"Strikers Shot by Troops"

“Strikers Shot by Troops”
(Pullman Company Strike, Chicago)
New York Times, July 8, 1894,
Vol XLIII, no 13,337
Serials and Government Publications Division
(134.6)
[Digital ID# at0134_6]

In the 1880s George Pullman built the town of Pullman near Chicago to manufacture his famous railway sleeping cars. All buildings, homes, and stores in the town were owned and rented to the workers. By 1894, the Pullman Company had declining sales and lay off hundreds of workers, and reduced the salaries of others. On May 7, the workers asked for lower rent and were flatly refused. The American Railway Union was formed and led by Eugene V. Debs. By June 26, railroad workers around the country began to strike. On July 3, President Grover Cleveland, declares striking a federal crime and orders federal troops to forcibly disperse the striking works. On July 7, troops, standing face to face with strikers, open fire killing thirty-four workers. By August 3, the strike was declared over by police, and Debs and others were imprisoned. Six days later, the U.S. Congress makes Labor Day a National Holiday.