Strike on the 4th: Labor Unrest Ignites in Milwaukee

In the sweltering heat of a Milwaukee summer evening, a fiery gathering of labor activists convened in the Auditorium on Sunday night, May 25, 1919. The meeting, organized by the Federated Trades council, brought together over a thousand workers, women, and men, to voice their discontent with the oppressive conditions they faced. Their goal: to free Tom Mooney, a labor leader imprisoned for his activism, and to demand the repeal of the Espionage Law, which had been used to silence dissenting voices.