Synopses & Reviews
It was one of the most remarkable events in the modern movement for American democracy, yet few know anything about it. Dubbed the Memorial Day “Massacre,” it saw the Chicago police shoot and kill 10 demonstrators and beat dozens as they tried to picket in front of the Republic Steel Plant in South Chicago. The protest grew out of the 1937 “Little Steel” strike, one of the most fractious labor disputes in the nations history. It was the culmination of a movement for industrial democracy that had its origins in the mills and the mines of Gilded Age America.
Review
"Dennis synthesizes primary sources with secondary works in social and labor history and frames the narrative in a radical, timely, and accessible way. This is a good work of scholarship." - American Historical Review
"Michael Dennis has produced a useful study of the critical May 1937 'little steel' strike. Dennis utilizes labor and police records to describe the national, local, and neighborhood contexts for the police assault that killed ten workers and injured scores of others in Chicago. This is a book that historians of Chicago, civil liberties, the steel industry, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and industrial unionism will consult in the future." - The Journal of American History
"Excellent ... a valuable contribution to labor history." - American Communist History
"Michael Dennis's exploration of the events and meaning of the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre in the Chicago Little Steel strike combines a stirring narrative account of a terrible day in the history of industrial conflict with a compelling argument for the radical potential of the quest for a democratic workplace in New Deal America." - Maurice Isserman, James L. Ferguson Professor of History, Hamilton College, and author of Which Side Were You On?: The American Communist Party During the Second World War
"Michael Dennis has placed a landmark event in US history into its broader social and political context as a turning point in the long struggle to inject an element of democracy into American industry.In the process, he places in a new light the Memorial Day Massacre, an experience often invoked but just as often misunderstood." - James R. Barrett, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"In this rich and highly readableaccount, Michael Dennis casts new light onone of theepicmomentsin U.S. labor history. Dennisbrilliantly retrievesthe struggle for human rights and industrial democracythat guided the hearts and hands of the working class actors in the story. The movement was put down by violence, and the steel mills are long gone, butDennisshows whythese workersleft a legacy that is still very relevant today." - Rosemary Feurer, author of Radical Unionism in the Midwest, 1900-1950
Review
"Dennis synthesizes primary sources with secondary works in social and labor history and frames the narrative in a radical, timely, and accessible way. This is a good work of scholarship." - American Historical Review
"Michael Dennis has produced a useful study of the critical May 1937 'little steel' strike. Dennis utilizes labor and police records to describe the national, local, and neighborhood contexts for the police assault that killed ten workers and injured scores of others in Chicago. This is a book that historians of Chicago, civil liberties, the steel industry, the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and industrial unionism will consult in the future." - The Journal of American History
"Michael Dennis's exploration of the events and meaning of the 1937 Memorial Day Massacre in the Chicago Little Steel strike combines a stirring narrative account of a terrible day in the history of industrial conflict with a compelling argument for the radical potential of the quest for a democratic workplace in New Deal America." - Maurice Isserman, James L. Ferguson Professor of History, Hamilton College, and author of Which Side Were You On?: The American Communist Party During the Second World War
"Michael Dennis has placed a landmark event in US history into its broader social and political context as a turning point in the long struggle to inject an element of democracy into American industry.In the process, he places in a new light the Memorial Day Massacre, an experience often invoked but just as often misunderstood." - James R. Barrett, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
"In this rich and highly readableaccount, Michael Dennis casts new light onone of theepicmomentsin U.S. labor history. Dennisbrilliantly retrievesthe struggle for human rights and industrial democracythat guided the hearts and hands of the working class actors in the story. The movement was put down by violence, and the steel mills are long gone, butDennisshows whythese workersleft a legacy that is still very relevant today." - Rosemary Feurer, author of Radical Unionism in the Midwest, 1900-1950
Synopsis
This book tells the story of the queen whose marriage to King Henry VII ended England's Wars of the Roses and inaugurated the 118-year Tudor dynasty. Best known as the mother of Henry VIII and grandmother of Elizabeth I, this Queen Elizabeth contributed far beyond the act of giving birth to future monarchs. Her marriage to Henry VII unified the feuding houses of Lancaster and York, and her popularity with the people helped her husband survive rebellions that plagued his first decade of rule. Queen Elizabeth's gracious manners and large family created a warm, convivial Court marked by a rather exceptional fondness between the royal couple. Her love for music, literature, and architecture also helped inspire England's Renaissance.
Synopsis
This book explores one of the most dramatic and scandalous events in the movement for American democratic reform. Dubbed the Memorial Day Massacre, it saw Chicago police shoot and kill ten demonstrators and beat more than one hundred others as they tried to form a mass picket line at the Republic Steel Plant in South Chicago.
About the Author
Michael Dennis is a professor of history at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He is the author of three books, including Luther P. Jackson and a Life for Civil Rights and The New Economy and the Modern South. He is also the author of several articles on topics ranging from Woodrow Wilsons views on race to American youth activism in the 1990s.
Table of Contents
Introduction * Fire and Steel in South Chicago * Crisis Delayed: The 1920s in Chicago and America * Out of Despair, Ferment: Upheaval in the 1930s * Mailed Fists and Velvet Gloves in the Struggle for Steel * Loading the Charge: The Steel Workers Organize * Irresistible Forces: The Test of Mettle at Republic Steel * “Trouble is Certain to Follow”: the Coming Conflict * A Sunday to Remember in South Chicago * Counter-Revolution: The Campaign against Industrial Democracy * “A Major Breakdown of Democratic Government” * “Ruthlessness and Disregard for the Law”: After the Massacre * “The Day is Coming…”: Echoes from the Little Steel Struggle