workingclasshistory:

On this day, 19 June 1937, the Women’s Day massacre took place when police killed 16 people and injured nearly 300 when striking steelworkers’ wives and children demonstrated in their support in Youngstown, Ohio. Workers at Republic Steel had gone on strike when 1,000 union supporters were sacked. Strikers’ wives organised a Women’s Day to support the men, but the presence of women angered the police captain, who ordered the women to leave. When they refused, instead spitting and cursing at the officers, police fired tear gas at the women, children and even babies. This outraged the workers who rushed to the scene to defend their families. Then police began shooting, killing and wounding scores. Many of those were shot in the back as they ran from the police.
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