A huge crowd gathered to watch the parade. Mayor Gray, informed by panicked officials that the situation in front of city hall was “out of control,” ordered the Royal North West Mounted Police and the military onto the streets. At 2:30 pm, 54 police on horses and 36 men… Read More
During the trials of the strike leaders, the WLL campaigned for the defendants’ freedom and raised funds for their defense. Helen Armstrong, Katherine Queen, Gertrude Puttee, Lynn Flett, and a Mrs Webb held prominent roles in the WLL. Many more women, whose stories remain untold, joined them to make it… Read More
The Telegram referred to the strike as a deliberate, criminal and fantastic attempt to make a revolution. The Telegram combined its strike news with sensationalist reports on the Russian Revolution to help create a Red Scare in Winnipeg. The Telegram and other commercial newspapers declared the strike a revolution led… Read More
In 1919, it was the headquarters of the Citizens’ Committee and its newspaper, The Citizen. The Citizens’ Committee hung a large sign over the entrance declaring the building as its headquarters. On June 3, in one of the pro-strike demonstrations held in front of the building, a large group of… Read More
Its members and other political radicals filled the 2,000-seat hall to capacity. The audience was politically left wing and remarkably multicultural, with workers from Anglo, Polish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Jewish, Russian, and other cultural groups. Rousing speeches from prominent socialists including RB Russell, Dick Johns, George Armstrong, William Ivens, Fred Dixon,… Read More
Instead, mass meetings were held at nearby Victoria Park, located south of Pacific Avenue along the Red River. Victoria Park and the James Street Labor Temple were the heartbeat of the General Strike. Labour’s most crucial decisions on the strike were made at these sites. Ideals of participatory democracy permeated… Read More
Union locals rented rooms here and the building housed the offices of the Winnipeg Trades and Labor Council (WTLC). Helen Armstrong, as President in the Women’s Labor League, also had an office here. In early May in 1919, the Building Trades Council petitioned the WTLC for help in negotiations with… Read More
The Manitoba Club was an exclusive, all-male club of the Anglo-Saxon elite. Winnipeg’s most influential business and political leaders met here. The club also served as a private, informal meeting place for the Citizens’ Committee in 1919. The nearby Vaughn Street Jail held labour leaders Helen Armstrong and John… Read More
A crowd had gathered along Main Street to watch a pro-strike parade of returned soldiers. Ketchen acted immediately, sending soldiers from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, the Winnipeg Grenadiers, the Winnipeg Light Infantry and the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders to patrol the streets. The events of Bloody Saturday resulted from this… Read More
Premier Norris was reluctant to put his government between the strikers and the Citizens’ Committee, or between the federal and civic governments. After Bloody Saturday, Norris finally did meet with a delegation of strikers. He agreed to establish a Royal Commission to investigate labour conditions and the General Strike. This… Read More