Today in Labor History February 21, 1937: The League of Nations banned foreign nationals from volunteering in the Spanish Civil War. Nevertheless, thousands from Britain, the U.S. and other countries came to Spain and joined the Republicans in the fight against Franco and fascism. Altogether, over 59,000 international volunteers supported the anti-fascist cause, along with over 3,000 soviet “technicians.” Roughly 500,000 soldiers and civilians died in the war. The antifascist republican forces lost, leading to a 40-year fascist dictatorship.

One of the battalions of American volunteers was named the Tom Mooney Machine-Gun Company, after the anarchist IWW member Tom Mooney, who was framed for the 1916 Preparedness Day bombing in San Francisco. It was led by Oliver Law, a communist, and the first black man known to have commanded white U.S. troops. Law was from West Texas and had worked as a stevedore. Due to his skill, Law quickly rose in the ranks of the Republican army. However, he died on July 9, 1937, as he led an attack on Mosquito Crest.

You can read more about Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #TomMooney #AbrahamLincolnBrigade #SpanishCivilWar #fascism #dictatorship #antifascism #solidarity #civilwar #antifa #civilians #franco #spain #union #republican #blackhistorymonth #IWW #anarchism #communism #tommooney #BlackMastodon

Today in Labor History February 7, 1917: A court wrongly convicted labor organizer Tom Mooney for the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing in July 1916. The governor finally granted him an unconditional pardon after 22.5 years of incarceration. 10 people died in the bombing and 40 were injured. A jury convicted two labor leaders, Thomas Mooney and Warren Billings, based on false testimony. Both were pardoned in 1939. Not surprisingly, only anarchists were suspected in the bombing. A few days after the bombing, they searched and seized materials from the offices of “The Blast,” Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman’s local paper. They also threatened to arrest Berkman.
In 1931, while they were still in prison, I. J. Golden persuaded the Provincetown Theater to produce his play, “Precedent,” about the Mooney and Billings case. Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times wrote, “By sparing the heroics and confining himself chiefly to a temperate exposition of his case [Golden] has made “Precedent” the most engrossing political drama since the Sacco-Vanzetti play entitled Gods of the Lightening… Friends of Tom Mooney will rejoice to have his case told so crisply and vividly.”

You can read my full bio of Tom Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#LaborHistory #workingclass #bombing #sanfrancisco #TomMooney #anarchism #prison #IWW #wrongfulconviction #EmmaGoldman #play #playwright #books @bookstadon

Today in Labor History January 7, 1939: The authorities finally freed Tom Mooney, a labor activist who they wrongly convicted of murder in the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing in July 1916, along with fellow labor organizer Warren Billings. They had been convicted based on the false testimony of Martin Swanson, a detective with a long history of interfering in San Francisco strikes. On this day in 1939, the governor granted Mooney an unconditional pardon after 22.5 years of incarceration. As a result of the bombing, 10 people died and 40 were injured. Not surprisingly, only anarchists were suspected in the bombing. A few days after the bombing, they searched and seized materials from the offices of “The Blast,” Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman’s local paper. Mooney and Billings were also members of the IWW.

You can read my full article on Tom Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #TomMooney #anarchism #SanFrancisco #bombing #prison #IWW #EmmaGoldman #AlexanderBerkman #wwi

Today in Labor History October 17, 1939: Warren Billings, labor activist, and falsely imprisoned for the 1016 San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing, was finally released from Folsom Prison. As a result of the bombing, 10 people died and 40 were injured. Not surprisingly, only anarchists were suspected in the bombing. Tom Mooney and Warren Billings were both anarchists, and members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). A few days after the bombing, they searched and seized materials from the offices of “The Blast,” Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman’s local paper. Billings and his codefendant Tom Mooney were wrongly convicted. They served 23 years in prison and were released in 1939. Governor Edmund G. Brown pardoned them in 1961. During the Spanish war against fascism (AKA the Spanish Civil War), many Americans volunteered to join the antifascist cause as part of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades. One of the battalions was named the Tom Mooney Machine-Gun Company. It was led by Oliver Law, a communist, and the first black man known to have commanded white U.S. troops.

Read my full article on Billings and Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #prison #anarchism #tommooney #warrenbillings #sanfrancisco #emmagoldman #alexanderberkman #IWW #fascism #antifa #antifascism

Today in Labor History September 11, 1916: The trial of labor activist Warren Billings began in San Francisco on trumped up charges stemming from the San Francisco Preparedness Day parade bombing on July 22. As a result of the bombing, 10 people died and 40 were injured. Not surprisingly, only anarchists were suspected in the bombing. A few days after the bombing, they searched and seized materials from the offices of “The Blast,” Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman’s local paper. Billings and his codefendant Tom Mooney were wrongly convicted. They served 23 years in prison and were released in 1939. Governor Edmund G. Brown pardoned them in 1961.

Tom Mooney and Warren Billings were both anarchists, and members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). As a young man in San Francisco, Tom Mooney published The Revolt, a socialist newspaper. He was tried and acquitted three times for transporting explosives during the Pacific Gas & Electric strike in 1913. Consequently, the cops already believed he was a bomber, prior to the Preparedness Day parade.

Read my full article on Billings and Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #bombing #prison #anarchism #tommooney #warrenbillings #sanfrancisco #IWW

Today in Labor History August 12, 1936: The First International Brigades arrived in Spain to fight against Franco. Organized by the Communist International, between 40,000 and 60,000 men and women from around the world fought on the Republican side against the fascists. 10,000 of them died. Thousands more international activists joined anti-Stalinist forces, like the socialist POUM, or anarchist groups, like the FAI, CNT and the Durruti Column. Americans defied federal law to participate in the International Brigade, as members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Famous Lincoln participants included Avant Garde composer Conlon Nancarrow, labor organizer Delmer Berg, scifi author Theodore Cogswell, novelist William Herrick. The Tom Mooney Company, named for San Francisco labor organizer, Tom Mooney, who was wrongly imprisoned for the WWI Preparedness Day bombing, was commanded by African American labor organizer Oliver Law, the first African-American to command an integrated American military unit. Many African-Americans joined the anti-franco forces. Langston Hughes, who was writing for the Baltimore Afro-American, said: "Give Franco a hood, and he would be a member of the Ku Klux Klan." There was also a George Washington Battlian, and a John Brown battery. Once the U.S. entered World War II, the FBI recommended that none of the veterans of the Spanish war against fascism be given any promotions within the U.S. military, to prevent the “rise of communists” in their ranks. The House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisted all American veterans of the Spanish war.

You can read my complete article on Tom Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #lincolnbrigades #spain #fascism #antifa #antifascism #anarchism #communism #socialism #stalin #fai #cnt #durruti #tommooney #oliverlaw #union #books #author #writer #composer #Blackmastadon @bookstadon

Today in Labor History July 22, 1916: Someone set off a bomb during the pro-war “Preparedness Day” parade in San Francisco. As a result, 10 people died and 40 were injured. A jury convicted two labor leaders, Thomas Mooney and Warren Billings, based on false testimony. Both were pardoned in 1939. Billings and Mooney were both anarchists and members of the IWW. Not surprisingly, only anarchists were suspected in the bombing. A few days after the bombing, they searched and seized materials from the offices of “The Blast,” Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman’s local San Francisco paper. They also threatened to arrest Berkman.

In 1937, Mooney filed a writ of habeas corpus, providing evidence that his conviction was based on perjured testimony and evidence tampering. Among this evidence was a photograph of him in front of a large, ornate clock, on Market Street, clearly showing the time of the bombing and that he could not have been at the bombing site when it occurred. The Alibi Clock was later moved to downtown Vallejo, twenty-five miles to the northeast of San Francisco. Alibi Bookshop, in Vallejo, is named after this clock. On May 11, 2024, I did a reading there from my working-class historical novel, Anywhere But Schuylkill, during the Book Release Party for Roberta Tracy’s, Zig Zag Woman. Her novel takes place at the time of the Los Angeles Times bombing, in 1910, when two other labor leaders, the McNamara brothers, were framed.

In 1931, while they were still in prison, I. J. Golden persuaded the Provincetown Theater to produce his play, “Precedent,” about the Mooney and Billings case. Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times wrote, "By sparing the heroics and confining himself chiefly to a temperate exposition of his case [Golden] has made “Precedent” the most engrossing political drama since the Sacco-Vanzetti play entitled Gods of the Lightening... Friends of Tom Mooney will rejoice to have his case told so crisply and vividly."

You can read my complete article on Mooney and Billings here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

You can get Anywhere But Schuylkill here:
https://www.keplers.com/
https://www.greenapplebooks.com/

Or send me $25 via Venmo (@Michael-Dunn-565) and your mailing address, and I will send you a signed copy!
And purchase Zigzag Woman here:
https://www.powells.com/book/zig-zag-woman-9781962465267

#workingclass #LaborHistory #warrenbillings #tommooney #sanfrancisco #bombing #anarchism #union #IWW #labor #alexanderberkman #prison #emmagoldman #playwright #theater #books #writer #author #historicalfiction #novel #author #anywherebutschuylkill #zigzagwoman @bookstadon

Today in Labor History May 17, 1917: The government stayed the execution of Tom Mooney while he appealed his case. Mooney ultimately spent 22 years in prison for the San Francisco Preparedness Day Parade bombing in 1916, a crime he did not commit. Mooney, along with codefendant Warren Billings, were members of the IWW and were railroaded because of their union and anarchist affiliations. The bomb exploded at the foot of Market Street, killing ten and wounding forty. Billings had heard rumors that agents provocateurs might try to blacken the labor movement by disrupting the pro-war parade. He tried to warn his comrades.

Mooney’s father had been in the Knights of Labor, a forerunner of the IWW. He had been beaten so badly during one strike, that his comrades thought he was dead. He ultimately died of silicosis from mining at the age of 36, when Tom was only ten. In San Francisco, Tom Mooney published The Revolt, a socialist newspaper. He was tried and acquitted three times for transporting explosives during the Pacific Gas & Electric strike in 1913.

Mooney filed a writ of habeas corpus in 1937, providing evidence that his conviction was based on perjured testimony and evidence tampering. Among this evidence was a photograph of him in front of a large, ornate clock, on Market Street, clearly showing the time of the bombing and that he could not have been at the bombing site when it occurred. The Alibi Clock was later moved to downtown Vallejo, twenty-five miles to the northeast of San Francisco. A bookstore in Vallejo is named after this clock. He was finally pardoned in 1939. Upon his release, he marched in a huge parade down market street. Cops and leaders of the mainstream unions were all forbidden from participating. An honor guard of longshoremen accompanied him carrying their hooks. His case helped establish that convictions based on false evidence violate people’s right to due process.

The accompanying photo shows Oliver Law, and the Tom Mooney Machine Gun Company, part of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades, who fought in the Spanish war against fascism (AKA the Spanish Civil War). Oliver Law was a communist, and the first black man known to have commanded white U.S. troops.

Read my complete article on Mooney and Billings here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #IWW #TomMooney #WarrenBillings #bombing #prison #socialism #execution #union #anarchism #AbrahamLincolnBrigades #fascism #antifascism #oliverlaw #spain #BlackMastadon

Today in Labor History February 21, 1937: The League of Nations banned foreign nationals from volunteering in the Spanish Civil War. Nevertheless, thousands from Britain, the U.S. and other countries came to Spain and joined the Republicans in the fight against Franco and fascism. Altogether, over 59,000 international volunteers supported the anti-fascist cause, along with over 3,000 soviet “technicians.” Roughly 500,000 soldiers and civilians died in the war. The antifascist republican forces lost, leading to a 40-year fascist dictatorship.

One of the battalions of American volunteers was named the Tom Mooney Machine-Gun Company, after the anarchist IWW member Tom Mooney, who was framed for the 1916 Preparedness Day bombing in San Francisco. It was led by Oliver Law, a communist, and the first black man known to have commanded white U.S. troops. Law was from West Texas and had worked as a stevedore. Due to his skill, Law quickly rose in the ranks of the Republican army. However, he died on July 9, 1937, as he led an attack on Mosquito Crest.

You can read more about Mooney here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/05/19/tom-mooney-and-warren-billings/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #TomMooney #AbrahamLincolnBrigade #SpanishCivilWar #fascism #dictatorship #antifascism #solidarity #civilwar #antifa #civilians #franco #spain #union #republican #blackhistorymonth #IWW #anarchism #communism #tommooney