In Honor Of The King Of The Folk-Singing Hard-Living Hobos The Late Utah Phillips -From The Archives- On The 104th Anniversary-Labor's Untold Story- Bread And Roses- The Heroic Lawrence Textile Strike Of 1912

Click on title to link to Lucy Parsons Project site for a pro-IWW analysis of the famous Lawrence (Massachusetts) textile strike of 1912. Where the expression "bread and roses" came from. There are other sources with different perspective on this strike so Google on.

Every Month Is Labor History Month

This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!

As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.

Poem and Song lyrics-"Bread and Roses"

Poem

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses! Song Lyrics


Song

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses

In Honor Of The King Of The Folk-Singing Hard-Living Hobos The Late Utah Phillips -From The Archives- Labor's Untold Story- Bread And Roses- The Heroic Lawrence Textile Strike Of 1912.

Click on title to link to Lucy Parsons Project site for a pro-IWW analysis of the famous Lawrence (Massachusetts) textile strike of 1912. Where the expression "bread and roses" came from. There are other sources with different perspective on this strike so Google on.

Every Month Is Labor History Month

This Commentary is part of a series under the following general title: Labor’s Untold Story- Reclaiming Our Labor History In Order To Fight Another Day-And Win!

As a first run through, and in some cases until I can get enough other sources in order to make a decent presentation, I will start with short entries on each topic that I will eventually go into greater detail about. Or, better yet, take my suggested topic and run with it yourself.

Poem and Song lyrics-"Bread and Roses"

Poem

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses! Song Lyrics


Song

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses

*Labor's Untold Story In Song- Remember The Heroic Lawrence Textile Strike Of 1912-"Bread And Roses"-Yes, Indeed

A YouTube's film clip of Joan Baez and her late sister Mimi Farina performing "Bread and Roses" about the famous textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912.

Poem and Song lyrics-"Bread And Roses"

Poem

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses! Song Lyrics

Song

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses

*Labor's Untold Story In Song- Remember The Heroic Lawrence Textile Strike Of 1912-"Bread And Roses"-Yes, Indeed

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Joan Baez and her late sister Mimi Farina performing "Bread and Roses" about the famous textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912.

Poem and Song lyrics-"Bread And Roses"

Poem

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses! Song Lyrics

Song

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses

*Labor's Untold Story In Song- Remember The Heroic Lawrence Textile Strike Of 1912-"Bread And Roses"-Yes, Indeed

Labor's Untold Story In Song- Remember The Heroic Lawrence Textile Strike Of 1912-"Bread And Roses"-Yes, Indeed

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Joan Baez and her late sister Mimi Farina performing "Bread and Roses" about the famous textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912.

Poem and Song lyrics-"Bread And Roses"

Poem

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses! Song Lyrics

Song

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses

Labor's Untold Story In Song- Remember The Heroic Lawrence Textile Strike Of 1912-"Bread And Roses"-Yes, Indeed

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of a performance of "Bread and Roses" about the famous textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912.

Poem and Song lyrics-"Bread And Roses"

Poem

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses! Song Lyrics

Song

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses

*Labor's Untold Story In Song- Remember The Heroic Lawrence Textile Strike Of 1912-"Bread And Roses"-Yes, Indeed

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of Joan Baez and her late sister Mimi Farina performing "Bread and Roses" about the famous textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912.

Poem and Song lyrics-"Bread And Roses"

Poem

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses! Song Lyrics

Song

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses

On The 104th Anniversary- Labor's Untold Story In Song- Remember The Heroic IWW-led Lawrence (Ma) Textile Strike Of 1912-"Bread And Roses"

Click on title to link to YouTube's film clip of a performance of "Bread and Roses" about the famous textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912.

Poem and Song lyrics-"Bread And Roses"

Poem

As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!
As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!
As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses! Song Lyrics

Song

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses

Standing Together: Labor Day event celebrates legacy of Bread and Roses Strike

Standing Together: Labor Day event celebrates legacy of Bread and Roses Strike

Merrimack Valley Related Photos · MARY SCHWALM/Staff photo Union members and supporters march along Broadway from the Malden Mills to Campagnone Common in Lawrence during the 100th anniversary of the Bread and Roses strike. 9/3/12 · MARY SCHWALM/Staff photo Union members and supporters march along Broadway from the Malden Mills to Campagnone Common in Lawrence during the 100th anniversary of the Bread and Roses Strike. MARY SCHWALM/Staff photo · MARY SCHWALM/Staff photos Union members and supporters march from the Malden Mills to Campagnone Common in Lawrence during the 100th anniversary of the Bread and Roses Strike. MARY SCHWALM/Staff photos · MacKenzie Trainor, left, and Ariana Michitson, dancers from the Center for Performing Arts of Acting and Dancing in Methuen, wait their turn to take the stage. · MARY SCHWALM/Staff photo Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua joins in the unveiling of the 1912 Strikers' Monument at Campagnone Common in Lawrence. · Actors with the Bread and Puppet Circus practice their horse puppet maneuvers before a show at the 28th annual Bread and Roses Festival on Campagnone Common in Lawrence. September 4, 2012 Standing Together: Labor Day event celebrates legacy of Bread and Roses Strike By Douglas Moser dmoser@eagletribune.com LAWRENCE — What made the Bread and Roses Strike different was its solidarity across various ethnic and linguistic lines. In a city still characterized by a population made largely of immigrants and their children, Labor Day event organizers and union members yesterday linked Lawrence’s history of immigration to the significance of the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike in a festival on Campagnone Common that included a march and the unveiling of a monument to that strike. “It was a big day in labor history,” said Paul Georges, president of the Merrimack Valley Central Labor Council, one of the festival organizers. “It started a revolution in the labor movement and spread throughout New England and the rest of the world. People got a clearer understanding of standing together and how that’s in their best interest.” The Bread and Roses Strike started in January 1912 after the Massachusetts Legislature reduced the work week from 56 hours to 54. Business and industry subsequently reduced pay, leading to a massive strike in Lawrence that lasted about nine weeks and included clashes with city police and Massachusetts National Guard units. Along with pay, they walked out over child labor and worker safety issues. Labor leaders said that strike and its legacy is still relevant today, and pointed to growing income disparity in the United States and working class and middle class wages that have been stagnant for more than a decade. “Many of the things they were against, the injustice, is still here today,” said Frank McLaughlin, president of the Lawrence Teachers’ Union. The city unveiled a monument to the Bread and Roses Strike, two large bronze plaques depicting the strikers and a 30,000-pound piece of basalt granite quarried in Dracut. The plaque unveiled yesterday shows a man carrying an American flag in front of lines of striking men and women, with City Hall’s cupola and the mills’ smokestacks in the background. Gloucester sculptor Daniel Altshuler crafted the plaque and was on hand for the unveiling. He said he visited Lawrence and studied up on the history of the strike and of the city with books and videos when working on the concept of the plaque. “This is Labor Day, and these men, women and children put their livelihoods on the line for us,” Altshuler said. The monument, which will be completed in about a month when the bronze plaques are attached to the granite, was paid for with private donations and was installed on the north common next to Common Street across from City Hall and the Superior Court building. Yesterday’s Bread and Roses Festival started at 11 a.m. with a march from outside the Polartec building on Stafford Street, down Broadway and across Haverhill Street to the common. Hundreds of people participated, most of whom were union members marching in honor of the 1912 strike, in support of local workers and for the cause of labor unions generally. “My family took part in that (strike). They immigrated to Lawrence from Lithuania and Ireland,” said Claire Padbaiskas, a fourth-grade teacher at Lawrence Public Schools. “Workers built the United States and they’re still building the United States. We need to stand with them.” John Feliz, with Building Wreckers local 1421, said he and many of his fellow members were there to support other unions and political candidates he said would support workers rights. His union and several others joined the march. “We’re supporting all the unions in the area,” he said. “We’re here to support the people that look out for the workers.” Many of the marchers carried signs and wore T-shirts and pins supporting Elizabeth Warren for Senate and Barack Obama for President. Ethan Snow, of the union Unite Here — which represents employees at Polartec and marched as well — said he is third-generation union member. Organized labor needs to adjust as the job environment evolves from a time when a person spent a whole career in one job to one where people regularly have multiple careers over a working lifetime. “As the job landscape changes, young people can benefit from contact with unions,” he said. “It used to be you could go into one of these mills and keep your job for a lifetime. Now people need two or three jobs and come out of college with a massive debt burden.” The festival included music all afternoon, lines of food vendors and numerous booths with political and union themes. --- Follow Douglas Moser on Twitter @EagleEyeMoser. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.

From The Great Lawrence 1912 "Bread And Roses" Centennial Website- Upcoming Events

Click on the headline to link to the Bread and Roses Centennial website.

BREAD AND ROSES

(Lyrics: James Oppenheim; Music: Martha Coleman or Caroline Kohlsaat) (1910s)

Textile workers, Lowell, MA

Any copyrighted material on these pages is used in "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s).


New Year's Day, 1912, ushered in one of the most historic struggles in the history of the American working-class. On that cold January 1st, the textile workers of Lawrence, Massachusetts, began a nine-week strike which shook the very foundation of the Bay State and had national repercussions.
In its last session, the Massachusetts State Legislature, after tremendous pressure from the workers, had finally passed a law limiting the working hours of children under the age of 18 to 54 hours a week. Needless to say, the huge textile corporations had viciously opposed the law.

As an act of retaliation, the employers cut the working hours of all employees to 54 hours, with a commensurate cut in wages, of course. The workers in the Lawrence factories, some 35,000 of them, answered this with a complete walk-out.

The strike itself was unique on many counts, but principally because the workers realized that they had to ignore the existing craft-union set-up. The craft unions were composed only of skilled, English-speaking workers, which excluded most of the workers. Instead, under the leadership of the International [sic] Workers of the World (IWW), a blow was struck on behalf of industrial unionism with the uniting of all textile workers in the strike.

In the course of the strike, the workers presented the bosses with the following demands:

A 15 per cent wage increase;
Abolition of the "premium system* (a version of present-day "incentive plans");
Double pay for overtime;
No discrimination against strikers;
An end to speed-up;
An end to discrimination against foreign-born workers.
The song... was inspired by one of the demonstrations which took place during the course of the strike. During a parade through Lawrence, a group of women workers carried banners proclaiming "Bread and Roses". This poetic presentation of the demands of women workers for equal pay for equal work together with special consideration as women echoed throughout the country.

James Oppenheim, many of whose poems reflect a working-class content and sympathy, picked up the phrase and made it into a poem. Martha Coleman set the poem to music, and the song has become a part of the singing tradition of the American working-class.

The song is more than an interesting piece of historic literature and is presented here... as a song for today, for the complete emancipation of women, who still demand "Give Us Bread -- And Give Us Roses!"

Sing Out!, Vol. 25, 1/1976, p. 8.


"The women worked in the mills for lower pay and In addition had all the housework and care of the children. The old world attitude of men as 'the lord and master' was strong at the end of the day's work . . . or now of strike duty . . . the man went home and sat at ease while his wife did all the work, preparing the meal, cleaning the house, etc. There was considerable male opposition to women going to meetings and marching on the picket line. We resolutely set out to combat these notions. The women wanted to picket!"
— IWW organizer Elizabeth Guriey Flynn, "The Rebel Girl", commenting on the Lawrence strike, reprinted ibid.


MORE BACKGROUND ON THE LAWRENCE STRIKE


In 1912, in the great woolen center of Lawrence, Massachusetts, 20,000 workers walked out of the mills in spontaneous protest against a cut in their weekly pay. Workers had been averaging $8.76 for a 56-hour work week when a state law made 54 hours the maximum for women and for minors under 18. The companies reduced all hours to 54 but refused to raise wage rates to make up for the average loss of 31 cents per week suffered by each worker because of the reduction in hours.
This caused the walkout which rocked the great New England textile industry. Under the aggressive leadership of the Industrial Workers of the World the strike became front-page news throughout the country. This is how IWW leader Bill Haywood described the Lawrence strike in his autobiography, Bill Haywood's Book:

"It was a wonderful strike, the most significant strike, the greatest strike that has ever been carried on in this country or any other country. And the most significant part of that strike was that it was a democracy. The strikers had a committee of 56, representing 27 different languages. The boss would have to see all the committee to do any business with them. And immediately behind that committee was a substitute committee of another 56 prepared in the event of the original committee's being arrested. Every official in touch with affairs at Lawrence had a substitute selected to take his place in the event of being thrown in jail."
After ten weeks the strikers won important concessions from the woolen companies, not only for themselves but also for 250,000 textile workers throughout New England.
During one of the many parades conducted by the strikers some young girls carried a banner with the slogan: "We want bread and roses too." This inspired James Oppenheim to write his poem, "Bread and Roses," which was set to music by Caroline Kohlsaat,

There is also an Italian song with the same title, "Pan e Rose," written by the Italian-American poet Arturo Giovannitti which is used by the Italian Dressmakers' Local 89 of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.

Edith Fowke & Joe Glazer (eds.), Songs of Work and Protest, New York, NY, 1973, p. 71



Lyrics as reprinted ibid.


As we come marching, marching in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: "Bread and roses! Bread and roses!"
As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!

As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for -- but we fight for roses, too!

As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days.
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler -- ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses! Bread and roses!

On The 100th Anniversary-Bread & Roses Strike Centennial "Double Feature!"

Saturday, April 28, 2012 - 9:00am to 5:00pm

Lawrence Heritage State Park, One Jackson Street
Lawrence, MA

Schedule for the day:

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.: Labor Today – 100 Years After the Strike

• Peter Olney, Organizing Director of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) on the West Coast.

• Tom Marvin, "Community/Labor Coalitions: Some Lessons from Indianapolis." Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

• Rand Wilson, strike strategist and Organizing Director at SEIU Local 888.

Participants will also include union members who were recently on strike in the Merrimack Valley.

10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: "The Importance of Strike Activity in Building New Unions"

• Steve Early, author of The Civil Wars in U.S. Labor

• Joe Burns, staff attorney and negotiator, Association of Flight Attendants / Communications Workers of America and author of Reviving The Strike.

1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.: 100 Years After • Robert Ross, “Fire-to-Fire: How American Investors Exported Factory Fires and Sweatshops While Big Box RetailersAllowed Sweatshop Conditions to Reappear in the U.S.,” Clark University.• Virginia M. Noon, “Lessons Learned: A Comparison of the Textile and Apparel Industry of Early 19th CenturyLawrence and Lowell with China Today,” Framingham State University.

3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.: “Bread and Roses: Dignity and Respect as a Dimension of Labor and Working Class Struggles”

• Robert Ross, Clark University• Jennifer Doe, Organizer MA Jobs with Justice.• Brian Lang, President, UNITE HERE Local 26.

Participants will also include union members who were recently on strike in the Merrimack Valley.

Celebrate The Centenary Of The Great "Bread And Roses" Strike In Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912-Come to LAWRENCE in 2012!

Celebrate The Centenary Of The Great "Bread And Roses" Strike In Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912-Come to LAWRENCE in 2012!

In January 1912, Lawrence, Massachusetts mill workers launched a strike over a pay cut. Soon over 20,000 workers, mostly immigrants, were involved in a work stoppage that captured worldwide attention. Now known as the Bread & Roses Strike, it prompted an investigation by the US Congress into working conditions while national and international publicity helped lead to a win in March.

Today a broad-based group of organizations is planning a year-long series of events for 2012 to commemorate the strike and place it in the context of current community and labor struggles. Activities include: a Labor Day 2012 festival; an exhibit of Ralph Fasanella's art; a history conference; a year-long strike exhibit, and many others.

For information on planned events, how to get involved with us, and how to donate to our efforts visit:

www.breadandrosescentennial.org/

*From The Archives Of The Black Civil Rights Struggle-Bruce Watson's "Freedom Summer"- A Guest Interview

Click on the headline to link to a Boston Sunday Globe, dated August 8, 2010, interview with noted history writer Bruce Watson (Bread and Roses, Sacco and Vanzetti, both reviewed in this space) about his new book, Freedom Summer.


Markin comment:

No question that those who went South in the early 1960s, especially into hell-hole Mississippi to register blacks to vote, were in the vanguard of the civil rights movement (except, of course, the real vanguard, those home-grown civil rights fighters who had to stay and fight the rearguard actions after the student volunteers left). As noted here, many of those civil rights fighters of the time, including this writer (although my time was spent in hell-hole Alabama) went on to fight other social battles elsewhere.

But here is my problem with this mist of time thing although the book is a very worthwhile read, and I think that it epitomizes what was, in retrospect, the limitations on that struggle. It was never just about the simple democratic question of voting, important as that was for those who were forcibly not permitted to do so, and placing that in the center those other issues jobs, land, equal access, legal justice, etc. were not addressed. Or worst, after the heyday of the civil rights movement when our eyes turned to the Vietnam anti-war struggle the black liberation struggle in the South was placed on the back-burner, way on the back-burner.

And it has never, in a positive way at least, gotten back to center stage. Oh, except for that coterie, that rather large coterie as I have become aware of lately and was confirmed by some of the remembrances here, of those who went South (or did the important support work in the North and West) who now, in a self-satisfied manner, assume (still, if you can believe it) that the election of one Barack Obama put paid to the question. At one point I avoided such people, some of them friends, purposefully. Liberals, blah.