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  • roig roig @lemmy.world
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    Night of Terror (1917) On this day in 1917, the "Night of Terror" began when the superintendent of the Occoquan Workhouse prison ordered forty guards to brutalize suffragists who were imprisoned...

    Night of Terror (1917)

    Wed Nov 14, 1917

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    Image: Suffrage leader Lucy Burns imprisoned in the Occoquan Workhouse, November 1917

    --- On this day in 1917 the superintendent of the Occoquan Workhouse prison ordered forty guards to brutalize suffragists, imprisoned for picketing for the right to vote in the U.S. capital.

    Before November 14th, some of the activists had initiated a hunger strike to protest the conditions of the prison, the prison doctors force-fed the women by putting tubes down their throats, causing some women to vomit.

    On the night of November 14th, prison guards beat Lucy Burns and chained her hands to the cell bars above her head for the entire night. They threw Dora Lewis into a dark cell and beat her unconscious.

    Lewis's cellmate, Alice Cosu, who believed her to be dead, suffered a heart attack, and was refused medical treatment. Dorothy Day (famous for later founding Catholic Worker Movement) was slammed repeatedly over the back of an iron bench. Guards grabbed, dragged, beat, choked, pinched, and kicked other women.

    The suffragists dubbed the episode the "Night of Terror", and the brutality was highly publicized, garnering support for the movement to give women the right to vote. On January 9th, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson (who had been specifically targeted by suffragette pickets) finally announced his support for the proposed women's suffrage amendment.

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  • roig roig @lemmy.world
    BOT
    First Recorded Strike in History (1159 BC) On this day in 1159 BC, the first recorded strike in history began when necropolis workers in Ancient Egypt refused to continue working after going 18...

    First Recorded Strike in History (1159 BC)

    Sat Nov 14, 1159

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    Image: Enslaved brick-makers, depicted in the tomb of the vizier Rekmire, c. 1450 BCE [https://www.thetorah.com/]

    --- On this day in 1159 BC, the first recorded strike in history began when necropolis workers in Ancient Egypt refused to continue working after going 18 days without pay.

    The workers were preparing for Pharaoh Ramses III's thirty-year jubilee, a lavish celebration in his honor, years in advance.

    The payment to the workers at Deir el-Medina (also known as Set-Ma'at, "The Place of Truth") was inconsistent before finally stopping altogether. After 18 days of non-payment, workers laid down their tools and marched toward the city shouting "We are hungry!"

    After negotiations for back pay broke down, the workers took over the southern gate of the Ramesseum, the central storehouse of grain in Thebes. After winning their back pay, wages continued to be paid inconsistently and workers again went on strike, taking over and blocking all access to the Valley of the Kings, which disrupted important religious ceremonies.

    These labor actions went on for three years; the workers would not receive their pay, they would then go on strike, the officials would find the means to pay them, and the same scenario would be repeated again the next month.

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