Haymarket Finally Gets Memorial
By Margaret Lyons in News on Sep 7, 2004 8:43PM
The Sun-Times is in fine form today despite an absolutely idiotic front-page headline "Are sisters angels or killers?" Sure, yes, that story is interesting, but the question isn't are they angels or killers?, it's are they killers or not killers?. Anyway, we got a little geeked up on the CSI marathon yesterday. The story itself is worth reading on the off chance you didn't get enough of the case in July, when the girls were actually on trial.
But our hater side is getting the best of us. We really enjoyed this article about the upcoming unveiling of a monument commemorating the Haymarket Riot aka Incident aka Affair aka Tragedy. The terminology itself is interesting, if you ask nerds like us. Currently, there's just a shoddy little plaque to commemorate one of the more important incidents in Chicago history as well as the history of organized labor. We especially appreciated the Sun-Times' willingness to stress the similarities between the current political climate and the climate in 1886, which, despite what the headline tells us, was only 118 years ago.
It was a time when Americans felt threatened by terrorists. When suspicion fell heavily on certain groups of immigrants. When basic civil rights, such as free speech, were under attack in the name of national security.
People are, or should be, pretty familiar with the Haymarket history (no shame in double checking), so we're not going to recap it, and we think the article does a pretty fair job of outlining some of the problems. There's not a clear story to be told about what exactly happened 118 years ago, but another interesting story has emerged, and that's the way the whole affair is remembered and described. We bet dozens of people have written really interesting masters theses on this. A handful have probably written some hellaciously boring ones, too.
We're looking forward to checking out the sculpture, which is a wagon that's being either built or destroyed by people above and below it. The piece is meant to serve as "'a cautionary tale that you are responsible for the words you say,'" according to the artist, Chicagoan Mary Brogger. The sculpture will be unveiled on September 14, so if anyone wants to make a lunch dateĀ