesterday’s megathread :sad-boi:

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR - AN EXPERIMENT IN PROMOTING USER ORGANIZING EFFORTS :af:

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Count!

How many different triangles are there in this figure.

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This Friday we are gonna watch famous Disney movie Zootopia (2016) :bunny-cop: a movie about a class traitor bunny and her Quest to become a Pig in the Big City, Trailer :bugs-no: , Lost Lore:acab-2: , Sequel Canon Comic :what:

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