139th Anniversary of the Bayview Massacre
Wisconsin’s most historic and bloody labor incident occurred on May 5, 1886 on the shores of Lake Michigan in the Bay View area of Milwaukee. That day dawned after four days of massive worker demonstrations throughout Milwaukee on behalf of the creation of eight-hour day laws.
As some 1,500 workers marched toward the Bay View Rolling Mills (then the area’s biggest manufacturer) urging the workers there to join the marches, the State Militia lined up on a hill, guns poised. The marchers were ordered to stop form some 200 yards away; when they didn’t, the militiamen fired into the crowd, killing seven persons. (WI Labor History).
Today Randy Radtke and I, both representing North Central WI Central Labor Council, attended this powerful and moving reenactment. Those who died were mostly Polish immigrants including a 13 year old child that was caught in the cross fire. If we do not learn history, we are apt to repeat it.
