THE HAYMARKET HANDBILLS (History)

NOTE: THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO ALL; NO TICKETS ARE NECESSARY FOR ADMISSION!

130 years ago, workers exiting the factories and workshops of Chicago were handed two versions of a large, bilingual leaflet announcing a mass meeting that night in a popular city square. The purpose of the 1886 gathering was to denounce the shooting of four workmen the previous day at a rally for the eight-hour day. The shocking events that would transpire at the close of the meeting in Haymarket Square would reverberate throughout the world and grip the popular imagination of America for decades, resulting in the first “trial of the century,” the unjust execution of four anarchist labor organizers, and was the basis of the first May Day commemorations around the world. The two versions of the handbill are still shrouded in controversy and are considered by some to be the most important pieces of paper in American labor history. Join librarian and AFSCME local 2910 steward David Fernández-Barrial for a talk about the handbills and see the two remarkable 1886 originals from the Rare Book Reading Room of the Library of Congress