September 9, 1912: Streetcar Strike Results in Riots

One hundred years ago today rioting lead to the arrest of fourteen individuals and headlines the following day that read “RIOTERS STONE STREET CARS AND CLASH WITH THE POLICE; SUDDEN STRIKE CRIPPLES THE DULUTH TROLLEY SYSTEM.” The strike of over 100 motormen and conductors was brought on by the firing of nine employees of the Duluth Street Railway Company for joining a newly formed union. By noon 75 scab employees recruited by the streetcar company arrived from Minneapolis and restored normal service by late afternoon. Later that evening a mob of between 2,000 and 3,000 had gathered at Twentieth Avenue West and began throwing rocks at the strikebreakers; one conductor from Minneapolis claimed he had been shot at, and newspapers reported hearing calls to “Kill the scabs!” A sixteen-year-old boy was arrested for hitting a police officer in the mouth with a wooden club; of the fourteen arrested, not one of them was a striking employee of the Street Railway Company. By the fourth day local papers were reporting 15,000 people at the site, and the violence increased. Strikers threw stones at scab crews, set up blockades on the tracks, and even overturned cars. On Friday, September 13, newspapers reported that shots had been fired at a scab motorman. Even with hired detectives along for the ride, attacks on scab conductors continued into October. Headlines declared the police helpless. By September 19, the rioting had spilled over into Superior. But Warren dug in, refusing to negotiate. With the law of the day on the company’s side, the strike failed. Please see the following articles for the Duluth News Tribune’s coverage of the strike throughout September, 1912: StreetcarRiot_9.10.1912_DNT, StreetcarRiot_9.11.1912_DNT, StreetcarRiot_9.14.1912_DNT, StreetcarRiot_9.15.1912_DNT, StreetcarRiot_9.16.1912_DNT, StreetcarRiot_9.20.1912_DNT, StreetcarRiot_9.21.1912_DNT, StreetcarRiot_9.22.1912_DNT, StreetcarRiot_9.24.1912_DNT.