The Chicago Anarchists by Walter Crane, 1894. Colorized by Poisoned Candy Press, 2020. 8x10 Print on quality 110lb Ivory Cardstock. $1 from each book, pamphlet, poster and pdf sold is donated to a mutual aid group, and each month we donate to a different group. Check out our Instagram page to see which groups we have worked with so far. The celebration of May Day as International Workers Day began in 1889 in remembrance of the Haymarket Martyrs and in solidarity with working class people. On May 3rd, after a strike at the Chicago McCormick Harvesting Machine Company plant where two workers were murdered by police, local anarchists got together and printed flyers calling for a rally at Haymarket Square on May 4th. The flyers were printed in German and English, and the first batch included the following words: "Workingmen Arm Yourselves and Appear in Full Force!" August Spies was not happy with this phrase, and so the printers destroyed all but a few hundred. Over 20,000 of the revised edition were printed and distributed. The next day at the rally someone threw a bomb, killing 7 policemen and 4 protesters, and wounding many more. A shootout ensued between the police and the crowd. However, it was later found that the members of the crowd might not have been returning fire, as there were police on two sides of the protesters. Instead, it is likely that the majority of bullet wounds sustained by police were fired from the guns of the police on the other side. Rudolf Schnaubelt, who was the police's lead suspect, fled the country after being arrested twice under suspicion and let go twice because there was not enough evidence to charge him. William Seliger, turned into a rat for the state, and so was never charged. August Spies and Samuel Fielden had spoken at the rally, which had been peacefull up until police gave orders to disperse. Two others, Adolph Fischer ad Albert Parsons, were present at the beginning of the rally but left early and were at Zepf's Hall, an anarchist rendezvous, at the time of the explosion. Seeing how weak the evidence against them was, Parsons turned himself in out of solidarity with his comrades. Michael Schwab was arrested, even though he was speaking at another rally at the time of the bombing (he was also later pardoned). George Engel (who was at home playing cards during the bombing) and Louis Lingg, a bomb maker were also arrested. Oscar Neebe—an associate of Adolph FIscher—was the final defendant apprehended. In the weeks following the riot the police rounded up the most popular anarchists, some of whom were not even at the protest when the bomb went off. And with no real evidence against the accused they still managed to find enough prejudiced jurors to find all eight defendants "guilty." Lingg committed suicide in jail, and on November 11, 1887, four of the defendants—Engel, Fischer, Parsons, and Spies—were executed by hanging. The real bomb thrower was never found, and there has been speculation that the police or the Pinkerton detective agency might have been involved in orchestrating the bombing in order to have cause to arrest the cities most popular anarchists. International Workers Day is May 1st. The date was chosen in 1889 by the Marxist International Socialist Congress, which met in Paris and established the Second International as a successor to the earlier International Workingmen's Association. They adopted a resolution for a "great international demonstration" in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day. The date had been chosen by the American Federation of Labor to continue an earlier campaign for the eight-hour day in the United States, which had culminated in the Haymarket affair, which occurred in Chicago on 4 May 1886. May Day subsequently became an annual event. The 1904 Sixth Conference of the Second International, called on "all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." Check out our Posters section to see more Haymarket posters! Poisoned Candy Press poisonedcandypress.etsy.com instagram.com/poisonedcandypress

The Chicago Anarchists by Walter Crane, 1894. Colorized by Poisoned Candy Press, 2020. 8x10 Print on quality 110lb Ivory Cardstock. $1 from each book, pamphlet, poster and pdf sold is donated to a mutual aid group, and each month we donate to a different group. Check out our Instagram page to see which groups we have worked with so far. The celebration of May Day as International Workers Day began in 1889 in remembrance of the Haymarket Martyrs and in solidarity with working class people. On May 3rd, after a strike at the Chicago McCormick Harvesting Machine Company plant where two workers were murdered by police, local anarchists got together and printed flyers calling for a rally at Haymarket Square on May 4th. The flyers were printed in German and English, and the first batch included the following words: "Workingmen Arm Yourselves and Appear in Full Force!" August Spies was not happy with this phrase, and so the printers destroyed all but a few hundred. Over 20,000 of the revised edition were printed and distributed. The next day at the rally someone threw a bomb, killing 7 policemen and 4 protesters, and wounding many more. A shootout ensued between the police and the crowd. However, it was later found that the members of the crowd might not have been returning fire, as there were police on two sides of the protesters. Instead, it is likely that the majority of bullet wounds sustained by police were fired from the guns of the police on the other side. Rudolf Schnaubelt, who was the police's lead suspect, fled the country after being arrested twice under suspicion and let go twice because there was not enough evidence to charge him. William Seliger, turned into a rat for the state, and so was never charged. August Spies and Samuel Fielden had spoken at the rally, which had been peacefull up until police gave orders to disperse. Two others, Adolph Fischer ad Albert Parsons, were present at the beginning of the rally but left early and were at Zepf's Hall, an anarchist rendezvous, at the time of the explosion. Seeing how weak the evidence against them was, Parsons turned himself in out of solidarity with his comrades. Michael Schwab was arrested, even though he was speaking at another rally at the time of the bombing (he was also later pardoned). George Engel (who was at home playing cards during the bombing) and Louis Lingg, a bomb maker were also arrested. Oscar Neebe—an associate of Adolph FIscher—was the final defendant apprehended. In the weeks following the riot the police rounded up the most popular anarchists, some of whom were not even at the protest when the bomb went off. And with no real evidence against the accused they still managed to find enough prejudiced jurors to find all eight defendants "guilty." Lingg committed suicide in jail, and on November 11, 1887, four of the defendants—Engel, Fischer, Parsons, and Spies—were executed by hanging. The real bomb thrower was never found, and there has been speculation that the police or the Pinkerton detective agency might have been involved in orchestrating the bombing in order to have cause to arrest the cities most popular anarchists. International Workers Day is May 1st. The date was chosen in 1889 by the Marxist International Socialist Congress, which met in Paris and established the Second International as a successor to the earlier International Workingmen's Association. They adopted a resolution for a "great international demonstration" in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day. The date had been chosen by the American Federation of Labor to continue an earlier campaign for the eight-hour day in the United States, which had culminated in the Haymarket affair, which occurred in Chicago on 4 May 1886. May Day subsequently became an annual event. The 1904 Sixth Conference of the Second International, called on "all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace." Check out our Posters section to see more Haymarket posters! Poisoned Candy Press poisonedcandypress.etsy.com instagram.com/poisonedcandypress