Lawrence History Center

This Sunday marks the 100 year anniversary of the death of Anna LoPizzo. Anna was killed on January 29, 1912, on the corner of Union and Garden Streets. Her death occurred when a shot was fired in a crowd of scuffling strikers and police. LoPizzo, a bystander, was struck in the chest by the bullet and died. Strikers claimed the shot came from police and police accused the strikers. To this day the incident is a mystery (more information available at the online Bread and Roses Centennial Exhibit at http://exhibit.breadandrosescentennial.org/node/63).

To remember her, we invite you to join us this Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 10:00 AM at Lawrence History Center, 6 Essex Street, Lawrence, MA 01840. We will be walking a short distance to the site of her death - leaving flowers, lighting candles, saying a few words, and leaving behind a memorial sign with information on what happened at the site 100 years prior.

For more information, please contact us at 978-686-9230. We hope to see you on Sunday!

The MA Society of Genealogists~Merrimack Valley Chapter invites you to attend a discussion with Writer/Director Lorre Fritchy on Saturday, January 28th at 10:00am. Lorre will give us a behind the scenes glimpse into the making of Millies, a feature film about a bankrupt, modern-day mill owner visited by mill girls from 1912 when they discover her future threatens their historic past... For more information click here.

“Short pay! All out!” The Great Lawrence Strike of 1912 is now open on the 6th floor of the Everett Mill, 15 Union Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Exhibit Hours:
Thursday through Saturday
11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
and by appointment by calling the Lawrence History Center at 978-686-9230.

The exhibit is free and open to the public and is fully accessible at the rear entrance to the Everett Mill.

*******************

“Susan, there are over 200 students downstairs waiting to get into the freight elevator,“ whispered LHC Board President, Pamela Yameen, to LHC Executive Director, Susan Grabski on the snowy morning of Thursday, January, 12, 2012. And so began the opening of the bilingual exhibit, “Short pay! All out!" The Great Lawrence Strike of 1912, Bread & Roses Centennial.

100 years to the day after the Great Lawrence Strike of 1912 began, in the place where the strike began, the Lawrence History Center welcomed roughly nearly 500 guests into its 3,000 square foot exhibit space for the exhibit opening and to launch the year long, city wide calendar of events to commemorate the Centennial of the Bread & Roses Strike of 1912.

On behalf of the LHC Board of Directors, Staff, and Volunteers, LHC Director, Susan Grabski, welcomed guests and thanked supporters of and contributors to the development of "Short pay! All Out!"

Grabski then introduced a speaking program that included Marianne Paley Nadel (Everett Mills), Congresswoman Niki Tsongas (Massachusetts’ Fifth Congressional District), State Senator Barry Finegold (Massachusetts’ Second Essex and Middlesex District), Steven Tolman (President, Massachusetts AFL-CIO), Jacqueline Cooke (Regional Administrator, Women's Bureau , U.S. Department of Labor), Rocío Sáenz (President, SEIU Local 615), and Professor Robert Forrant (Chair, Bread & Roses Centennial Committee).

To view excerpts of the speeches, skillfully filmed by Lorre Fritchy of MasterPeace Productions, please visit the Lawrence History Center's YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/lawrencehistory

The morning events of January 12, 2012, despite gloomy weather in the forecast, will still take place at the following times and locations to commemorate the Centennial of the Bread and Roses Strike of 1912:

9:00 AM - At the Everett Mill (15 Union St. Lawrence, MA), for the kickoff of the Bread & Roses Centennial will begin with a brief reenactment and a procession led by a flag carrier to Lawrence City Hall.

9:15 AM - At City Hall, a Mayoral proclamation will be read, the City Hall bell will be rung, the flag will be raised, and the Lawrence High School Girl's Ensemble will sing "The Internationale".

10:00 AM - At the Everett Mill (6th floor), the Lawrence History Center will hold a Ribbon Cutting and Commemoration for the Exhibit, "Short Pay! All Out!" The Great Lawrence Strike of 1912. Click here to view the Event Program (246.73 KB).

Also opening on January 12, 2012, is the Bread and Roses Centennial Exhibit Online! If you are unable to join us in Lawrence, we hope that you will spend some time viewing this informative and visually rich web site!

January 1, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Susan Grabski, Director, Lawrence History Center, 978-686-9230

Lawrence History Center to open exhibit, "Short pay! All out! The Great Lawrence Strike of 1912," on January 12, 2012

LAWRENCE—The Lawrence History Center will open a bilingual exhibit, "Short pay! All out! The Great Lawrence Strike of 1912," on January 12, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. on the sixth floor of the Everett Mill (15 Union St., Lawrence, MA) to commemorate the Centennial of the Bread and Roses Strike. This event will be free and open to the public. An online exhibit will also be unveiled.

"Short pay! All out!" will engage visitors in the story of the textile strike through the use of powerful imagery, quotes from the Lawrence History Center oral history archive, objects and documents, video, and a stairwell sound installation that will recreate the sounds of the mills—the crowd noises, machinery, and the incredible multi-cultural energy of the 1912 Strike. The exhibit will weave together important themes—What happened?, Who makes a community?, What makes a community?, Why strike?, What next?, and How do we remember?—and visitors will have the opportunity to contribute their own reflections, photographs, artwork, and writing to this space, concluding their visit by connecting with a powerful community of memory and continuing action.

"In a democracy, the highest office is the office of citizen."
-- Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter

The Lawrence History Center is honored to announce that a member of our LHC family is now a citizen of the United States of America!

On November 30, 2011, Ecuadorian born Whimpper Barahona, a member of our Board of Directors and dedicated teacher at Lawrence High School, took the Oath of Allegiance during the U.S. Naturalization Ceremony at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell. Standing alongside hundreds of other immigrants representing 91 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe, Whimpper chose this country.

The Naturalization Ceremony itself was both moving and powerful. An enormous American Flag provided a fitting backdrop for the program. As the names of all 91 countries were read, the audience was asked to hold its applause until the end.

Have you uncovered something so fascinating during your research that you are dying to share with others? Are you interested in hearing what other genealogists have discovered while exploring their family's history? If so, we'd like to invite you to join the MA Society of Genealogists~Merrimack Valley Chapter at LHC on Saturday, December 17 at 10:00am for a round table discussion on surprising genealogical finds. For more information click here.

The Lawrence History Center recently received a donation from Brian Mahoney consisting of the first four volumes of the Joseph Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti Trial Transcripts. These two IWW men were charged as accomplices to murder for the death of Anna LoPizzo during the 1912 strike. LoPizzo was a 34 year old Italian immigrant killed by a stray bullet during an encounter between strikers and police.

How did these wonderful materials come to be donated to the Lawrence History Center? JPS Mahoney was the attorney who represented Ettor in 1912. Because Ettor was acquitted, the transcripts were not kept on file and might have been lost and likely would have been tossed out (per policy of the time). However, JPS realized the importance of the documents and saved them from destruction. The transcripts were passed down from father to son until they came to Brian Mahoney. Brian chose to give the materials to the Lawrence History Center due to the influence of Mary Armitage, a former oral historian at the Lawrence History Center. She had been encouraging the family to donate the materials to the Lawrence History Center for years, and when they came to Brian he decided to do just that.

These are materials that have been missing for quite some time, and the Lawrence History Center is very grateful to Brian Mahoney for donating them to us. However, the mystery of these materials has not been entirely solved. Some individuals have indicated that there may be five or six volumes of trial transcripts. If you have any knowledge of where the last two volumes are or wish to donate them, please contact Jennifer Williams at jenn@lawrencehistory.org or 978-686-9230.