Next Meeting: Wakefield Socialist History Group

ON Saturday 24 March, the Wakefield Socialist History Group are holding an event at the Red Shed (Wakefield Labour Club), Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 on SOCIALISM AND THE USA: MARXISM AND THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN AMERICA.  It starts at 1pm.

The Battle of Lawrence, 1912:

  January 12th marks the anniversary of the historic textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912.

Textile workers’ victory contains lessons for today

by CHRIS MAHIN

“We want bread – and roses!”

“Bayonets cannot weave cloth!”

“Better to starve fighting than to starve working!”

More than a century ago, thousands of men, women, and children shouted those slogans – in many different languages – in the bitter cold of a Massachusetts winter.

On January 12, 1912, thousands of workers walked out of the textile mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts and began a strike which lasted until March 24, 1912. At its height, the strike involved 23,000 workers.

Located in the Merrimack River Valley, about 30 miles north of Boston, Lawrence was a city of 86,000 people in 1912, and a great textile center. It outranked all other cities in the production of woolen and worsted goods. The woolen and cotton mills of the city employed over 40,000 workers – about one-half of Lawrence’s population over the age of 14.

Most of the Lawrence textile workers were unskilled. Within a one-mile radius of the mill district, there lived 25 different nationalities, speaking 50 languages. By 1912, Italians, Poles, Russians, Syrians, and Lithuanians had replaced native-born Americans and western Europeans as the predominant groups in the mills. The largest single ethnic group in the city was Italian.

At the time of the strike, 44.6 percent of the textile workers in Lawrence were women. More than 10 percent of the mill workers were under the age of 18.

Despite a heavy tariff protecting the woolen industry, the wages and living standards of textile workers had declined steadily since 1905. The introduction of a two-loom system in the woolen industry and a corresponding speed-up in the cotton industry led to lay-offs, unemployment, and wage reductions. A federal government report showed that for a week in late November 1911, some 22,000 textile employees, including foremen, supervisors, and office workers, averaged about $8.76 for a full week’s work. This wage was totally inadequate, despite the fact that the average work week was 56 hours, and 21.6 percent of the workers worked more hours than that.

To make things worse, the cost of living was higher in Lawrence than in the rest of New England. The city was also one of the most congested in the United States, with many workers crowded into foul tenements.

The daily diet of most of the mill workers consisted of bread, molasses, and beans. Serving meat with a meal was very rare, often reserved for holidays. The inevitable result of all this was an unhealthy work force. Dr. Elizabeth Shapleigh, a Lawrence physician, wrote: “A considerable number of the boys and girls die within the first two or three years after beginning work. … [T]hirty-six out of every 100 of all the men and women who work in the mill die before or by the time they are 25.”

The immediate cause of the strike was a cut in pay for all workers which took place after a new state law went into effect on January 1, 1912. The law reduced the number of hours that women and children could work from 56 to 54. The mill owners simply sped up the machines to guarantee they would get the same amount of production as before, and then cut the workers’ hours and wages.

On Thursday, January 11, 1912, some 1,750 weavers left their looms in the Everett Cotton Mill when they learned that they had received less money. They were joined by 100 spinners from the Arlington Mills. When the Italian workers of the Washington Mill left their jobs on the morning of Friday, January 12, the Battle of Lawrence was in full swing. By Saturday night, January 13, some 20,000 textile workers had left their machines. By Monday night, January 15, Lawrence had been transformed into an armed camp, with the police and militia guarding the mills through the night.

The Lawrence strike began as a spontaneous outburst, but the strikers quickly realized that they needed to organize themselves. At a mass meeting held on the afternoon of the strike’s first day, they voted to send a telegram to Joe Ettor, a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World, asking him to come to Lawrence to aid the strike. Ettor arrived in Lawrence the very next day, accompanied by his friend Arturo Giovannitti, the editor of “Il Proletario” and secretary of the Italian Socialist Federation.

Although only 27 years old, Joseph J. (“Smiling Joe”) Ettor was an experienced, militant leader of the IWW. He had worked with Western miners and migrant workers, and with the immigrant workers of the Eastern steel mills and shoe factories. Ettor could speak English, Italian, and Polish fluently, and could understand Hungarian and Yiddish.

Under Ettor’s leadership, the strikers set up a highly structured but democratic form of organization in which every nationality of worker involved in the strike was represented. This structure played a decisive role in guaranteeing the strike’s outcome. A general strike committee was organized and a network of soup kitchens and food distribution stations were set up. The strikers voted to demand a 15 percent increase in wages, a 54-hour week, double time for overtime, and the abolition of the premium and bonus systems.

Despite the fact that the city and state authorities imposed a virtual state of martial law on Lawrence, the strikers remained undaunted. They pioneered innovative tactics, such as moving picket lines (in which thousands of workers marched through the mill district in an endless chain with signs or armbands reading “Don’t be a scab!”); mass marches on sidewalks; and sending thousands of people to browse in stores without buying anything. They organized numerous parades to keep their own spirits up and keep their cause in the public eye.

The agents of the mill owners struck back. When the police and militia tried to halt a parade of about 1,000 strikers on January 29, a bystander, Annie LoPezzo, was shot dead. Despite the fact that neither Ettor nor Giovannitti had been present at the demonstration, they were both arrested the next day. They were charged with being accessories before the fact to the murder because they had supposedly incited the “riot” which led to the shooting. That same day, an 18-year-old Syrian striker, John Ramy, was killed by a bayonet thrust into his back as he attempted to flee from advancing soldiers.

In early February, the strikers began sending their children out of the city to live temporarily with strike supporters. The city authorities vowed to stop this practice, and on February 24, a group of mothers and their children were clubbed and beaten at the train station by cops. This act horrified the country, and swung the general public over to the side of the strikers.

Concerned that the growing outrage over the conditions in Lawrence might lead to public support for lowering the woolen tariff, the mill owners began to look for a way to end the strike. First the largest employer, the American Woolen Company, came to an agreement. Then the others followed. The workers won most of their demands. By March 24, the strike was officially declared over and the general strike committee disbanded. It was a tremendous victory – but not the end of the battle.

On September 30, 1912, the murder trial of Ettor and Giovannitti began. It lasted 58 days. The defendants were kept in metal cages in the courtroom while the trial was in session. The prosecution accused Ettor and Giovannitti of inciting the strikers to violence and murder. Witnesses proved that the two were speaking to a meeting of workers several miles from the place where Annie LoPezzo was shot. Across the United States and the world, concerned people expressed outrage at the prosecution’s attempt to punish two leaders for their ideas.

Before the end of the trial, Ettor and Giovannitti asked for permission to address the court. Ettor challenged the jurors, declaring that if they were going to sentence Giovannitti and himself to death, the verdict should find them guilty of their real offense – their beliefs.

He said:

“What are my social views? I may be wrong but I contend that all the wealth in this country is the product of labor and that it belongs to labor. My views are the same as Giovannitti’s. We will give all that there is in us that the workers may organize and in due time emancipate themselves, that the mills and workshops may become their property and for their benefit. If we are set at liberty these shall be our views. If you believe that we should not go out, and that view will place the responsibility full upon us, I ask you one favor, that Ettor and Giovannitti because of their ideas became murderers, and that in your verdict you will say plainly, we shall die for it. … I neither offer apology nor ask for a favor. I ask for justice.”

Giovannitti made an impassioned speech to the jury, the first time he had ever spoken publicly in English. His eloquence drew tears from the most jaded reporters present.

On November 25, the jury found the defendants not guilty. Pandemonium broke loose in the courtroom.

There is something especially poignant about the Battle of Lawrence – and something especially important about learning its lessons. The Lawrence textile strike took place at a time when the mill owners lacked maneuvering room because they had to maintain public support for a high tariff on woolens. That was certainly a factor in the workers’ victory. So was the fact that the textile workers comprised such a large percentage of the population of Lawrence. But those factors do not change the reality that the victory at Lawrence was won by the bravery and intelligence of the workers themselves.

The victory at Lawrence disproved the vicious lie being circulated at the time by the leaders of the American Federation of Labor that immigrant workers could not be organized. It showed that immigrant workers and women workers would not only support strikes – if given the chance, they would gladly lead them, and lead them well. The strikers in Lawrence won their demands because they never let themselves be divided on ethnic or gender lines, because they were militant (and creative) in their tactics, and because they found a way to appeal to the conscience of the general public.

One other feature of the Battle of Lawrence made it especially significant. It’s summed up in the famous slogan of the strike – “We want bread – and roses!” The textile workers who braved the Massachusetts winter in 1912 wanted more than a wage increase. They were inspired by a vision of a new society, one where the workers themselves ruled. In this society, every human being would have “bread” – a decent standard of living. They would also have “roses” – the chance to learn, to have access to art, music, and culture; a society which would allow the flowering of everyone’s talents, the full development of every human being.

On this anniversary of the Lawrence textile strike, we should take courage from the bravery of the strikers, learn from their clever tactics, and dare to think as far ahead as they did. The Lawrence strikers believed deeply in the idea expressed so well in one of the verses in the labor song “Solidarity Forever.” That verse confidently proclaims, “We can build a new world from the ashes of the old.” Despite all the misery we see in the present, a new world is possible. The cynics of today are as wrong to deny the possibility of qualitative change as the AFL leaders in 1912 were to deny the possibility of organizing immigrant workers. If all of us act with as much foresight and courage as did those who fought so well in Lawrence in 1912, the vision of those strikers can become reality, and we can win a world with both bread and roses for everyone.

David Swallow & the early miner's union

TWENTY eight people attended a Wakefield Socialist History Group meeting on the history of the Yorkshire Miners at the Red Shed in Wakefield on Saturday.
The first speaker, Ken Capstick (former Vice President of the Yorkshire NUM), gave a fascinating account of the life of David Swallow.
Swallow was born at East Ardsley, Wakefield in 1817.   He is credited with being the founder of the first national miners' union -meeting were held at the Griffin Inn, Northgate in Wakefield.   He also played a leading role in the first national miners' strike in 1844.
Ken argued that Swallow was an organiser of "rare quality" and a great orator who drew large crowds wherever he spoke.  It is "time to recognise and honour a great miners' leader who did not receive the recognition he deserved during his lifetime."
The second speaker, radical historian Alan Brooke, then spoke about working conditions in collieries particularly around Huddersfield in the 19th century.
He noted that hurries -as vital to the operation of colleries as the colliers themselves- were "invariably children or women" and their job was to "push or pull the corves full of coal to the pit bottom."   One hurrier, John Dixon -later Secretary of the West Yorkshire Miners' Association- started work in a pit at Briestfield in 1835 at the age of 7!
Alan -who has a website Underground Histories- also spoke about various reforms/ innovations such as the safety lamp, pit ponies, Mine Inspectors and checkweighmen.
The speeches were followed by a lively discussion session with questions in particular about Swallow's life after he was deposed as a miners leader.
The next Group event, a meeting on the Bolshevik Revolution, is on Saturday 11 November 1pm again at the Red Shed.

Fraternally
Alan Stewart
Convenor Wakefield Socialist History Group

William Morris at Wakefield Socialist History Group

Comrades

Forwarding the latest  newsletter from the William Morris Society.

The next Wakefield Socialist History Group event, DEMOCRACY UNCHAINED: TOWARDS A REAL DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT, is next Saturday (22 July)1pm at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1.

Fraternally

Alan Stewart

Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

William Morris Society on behalf of William Morris Society

Sent: 15 July 2017 13:02
Subject: Latest news and events from The William Morris Society

Latest news, exhibitions and events from The William Morris Society View this email in your browser

The William Morris Society eBulletin no. 16

British Syndicalism Talk in Wakefield

Comrades
British syndicalism emerged in the years after 1900 in response, Holton (1976) says, to "urgent economic and political problems facing the working class."
Firstly, British capitalism was still struggling -despite the end of the "Great Depression"- and real wages fell some 10% between 1900 and 1912.
Secondly, capitalist industry was increasingly concentrated.  Businesses were amalgamating.  Employers associations were being set up.  "Federated capital" was more visible (Holton 1976).
Thirdly, technological change was displacing/downgrading certain craft skills.
And finally labour leaders were increasingly being incorporated into state sponsored collective bargaining structures and into the bourgeois parliamentary system.  Trade union officials now seemed increasingly remote from the rank and file.  And Lloyd George would boast in 1912 that parliamentary socialists were the "best policemen" when it came to managing and diffusing industrial unrest.
Face with all this -falling wages, deskilling, larger units of capitalist production and conservatism on the part of traditional labour leaders- workers began to look beyond sectionalism and reformism to class unity, direct action and industrial unionism.
This syndicalist sentiment was influenced by what had been going on in Europe, the US and Australia.  But it also drew from domestic traditions of workplace militancy and what Holton (1976) describes as "anti-State socialism."
On Saturday 13 May at 1pm at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1, the Wakefield Socialist History Group are holding an event, SYNDICALISM AND THE GREAT UNREST.  The speakers are Robin Stocks and Alan Brooke.  Other speakers tbc. The chair is Adrian Cruden.  Admission is free and all are welcome.  A free light buffet will be provided.

Fraternally

Alan Stewart

Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

SOCIALISM AND WORLD WAR ONE

Wakefield Socialist History Group

Comrades
Thirty three people packed into the meeting room at the Red Shed in Wakefield last Saturday (1 April) to discuss BRITISH SOCIALISM AND WORLD WAR ONE.
The first speaker, historian Martin Crick, gave a fascinating account of socialist responses to World War One including the struggles of socialist conscientious objectors.
Martin noted that there were 30 conscientious objectors in Wakefield.  He also explained that Wakefield prison became a home office work centre for conscientious objectors (CO's) who agreed to do work of "national importance."  The CO's did not have to wear uniforms, had free association and were able to go out during the day.  This led to letters from residents of Wakefield to the Wakefield Express complaining that CO's were "cluttering up the free public library" and warning of the impact they might have on the "morals of Wakefield's young women ."
The second speaker was Paul Bennett from the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB).  Paul noted that the SPGB was unequivocal at the time.  It called the war a "capitalist war."  It called on workers to "join the army of revolution instead."
During the war the party itself faced many difficulties.  Its' membership fell two thirds.  Outdoor meetings were broken up and speakers attacked.  Some members lost their jobs because of their opposition to the war.  The party was battered but emerged better prepared for the struggles to come.
The final speaker was Jock from the Communist Workers Organisation.  He said World War One was an "extraordinary watershed in human history" and that we are "still living with the consequences."
Jock noted in particular what one socialist, one of 16 conscientious objectors imprisoned in Richmond Castle in 1916, wrote on his cell wall --"The only war which is worth fighting is the class war....if the workers of all countries united and refused to fight, there would be no war!"
This event was organised by Wakefield Socialist History Group.  The Group's next event is SYNDICALISM AND THE GREAT UNREST on Saturday 13 May, 1pm back at the Red Shed (Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1).  All are welcome and admission is free.

Fraternally

Alan Stewart

Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

Spanish Civil War event in Wakefield

Subject: Spanish Civil War meeting at Red Shed

 

Thirty six people packed into the Red Shed meeting room in Wakefield last Saturday (11 March) to discuss the Spanish Civil War and to remember those who so bravely fought against fascism.

The first speaker was the author and campaigner Granville Williams.  Granville noted that the Soviet Union, through the Comintern, was urging young workers to go to Spain.  However between 1936 and 1938 there were massive purges in the Soviet Union.  This "terror in the Soviet Union was projected into Spain" with the "persecution and extermination of Trotskyists."

Granville paid particular tribute to POUM which had "brilliant leaders" and activists who had led struggles including mass strikes.

The second speaker was Bob Mitchell, a former councillor and former Mayor of Wakefield.  He said the "democrats of Spain were defending an elected Government" and "defending reforms against a fascist and military coup."  All wars generated poetry, he said, but the Spanish Civil War in particular spawned an "immense body of work."  Bob then read a moving selection of poetry by John Cornford, Frank Ryan, Frank Edwards and others.

The final speaker was the environmental campaigner Tim Padmore.  Tim spoke in particular about a new production of the play, "Dare Devil Rides to Jamara", which tells the story of two volunteers Clem Beckett and Chris Caldwell who went to fight with the International Brigades in Spain.

The event was organised by the Wakefield Socialist History Group.  The Group's next event is on Saturday 1 April 1pm, again at the Red Shed, when Dr Martin Crick and Paul Bennett will speak at a meeting on "British Socialism and World War One." Fraternally

Alan Stewart

Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

07931927451

POUM & THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

ON Saturday 11 March 2017, 1pm at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield both Granville Williams and Bob Mitchell will be speaking about the Spanish Civil War at an event organised by Wakefield Socialist History Group.  Admission is free and all are welcome.  Below are some comments about the organisation POUM.

POUM was formed in 1935 by a fusion of the Trotskyist Communist Left of Spain (ICE) and the quasi-Trotskyist Workers and Peasants' Bloc (BOC).  It was led by Andreu Nin and Joaquin Maurin.
It took an independent communist position (it was anti-Stalinist) and was critical of the Popular Front strategy.  So much so that communists denounced it in the most vehement terms.  Santiago Carrillo for instance went "down the road of linking POUM to the Francoists" (Preston 2014).
Despite this POUM did participated in the Popular Front government initiated by Manuel Azana, leader of Accion Republicana, in the hope of advancing some of its' own policies.
In 1937 however POUM was repressed during the Barcelona May Days. It was outlawed by central government and its' leaders arrested.  Nin himself was detained, tortured and "disappeared" by NKVD agents.
Carrillo (1977) wrote that POUM and anarchists had launched a "putsch" which was "treason."  But Nin's death was an "abominable and unjustifiable act."
POUM remained proscribed during the Franco years but was legalised in 1977.  POUM then split but part of it stood as the Workers' Unity Front in elections, demanding the restoration of a republic.
It was finally wound up in 1980/81 although there is still an Andreu Nin Foundation.
Orwell famously joined the POUM militia and wrote of it in his book HOMAGE TO CATALONIA.

Fraternally

Alan Stewart (Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group)

Spanish Civil War in Wakefield

Comrades
Wakefield Socialist History Group are holding a SPANISH CIVIL WAR event on Saturday 11 March, 1-4pm at the Red Shed (Wakefield Labour Club), Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 1QX.
The speakers are:
*Granville Williams (Granville is the editor a  new book, THE FLAME STILL BURNS: THE CREATIVE POWER OF COAL.  He is on the National Committee of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom).
*Bob Mitchell (Bob is a former councillor and former Mayor of Wakefield.  He has a particular interest in poetry and the Spanish Civil War).
Admission is free.  There will be free light snacks.  Plus there is a bar with excellent real ale.
Fraternally
Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

http://georgeorwell.org/SpanishCivilWar.htm

Wakefield Socialist History Group Message

Comrades

 

Twenty three people attended a meeting on THE POLITICS OF ANTONIO GRAMSCI organised by Wakefield Socialist History Group last Saturday (3 December) at the Red Shed in Wakefield.
Colin Waugh (Independent Working Class Education Network) argued that Gramsci's ideas have been distorted in because of his imprisonment, by the Italian Communist Party in the aftermath of World War Two and by "academics to this day."  Gramsci, Colin argued, was a Marxist revolutionary who developed a radical from below view of socialism.
Howard Moss (Socialist Party of Great Britain) also spoke.  He said Gramsci was undoubtedly a courageous figure.  However Gramsci still had an attachment to a Leninist position.  Gramsci still talked of socialism as a form of state and of socialism in terms of the leaders and the led.  The SPGB is for socialism where "people act for themselves, democratically and without leaders."
There was also music from "Barnsdale Hood" and a lively question/discussion session.
The Wakefield Socialist History Group is now planning an event, "Robert Burns..and other radical poets" on Saturday 28 January 2017 at the Red Shed.
Fraternally
Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

Antonio Gramsci at Wakefield History Group

Comrades


Antonio Gramsci was born on Sardinia to parents of Albanian origin.
When he was seven his father was imprisoned for embezzlement.  This placed great financial strain on the family and Gramsci had to take part time work until 1904 when his father was finally released.
Gramsci then completed High School and won a scholarship to the University of Turin where he studied linguistics and literature.   However illness and poverty again mean he was unable to complete his studies.
In 1914 he started writing for socialist papers as a means of supporting himself.  Indeed he would combine journalism and political activism for the next ten years, focusing in particular on organising factory workers in the industrial heartland of Turin.
Gramsci had joined the PSI (the Italian socialists) in 1913.  Then in 1919 he helped found the weekly 'L'Ordine Nuovo'.  The paper was seen by Lenin as being close to Bolshevism and in 1921 the editorial group -including Gramsci- formed the core of the new PCI (Italian Communist Party).
Gramsci was elected to Parliament as representative for the Veneto region in 1924.  Vehemently anti-Mussolini, he was arrested by the Fascist Government in 1926 under the Emergency Powers Act (and despite apparent parliamentary immunity!).
The prosecutor at his trial said it was imperative to 'stop Gramsci's brain from functioning'.  Despite this whilst in prison Gramsci wrote 3000 pages of notes that contributed greatly to the development of Marxist thought.
Gramsci died in prison half way through his 20 year sentence.  He was only 46.


*Wakefield Socialist History group are holding an event, "THE POLITICS OF ANTONIO GRAMCI", at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 on Saturday 3 December, 1-4pm.  If you would like to speak at the event please get in touch.


Fraternally
Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

The Yorkshire Rebellion of 1820

Comrades

On the evening of 31 March 1820 there was a rising in the textile villages around Huddersfield.  Several hundred men marched on the town itself with the intention of taking it from the garrison stationed there.  However when backup failed to materialise the plan was aborted and the men dispersed.  Four of their number -John Lindley, John Peacock, Nathaniel Buckley and Thomas Blackburn- were later committed to the York Assizes.
Then on 11 April several hundred men from Barnsley and the nearby villages of Dodsworth and Monk Bretton marched to Grange Moor near Huddersfield.  They believed that they were part of a rising postponed from 1 April.  This time they had arms and provisions, marched to a drum beat and had colourful political banners.  There was even talk of a march on London.  But yet again they were to be disappointed.  Only 20 men from Huddersfield were there to back them up.  Dejected, the group quickly dispersed -though 18 of the Barnsley men would later be indicted for high treason.
In Sheffield on the same day there had been plans by 200 men to take Attercliffe Barracks.  They had assembled in the Haymarket chanting "Hunt and Liberty", "The Revolution, The Revolution!"  Their leader John Blackwell symbolically fired off a pistol but at the last minute the attack was aborted.  Blackwell got 30 months in prison (Stevenson 1979)

On Saturday 25 June at 1pm  at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 the Wakefield Socialist History Group will be hold a meeting about the 1820 Yorkshire Rebellion.  The main speaker is Shaun Cohen (Ford Maguire Society).  The chair is Adrian Cruden (Green Party).
Admission to the meeting is free and there is a free light buffet.  There is also a bar with excellent real ale.

Fraternally
Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group.

Wakefield History Group & Working Class Library

Comrades
Forwarding information regarding a course on Radical Manchester and Salford starting at the WCML on 1 March.
Our next meeting is on Saturday 13 February at 1pm at Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 when we will be discussing THE LEVELLERS AND THE DIGGERS.
All welcome; free admission; free light snacks plus an excellent bar with real ale.
Fraternally
Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group
 

---

Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2016 14:44:27 +0000
Subject: my course on Radical Manchester and Salford starting on 1 March 2016
From: redflagwalks@gmail.com
To:

Peterloo 1819

I am delighted to let you know that I  will be teaching a course on the history of Radical  Manchester and Salford at the Working Class Movement Library,. This  will  begin by outlining  the story of  Industrial Revolution in this area and then go on to look at  the radical  politics of the late 18th century and the  19th century. This  will include the influence of Thomas  Paine, author of “The Rights of Man”, radical groups in Manchester in the 1790s, the Luddites, Peterloo, Owenite Socialism, Chartism, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels,  black American radicals in Manchester, and the Socialist movement  of the 1890s.
There will be an opportunity to look at some of the original historical material held in the archives of the Working Class Movement Library.
The course will begin on Tuesday 1 March 2016, 11am to 1pm,  and will last 10 weeks
The cost will be £80 (waged) or  £60 (unwaged).
For more information or to book a place, please email me: redflagwalks@gmail.com



--

Michael Herbert

History in Wakefield & Tameside

Comrades,

Forwarding information below regarding a talk by Bernadette Hyland on her book Northern ReSisters.

Our next meeting is on Saturday 13 February, 1pm at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 when Steve Freeman, Clifford Slapper and Ian Brooke will be talking about the LEVELLERS AND THE DIGGERS.

Admission is free and all are welcome.

Fraternally

Alan Stewart:   Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

Bernadette Hyland  will be giving talk about her book Northern ReSisters : conversations with radical women on Wednesday 20th January, 2pm,  at Tameside  History  Club. The event is free.

In the book Bernadette speaks to nine women  from the north west  who have been active in radical  movements over the pasty forty years, including trade unionism, Women’s Liberation, radical  bookselling,  anti-racism, the peace movement, Ireland and Palestine. Bernadette says: “In this book I ask the question; what does it mean to be an activist; how does it affect your life and how do people keep going at a time of increasing attacks on all the aspects of this society that has made it a decent place for people to live?

You can find out more about the book here

https://maryquaileclub.wordpress.com/publications/

The venue is  Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre, Central Library, Old Street Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 7SG.

William Morris: Revolutionary or Dreamer?

Comrades
I am forwarding latest e-Bulletin below from William Morris Society.
On Saturday 27 February 2016 Wakefield Socialist History Group are holding a meeting, WILLIAM MORRIS: REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST OR UTOPIAN DREAMER? at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1.  Meeting starts at 1pm.  Admission is free.   Colin Waugh (IWCE) and Brian Else (Wakefield Green Party) have kindly agreed to speak.  If anyone else is also interested in speaking please get in touch.
Fraternally
Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group
07931927451

 "Fellowship is Heaven": Sixty Years of the William Morris Society 
Part 1 - until May 31 2016

Our current exhibition exploring the history of the William Morris Society continues until the end of January, after which Part 2 will commence exploring different areas of society activity.

If you have not yet had a chance to come over to Hammersmith we encourage you too! The historic Dove Pub across from the Society has undergone a refurbishment leaving it better than ever and the Thames is beautiful in the Winter sun. If that isn't enough, then we also have...

Xmas Shopping!   As the Festive period is upon us once more, our museum shop is full of Christmas cards, 2016 calendars, and unique handmade items made by our talented volunteers that our found nowhere else. If you are after something really unique, useful and beautiful this year do pop into the museum shop! We are open to the public Thursday and Saturday 2-5 and now have a contactless card machine so we are able to take all types of payment.

Morris Elsewhere We are very happy to say that the Folio Society has just published a new Fine Edition of William Morris’s utopian novel News from Nowhere. The copy held in the William Morris Gallery was newly photographed for this Folio Society facsimile. Its fine leather binding is blocked in gold with a design by Neil Gower inspired by Morris’s style and is made of 320 pages printed on Korolla Laid Ivory paper in two colours throughout. Together with gilded edges, this edition epitomises Morris’s passion for fine aesthetics, craftsmanship and tradition. You can purchase the edition fof £100 via the Folio Society's website.

Wakefield Socialist History Meeting

THE Wakefield Socialist History Group held a meeting on Saturday 17 October at the Red Shed on THE FALL OF SAIGON: FORTY YEARS SINCE THE VIETNAM WAR.
The first speaker was Matthew Caygill.  He is a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University and teaches a module on "Politics and Culture in the Era of the Vietnam War."  He is also a member of Left Unity and the Leeds based Ford Maguire Society.
Matthew said that the Vietnam war saw America "defeated and humiliated."   The defeat led to the "Vietnam Syndrome" whereby America was stymied around the world and Americans were loathe for years to see their sons sent to fight wars abroad.
The second speaker was Stephen Wood.  He is a local government worker and a member of the "Alliance for Workers' Liberty."   He writes regularly for their newspaper "Solidarity."
Stephen gave an illuminating account of the anti-war movement in the US.  He spoke in particular about Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) who played a key role from 1962 to 1969 -including organising demonstrations and direct action- before fragmenting thereafter.
The final speaker was Michael Chant, General Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist Leninist).  He was born near Wakefield and is also a well known composer.
Michael asserted the right of oppressed nations/peoples to independence and to determine their own path of socialist development, particularly where their sovereignty is threatened.
After the speeches there followed questions and also a lively discussion.
The next group event is on Saturday 21 November when we will be discussion "Europe and the Left: how should socialists vote in the referendum?"  The meeting is again at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 and starts at 1pm.

Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group
07931927451

Wakefield Event on Fall of Saigon

ON Saturday 17 October, WAKEFIELD SOCIALIST HISTORY GROUP are holding a meeting on the Vietnam War:

 'THE FALL OF SAIGON: FORTY YEARS SINCE THE VIETNAM WAR'. 

The event is being held at the Red Shed (Wakefield Labour Club), Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1 and starts at 1pm.  Admission is free. There is a free light buffet.
We already have a couple speakers but are also looking a third.
If your organisation would like to provide a speaker please get in touch.
Many thanks.
Fraternally
Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group
07931927451

Walk Round Radical Bradford

Comrades

*Bradford began as a village by a ford.  "Brad" means "broad."
*By the time of the Domesday Book (1086) the village by the broad ford had grown large -by standards of the time- and had some 300 inhabitants.
*It was turned into a town when villagers were allowed to hold a weekly market; craftsmen then moved in.
*Medieval Bradford grew to a population of several hundred.  It had three streets -Kirkgate, Westgate and Ivegate.  The word "gate" in this context does not mean gate in a wall.  Rather it is derived from the Danish word "gate" meaning street.
*In 1642 with the onset of the Civil War, local people supported Parliament though the surrounding countryside sided with the King. Royalists sacked the town in 1643.
*The town recovered by the 17th century and was then transformed by the Industrial Revolution. The first bank opened in 1771.  The Bradford Canal was built in 1774 and in 1777 it was connected to the Leeds-Liverpool canal.
*By 1851 the population was 103,000 making it the seventh largest urban centre in England.  The town was notorious also for its' "dreadful urban squalor" (James 1990).
*Houses in particular were built in a haphazard fashion.  There were no building regulations until 1854 and most working class housing was overcrowded with neither sewers nor drains.  Many families lived in poorly ventilated cellars and in 1848-49 some 420 people perished in a cholera epidemic that hit the town.
*The Bradford Corporation was founded in 1847.  It was not until 1862 that the first mile of piping for a new sewage system was completed.  The first public park -Peel Park- opened in 1863.  The first public library opened in 1872. The first council houses weren't built until 1907.

Alan Stewart
Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group
..................................

p.s. our guided walk round RADICAL BRADFORD is being held on Saturday 13 June.  Meet 2pm at the "Independent Labour Party" wall mural at the junction of Leeds Road and Chapel Street (approximately 10 minutes walk from the bus/train station).  All welcome.  Free bottled water provided.  The walk will be approximately 2 miles and involve some inclines.
(organised in conjunction with Ford Maguire Society)

Wakefield Socialist History Group

COMRADES,

Manningham Mills dominated Bradford's skyline in the late 19th century.  It employed 5000 low paid non-unionised works. Many were women. In 1890 an 8% dividend had been issued to shareholders.  But on 9 December 1890 Samuel Lister, the millionaire owner, posted a notice outlining reductions in pay of between 15 and 33% for weavers, pickers, spoolers and winders.  Some 1,1000 workers in all would be hit (Dominguez 2013).

Company director Jose Reixach justified the move, saying that the workers concerned had been being paid "unnaturally high" wages. There was outrage on the factor floor. Though few were in a union at this stage they called in officials from the Weavers' Textile Workers' Association.  By the end of March 1891 some 5000 were out on strike.

The strikers faced hostility from Liberal and Tory councillors, from the courts, the press and the police.  But they also rallied massive public support -one mass protest meeting on 19 April attracted up to 90,000 people.

 

The dispute lasted four months in all.  And although the strikers were finally starved into submission it changed politics forever.  The strike leaders saw the need for the workers' to have their own political party.

 

The Bradford Labour Union was formed, followed by the Bradford ILP.  And then in January 1893 120 delegates met in Bradford to set up the ILP (Independent Labour Party) as a national party.

 

Alan Stewart

Convenor, Wakefield Socialist History Group

07931927451

 

p.s. the next meeting of the Wakefield Socialist History Group is on Saturday 9 May 2015, 1-4pm at the Red Shed, Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1.  The topic is THE STORY OF THE ILP -AND LESSONS FOR TODAY.  The speakers are Iain Dalton (Socialist Party) and Barry Winter (Independent Labour Publications).  The chair is Kitty Rees. Admission is free and there will be a free light buffet.

ILP at the Red Shed, Wakefield

POST-ELECTION meeting

Saturday 9 May 2015
1-4pm at the Red Shed (Wakefield Labour Club), Vicarage Street, Wakefield WF1

'The Story of the Independent Labour Party -and Lessons for Today'

Speakers:
Iain Dalton: West Yorkshire Organiser for the Socialist Party; author of "The Battle of Leeds"
Barry Winter: Independent Labour Publications; author of "The ILP: Past and Present"

Chair: Kitty Rees

Free admission and free light buffet.
Excellent real ale.

Organised by Wakefield Socialist History Group

For more information contact Alan Stewart, Group Convenor, on 07931927451
Or see/join our Facebook site: Wakefield Socialist History Group.