as a public service by america's cable television companies. brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. >> on history this college professor it jeffrey johnson talks about the 1960 bombing that killed 10 and wounded 40. the bombing took place on what was called preparedness day. it was organized to keep vigilant -- people vigilant in case we entered world war i. his classes about 50 minutes. >> good morning and thanks for coming. i appreciate you all being here on a drizzly day of propolis college.- providence

i wanted to share a moment of american history that, for me, is one of the most importance meanings of the late 20th century. it happens to be a subject of my new book and i have been living and breathing in this. and moment. i think it is very significant for 1916, and for the nation, as i will try to make clear. i will start by setting up the context of san francisco in 1960. and then i will spend time in three parts, talking about why it's significant, and why it is important to american history. let's may begin by framing this story about this 1960 moment. many of you have probably seen this character before. mark twain, a famous playwrights.

he met had many quips during his life and one of them was the coldest winter that ice ever spent was a summer in san francisco. this was one of his jokes. july 1916, the air was pretty mild, the summer weather had turned very fair and pleasant. the local weather forecasters predicted only a light wind for july 22 1916. it settled into a very pleasant summer. there was excitement around the city. for lots of reasons, but san francisco was a far cry from a city that had been, with the famous san francisco earthquake and decade earlier. the city had rebuilt itself since 1906 in the previous decade. so much so that the city had had

in 1915 as ar celebration of his revitalized city. there were lots of other things happening in the city. you can see this gentleman, charles evans hughes. he was a judge that was also running for president at the time. he promised republican party loyalists that he would win by an overwhelming majority. his words. if you are not heard of president hughes, that is probably because he didn't win by an overwhelming majority. he visited the city and the summer as is campaign. the new us laska -- the new announced aing line new service from san francisco to new york. was a city that had arrived, had to these famous

moments happening. if you took a quick glance at 1916, itisco, and seemed like a city that was revitalized and on the scene. the economy was strong, the city had all sorts of previous histories as a labor city that had a little bit affirmance, unrest, except, by this point, this is the -- the city seemed that relative peace as the rest of the war world was at war. let's talk about this saturday in 1916. there is a young mother of oakland california, and she made her way across the bay to san francisco, that today and that's morning. she took the journey with her husband lloyd and her two young children, virginia, age four, and billy, h2. home to go tor san francisco bay in a trip that

was about the children. franciscogoing to san so that they can marvel in the spectacle of the city's preparedness day parade. point, as many of you know, by 1914 in europe, or had been raging and world war i was underway. the united states was involved in the war and started to have parade like this is a show of patriotism, and maybe for the possibility of entering the war. newspaper accounts for the parade, when they traveled downtown estimated about 50,000 people would show up and witness this parade. including the wymore family. it seemed to symbolize the harmonious moment of patriotism in san francisco, perhaps. people could also buy a long market street, a famous street

in downtown san francisco. buy at local markets and shops, flags, buttons, banners, and these kinds of things to demonstrate their patriotism. as people prepared about all of these things, the parade was going to go up market street and then it would turn west on to another street. there was anticipation about the parade in san francisco. it is no wonder that the family went downtown. when the parade began, and when it started, here's what the shot -- here's a shot of what the parade looked like. the official count said there was 51,319 people in attendance to see the prey. this patriotic, world war i parade. 52 bands paraded.

groups, soldiers, national guard, many veterans war, nursesnish groups, boy scouts, you name it. curiously, no labor groups. folks,ns, working-class and they purposefully chose to boycott the event. one oregon newspaper called this parade the greatest demonstration in support of a national movement that the west had ever seen. this was a huge outpouring for the moment. once in the city, the family grabbed the spot on market street. by this point, they are jammed shoulder to shoulder with these 50,000 plus onlookers. what happened next, after 2 p.m., about a half an hour into the prey. would deem one

of the most pathetic results of the explosion. as it she held billy up and his arms -- her arms. -- her arms, a bomb exploded. it took off both of her legs. as young, 26 are old mother. helpons dredges rebel to her but the wounds proved fatal. days -- a dazed from the shock, her husband stumbled away very, kind of upset from all this. the two children miraculously survived the attack. it was a festive and sunny day that had turned inexplicably dark. killlast ultimately will 10 parade goers that today, including this is one more. winemore. ms.

underappreciated and critical point in american history. on the whole, it's marked 30 years of trouble between capital and labor. it also showed how the nation might respond to such an unsettling event. particularly how a nation might deal with discontented labor, critics of the war, immigrants in the country. just how the u.s. might handle a high point of wartime dissent and division. for was a decisive event one summer, and perhaps longer, that turned the nation's attention to san francisco as we teach her to the edge of war. -- tettered to the edge of war.

this gives us some things to think about. perhaps how war and anti-radicalism seem to intertwine during a time of dissent. talk about why this matters, really, in three parts. i want to take this and make sense of it. i will give you a few reasons or frameworks for how i will talk about this. why this is so important, is that it revealed a division between labor and capital. here, a reaction to the government. ridiculously during world war i area the objections the war. secondly, the aftermath of the

parade and bombing revealed some serious and a stark anti-immigrant attitudes. sometimes they would be rolled into anti-radical attitudes as well. war, theg a time of nation had to grapple with radicalism and that segment of the population. you will see, it also revealed and uncovered a problematic criminal justice situation. people weres many nervous and fearful of radicalism gone awry in this country. let me take up that first point and talk about the relationship doing capital and labor and the reaction to the government and criticism of ward as the patriotism, superficially, seems to take root. san francisco was in interesting labor city.

this is more than a decade before the bombing. these are dockworkers. francisco, in many ways, replicated or paralleled the way that labor functioned in a country at the time. if you are worker in the early 20th century, you could expect to work long days, low wages, and often in dangerous conditions. depending on your occupation. this was a time to bring greater rights, fairer wages, safer working conditions, all of those things to workers. san francisco was a part of that. it was notoriously a closed shop down. -- town. you had to be a member of the union, as a condition of employment. lots of folks hopes for the opposite. they would hope that san francisco would be an open shop town.

unions were important to san francisco, no question about it. in fact, labor had flexed its muscles a number of times in san francisco. there were a number of strikes, one around railroads, another one around the gas coming -- gas company in 1913. certainly, this bombing and this connection to labor seems to be one that was apparent. how,rities would wonder but it certainly mattered in some ways, for sure. this dastardly act, as the press called it, many people started expect radical laborers. this was part of the longer american history since chicago in the 1880's, of this tenuous relationship.

and these fight in san francisco had played out in newspapers, , and sometimes, the streets. seemed, particularly because of capital and business interests, at odds. the other thing i will tell you about san francisco in 1916, and this image maybe doesn't have a lot to do with it because we don't have a lot of images of the groups. you should also know, there was a very vibrant and very alive and artist community in san francisco. community in san francisco. they were holding meetings, advertising in newspapers, and you can come to some of their meetings. newspapers, and they

were often high profile groups in san francisco. nta.was called volo people knew about it. we wouldn't identify its publicly now, but this is very public at the time. you have this and artist element as well. you have maybe conceptions about anarchism as bomb throws and so on. these were people from days of the french revolution, very interested in concerned -- and concerned with governments that had too much power. it was an ideology reacting to that. there were certain anarchists thinking that if you had one specific attack, it's could

prove a spark against the state, inspire other radicals, and so on. moment fornd of a these deeds, perhaps. what i'm talking about during labor in the war, you should know world war i is happening. it breaks out in 1914. the united states doesn't get involved until 1917. it was a war that had been long and bloody in europe. notunited states is participated in it. . is possible that the united states might get drawn into the war. we had the attitude that we

should be ready for war. we needed a bigger army and a better equipped one just in case. there were lots of national figures that led the fight for preparedness area this was a prepaidpreparedness day -- parade. wilson, former secretaries of war, former generals, they were saying we are behind militarily and they said if we get dragged into the war, we better be prepared. it catches on for sure. parades like this one, was a phenomena that happened all over. having a parade that might demonstrate that communities him -- that'sommunities

might show the communities preparedness. you can to the capital in the far distance there. you can make some sense of that. these happened all over, particularly in the center of 1916. seattle has a preparedness day biggest one up to this point was in washington dc. you can see it's playing out here. it happened on june 14, 1916. a little over a month before the one in san francisco. estimated parade of about 60,000 men, women, and children. you can get a sense of this displayed.being the president, by his order, close all of the federal offices that today so folks could

attend. in the parade, you had members of congress, women's suffrage advocates marching, boy scouts, you had all kinds of dignitaries participating. again, the president at the time hope to this would happen. parade, was of the president woodrow wilson. this was him after he had led the parade. he then goes to the viewing stand so the perea can come by. he marched in front of the parade. he had a big straw hat on, and american flag over his shoulder, and everybody was cheering in the crowd. eventually, he made his way to this grand stand to review the parade at the end. there was a bunch of handlers who released several hundred torier pigeons into the air send the message of preparedness all over the capital. they probably sent a lot more over the capital to, but these as ans were sent out

display of patriotism, and so on. so, preparedness, is alive and well. is looming and how the united states might handle that is interesting. preparedness cycle is the fact that it wasn't a unanimous amount of support. not everybody was on board. there was great criticism about world war i from lots of different forces. as you might imagine, criticism that were people among the labor class, working-class americans, and also people on the american left at this time. politically left. for lots of reasons. if you read any marks for your classes, you know that all wars are capitalists wars. and people running

the war operations benefits. a critic at the time said that war is the health of the state. so they benefits. not the american workers who would be doing the fighting. the real issue about the war was certainly surrounding whether the u.s. should get involved with the war but also conscription. we didn't have a draft in the united states. there was a selective service .ct those trying to get debated remember, our army is woefully that tod, those of you know, when you turn 18 you get selective service and you have to register for the draft. if you don't, it is a crime. we begin to see the process here, and many critics were outspoken. americans.ge

-- throughout the united states, there was a healthy dissent about war, u.s. involvement, and so on. san francisco was no different. on july 20, at sign the rink, therenk -- were war critics that showed up theirs venue to express discontent about the possibilities of war. i will give you another example, on the night of the bombing, it didn't happen, but am a goldman who is a famous -- that is a name who might mean something to some of you. who was an amazing -- an there and she was to

give a lecture. for $.25, you could hear this radical giving an address. the title of her talk, doesn't mince any words. preparedness, the road to universal slaughter. it's making very clear what she thinks about preparedness and the possibility of what the draft and conscription would mean. universal slaughter. goldman was in town during the attack. let me share with you as well, one of the ominous warnings. before the bombing, and the few days before, the newspaper editors in san francisco got an ominous letter. the police chief did as well. thist to read to you warning letter that was sent to the editors. i think it is an important message.

this inew days to get the mail at the local newspaper offices before the bombing. editors, our protests have been in vain in regards to this preparedness propaganda. we will use a little direct action on the 22nd. it'll echo around the earth and show frisco knows how. and that militarism can't be forced onto us and our children without a violent protest. things are going to happen that will show we will go to any extreme to preserve what's a little democracy we still have. we don't take it as a joke and you shouldn't. you should be truly awakened. we only send warnings to those who are wise but forced to march to hold their jobs. if you read that statement. and you think about it, it is an

ominous warning. it is playing on the fact that these are people shouting for war patriotically, but at the end of the day, these are not the people that will do the fighting. nobody knows where this all minute warning -- nobody knows what is ominous warning comes from. , or someonee this associated with that, held up their end of the bargain. they did the deed as we know. that is the first part, i think. its matters in terms of world war i, and the dissent, and capital, and labor. if you look at that and listened carefully, it talks about the working classes. it speaks to the divide. let me talk second for a moment about how this mattered in terms of anti-immigrants especially, attitudes.bor

after the bombing, the manhunt is underway. it's revealed a couple things. the powers that be in the city or interested in striking a blow at radical labor. cracking down on labor. using this as an opportunity against the closed shop for example. and against elements that have been strong the city. the other thing, and i will give you a couple examples, is that there was a very much a vibrant anti-immigrant value. those things seem to go hand in hand. the condemnation came very quickly from the press. this is a dastardly act, as we know. -- haroldgeles herod called it a diabolical crime. the authorities acted quickly

claiming they would find, and these are their words, the swarthy man responsible. it had these undertones about who might have been responsible for this. they started to focus for the perpetrator on what they called lodging analysis. looking at places where immigrant workers might have moved through, sometimes quickly, san francisco. if you listen to that, clearly, whoever committed this was someone who is swarthy, living in these transient, often immigrants, housing's. often the poorer parts of the city. it was clearly targeted at a particular community. residents were told to remain waslant as the manhunt underway. a very agreeable press continue to talk in those terms and said theauthorities would get

fanatic demon responsible for this is what they said. almost immediately, lane fell on radicals. it was declared that all agitators should be driven from the city. -- paper didn't specify the didn't hesitate to specify the source of the attack. they said, some of these people are responsible for some of these dastardly acts. immigrantone finish who got arrested by the police. he was at a sailors of boardinghouse that he lived in. all he could do, according to the newspaper, is exclaimed, i didn't do it, i didn't do it. and he said it over and over again. he said in the station trembling , and the newspapers, when he

was arrested and before, had explicitly said that whoever committed the crime clearly, this was "the act of some foreigner." someoneno surprise that like joseph would be nabbed and arrested and blamed. thankfully, for him he was very nervous and scared and the police admitted they had no connections between him and the bombing and they let him go. it spoke to the attitude. also implicated, and i will mention this quickly, or two other people in san francisco at the time of the attack. alexander berkman, if that means anything to you, he had tried to assassinate henry clay frick, a famous pittsburgh steel mogul in the 1890's. he went to jail for over a decade. andas very proud of this

labeled it first terrorist act in american history. he did not kill him, but he tried. he stepped him. alexander berkman was living in san francisco. he is an immigrant, he is jewish, he is a radical, he is an anarchist. he is very much in line with these kinds of attitudes. he also publishes, and i think you'll catch the subtlety of the masthead, he publishes a blast." r called "the with him was his friend and lover, anna goldman. around san francisco at the time, as well. they were in cahoots. to give you an example of the anti-immigrant attitudes of them both, they were described as"

the kind of people who pop up at any radical movement that promises a financial return." newspapers also spoke of their "money grabbing proclivities." this was a stereotype of jewish people, anti-semitic stuff for sure. anti-immigrant force is important. let me finish with my third idea about why this matters. that is the anti-radicalism in this climate, the red scare in this broader miscarriage of justice, which i think you will find interesting. the district attorney was a guy by the name of charles speaker -- spikert. he had his him political ambitions. he moved quickly and he said "in the interest of justice," so he

was interested in making quick arrests. he is doing this in less than scrupulous ways, without warrants to bring someone to justice. the district attorney wanted to strike a blow against radical labor and this was part of his mission. he was in cahoots with another guy called martin swanson, a former pinkerton detective. or kind ofons like, before we had large bureaus of investigation, they were a kind of auxiliary hired police force. you know the story, the molly maguires? you know the pinkerton speared -- pinkertons. so he has brought in by the district attorney and the district attorney said, i need a

list of all of the labor agitators in town on july 22, the day of the bombing. that will be our list. swanson draws up a list of all the people who had even him trouble in the past and of the list, there were five people who work former labor organizers or still labor organizers or deemed radicals who were in town on july 22. that is who they arrested. the group is as pictured here. they are brought into the police station, they are identified as the five suspects, and again, brought in purely because of oft this -- that list swanson's. warren -- edward nolan was very

young, he was an active union guy. a labor organizer. israel weinberg on the far left. he was involved in earlier strikes for car drivers and so on. the bus operators it union. these were all young and active labor organizers. interest were the people in the center, tom mooney and rina mooney. particularly tom. he was 33. noted radical agitator in san francisco and had been involved in a number of strikes. lots of organizing and previous altercations and so on. he had been a socialist, it

depends on how you might define that. attraveled with eugene debs one point, the socialist candidate for president. mooney was an active labor organizer and certainly on the political left. he catches the eye of the rena,ities and his wife, she spent her days as a music teacher. she had a studio in san francisco. the authorities would call it a den, which makes it seem ominous, but she had a using studio. mooney and his wife, but especially mooney, attract the attention of the authorities. when they were arrested, they were held in solitary confinement. they were not allowed to talk to family, friends or legal counsel.

assistant da told a local reporter that the suspects "ought to be hung without ceremony." in other words, let's do this quickly and have a fast conviction. on august 2, they were jointly charged with murder. this became an interesting part of the legal story, but the authorities considered them all part of the same conspiracy. when one was tried, evidence would be used against the other one. it was very complex and probably a little unfair. will tell you, as the investigation got underway, there was problematic police work. souvenire macabre hunters. their were projectiles, they found a woman's watch hundreds of yards away. it was a powerful bomb.

souvenir hunters took this stuff. that matters for the police work. the other problem with the police work complicating things, you can see the blast here, is the authorities came and they washed away all the dust and soot, which of course for police work is also a little bit of a problem in terms of finding valuable evidence and so on. the story of this, and the trials that began in 1916 and 1970 are a very long and complex story i could talk about more, but you should know that during the course of these legal proceedings, and it is well documented, it is not hard to documentedere were photographs, perjured testimony, meaning people lied under oath, and all kinds of incriminating evidence to the prosecutors' cas

e. bedy and billings will both convicted. 1916,gs in december of and moody in the following february. 1916 in 1917, these guys go to jail. they are not going to have a very sympathetic public. this is in the age of the red scare. the attorney general gets his front porch blown up by a bomb. radicals are now hunted in the united states viewed we get the aspen on -- united states. we get the espionage act. you could not mail socialist and other critical pieces of writing and newspapers and those kinds of things. the socialist review and things like that stopped being males. mailed. the government cracked down on all that stuff by 1970 or 1918.

there is a long series of appeals. jail in 1916 and 1970. the legal fight lasts over 20 years. a series of governors review the case each time they come into office and each time, they all realize it is a political hot potato and they refuse to give mooney a new trial and refuse to exonerate him, to give him a pardon. president wilson, woodrow wilson even mission the special organization to investigate the case and come to some conclusions. their conclusions were basically that it had been funny business with the trial with some of the photos and testimony, and since 1917, it came out more and more, more revelations about so-and-so had told this story on the stand

that was not true or this happened with evidence that was not true. there started being more and more revelations. in the meantime, mooney became a cause celebre. he became a public figure. made was a continual fight on his behalf for his exoneration. remember, this is a process that lasts over 20 years. it was not until the morning hours of a january 7, 1939. let me say that again, january 7, 1939. they went to jail in 1916 and 1917. , isey, now 56 years old visited by the governor and mooney is taken to sacramento. the new governor, a guy called colbert olson.

it was broadcast on national radio and the governor says, i have signed and a hand to you this unconditional pardon. the crowd ring out. -- rang out. many understood it was a fight for justice and he was smiling. he framed it in the context of decay in the world and he was thinking about what was happening in germany at the time and how much justice really matter. to put this again in perspective, this is mooney when he gets out of jail. and that was when he went. these are powerful photos. this. finish with i think that we know this is a gross misappropriation of justice. it is declare that this was a wrongful conviction -- it is clear that this was a wrongful conviction. mooney probably had nothing to do with it.

some have made inferences about the whodunit question, who did the bombing? about, ais bandied famous san francisco anarchist. he will later little church in the 1920's. -- he will later blow up a church in the 1920's. but that has been squashed as well. there was an anarchist very , an italiane time who would come to the united states and had all kinds of followers. he remained very coin even in his last -- very coy in his last days. he was questioned in boston harbor before he left. he was asked if he knew everything -- knew anything, and deniedined very coy and mooney's guilt. there were a couple of books that came out, and this is an

image of the parade as we think of the whodunit question. there were a couple of books and the 1960's, one by richard frost and the other by curt gentry. they wrote about the german sabotage their he. germans weres, the going to blow up munitions and these kinds of things, and that it was a broader plot of the germans to create disorder in the united states. it is another theory, it is attractive for some folks. is another book about alexander that theyd goldman, somehow had a role in this or anarchistlikely, the group i had been talking about, they had something to do with it, but it is all speculation.

i think anyone with certainty about the perpetration is kind of eager. now that the 100 year anniversary has come and gone, the only consensus seems to be that there is not any consensus. thatnly other consensus is mooney and billings did not plant the bomb. important is not as as the broader story about why it matters. us. this event tells stands francisco bombing as i think an underappreciated moment in american history. it is a high point for american ,adicalism against haymarket something like this all the way to events in 1920. it was not the first bombing nor of it the last moment

radicalism in u.s. history. but i think it gives a lens into a broader history. i think the bombings and attacks also give us during this hearing period someng this looks into other domestic terrorism. for example, the atlanta olympics in 1996 or the boston 13.athon bombing in 20 shrouded in this or and ammigrant attitudes fear of radicalism that could have disastrous results. mentioned, one hundred years later, the anniversary has come and gone. it was this past summer. today, san francisco residents and probably even more taurus -- tourists walk past the site and

don't really take note. and why would they? there is no plaque or memorial to draw our attention. but i think it stands as one of the most important reminders of this turbulent relations between labor and radicalism in the early 20th century. . there and -- i will stop there and ask questions. you have any questions for me? what are you left wondering about? we have a few minutes. student: they really have no idea who did it? prof. johnson: i wasted -- i wish i could tell you. in the end, there are many hypotheses but no definitive answer. you could write a book about this and research this and find out who did it, but we don't

know. that probably does not surprise you. espionage and what we might consider sabotage and those kind of things. it's not like whoever was responsible, whether they were anarchists or labor folks, they were not going to telegraph that. they thought they had the five people that than they looked at the evidence and so on. they found bomb making materials and so on, but they found it was not really all making materials. nobody really knows is the short answer. other questions? student: what happened to the district attorney? prof. johnson: interesting question. he ran for office and one in california. but then there was a recall election against him and that failed. he became a prominent citizen in california. he had his own political ambitions and clearly he could

kind of serve as the candidate of business interests. and of course labor very much opposed him as a public official. he got his wish. and survived the retail -- survived the recall election. good question. student: did anything happen to the police department that arrested these suspects? prof. johnson: great question. no. police functions in such a different way then. ,here was not really a censure you got this wrong and we will fire the chief of police. a great example, this did not affect them at all. they continued their careers and ran for other offices, become judges and all these kind of things. the short answer is, no, there were not any formal -- we would think now there would be an

investigation of the police. police work functioned very differently at the time. you also have that kind of pinkerton element, which was quasi-independent. a very different time for police work. good question. these are all good questions. i think we are out of time, but i will see you all tomorrow morning and we will continue our work and we will have some presentations on friday, i think. we will talk more about the housekeeping things. thank you so much for coming. i will stick around and answer any questions you might have. thank you for coming. >> join us every saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. and midnight eastern as we join the students in college classrooms to hear lectures on topics range from the american revolution to 9/11. lectures a h