Newsboys' strike of 1899 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | July 18 – August 2, 1899 | ||
Location | |||
Methods | Striking | ||
Parties | |||
Lead figures | |||
Louis "Kid Blink" Baletti Contents
Joseph Pulitzer |
The newsboys' strike of 1899 was a U.S. youth-led campaign to facilitate change in the way that Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst's newspapers compensated their force of newsboys or newspaper hawkers. The strikers demonstrated across New York City for several days, effectively stopping circulation of the two papers, along with the news distribution for many New England cities. The strike lasted two weeks, causing Pulitzer's New York World to decrease its circulation from 360,000 papers sold per day to 125,000. [1] Although the price of papers was not lowered, the strike was successful in forcing the World and Journal to offer full buybacks to their sellers, thus increasing the amount of money that newsboys received for their work. This event inspired the 1992 movie musical, Newsies, which was adapted for Broadway on March 29, 2012.
At the turn of the century, newsboys were essential to newspaper distribution. While morning editions of the paper were often delivered directly to subscribers, the afternoon editions relied almost exclusively on newsboys to sell. [2] Most of the newsboys came from poor immigrant families and sold papers in the afternoons and evenings, after their school activities. They bought papers at 50¢ per hundred, and sold them at 1 cent each, for a profit of half a cent per paper. [2]
There were newsboy strikes several years before the events of 1899, including those in 1886, [3] 1887, [4] and 1889. [5] [6] [7] The last notable strike that the newsboys held against the World and the Journal was in August 1889. [8]
In 1898, with the Spanish–American War increasing newspaper sales, several publishers raised the cost of a newsboy's bundle of 100 newspapers from 50¢ to 60¢, [9] a price increase that at the time was offset by the increased sales. After the war, many papers reduced the cost back to previous levels, with the notable exceptions of The Evening World and the New York Evening Journal .
Youth rights |
---|
On July 18, 1899, [10] a group of newsboys in Long Island City turned over a distribution wagon for the New York Journal. In City Hall Park a day later, [10] they declared a strike against the papers of Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the World, and William Randolph Hearst, publisher of the Journal, until prices were rolled back to 50¢ per hundred. [2] The newsboys of Manhattan and Brooklyn were quick to follow on July 20. [11]
The newsboys' methods were violent in the early days of the strike. Any man or boy found to be selling the two boycotted papers would be mobbed by a group of strikers, beaten, and his papers destroyed. [12] The newspaper owners paid grown men to sell their papers, offering them police protection, but the strikers often found ways to distract the officers so they could get at the "scabs." [13] Women and girls fared a little better because, as union leader Kid Blink put it, "A feller can't soak a lady." [13]
The newsboys also distributed flyers and hung signs around the city, encouraging people to help them in their cause by not buying the World and Journal. [14]
On July 24, 1899, the newsboys held a city-wide rally at Irving Hall sponsored by state senator, Timothy D. Sullivan. An estimated five thousand boys from Manhattan attended the rally, along with two thousand boys from Brooklyn and several hundreds from other areas of the city. [15]
Many local businessmen and politicians addressed the crowd, including lawyer Leonard A. Suitkin, Frank B. Wood, and ex-Assemblyman Phil Wissig. When the adults had finished speaking, the union president, David Simmons, read a list of resolutions saying that the strike was to stand until the papers reduced their prices, and also calling on the newsboys to adopt non-violent methods of resistance. [16]
Other speeches were made by "Warhorse" Brennan, Jack Tietjen, "Bob the Indian", union leader "Kid Blink", [17] "Crazy" Arborn, Annie Kelly, and Brooklyn union leader, "Racetrack" Higgins. [18] The night ended with a song sung by "Hungry Joe" Kernan. [16]
A floral horseshoe was offered to Kid Blink as a reward for giving the best speech of the evening.
In the days following the rally, the newsboys' tactics changed to be largely non-violent. Even though they were no longer beating people who sold the World and Journal, the strike was still effective because the public was on their side and chose not to buy the papers, even if they were for sale. [19]
On July 26, 1899, the newsboys planned a parade, where as many as 6,000 boys would march, accompanied by a band and fireworks, but this parade never happened due to issues with obtaining a permit. [20]
On July 26, 1899, rumors spread among the newsboys that strike leaders, Kid Blink and David Simmons had betrayed the strike and agreed to sell the boycotted papers in exchange for a bribe from the newspaper executives. [21] Both boys denied the charges, but some sources note that Kid Blink wore clothes a bit nicer than usual, indicating the possibility that he may have accepted a bribe. [22] In response to these suspicions, Kid Blink and David Simmons resigned from their leadership positions, Simmons changing from union president to treasurer, and Kid Blink becoming a walking delegate. [23]
That night, Kid Blink was chased through the streets by a group of boys angry about the rumors that he had abandoned the strike. A police officer, seeing the group of running boys, assumed that Kid Blink was the leader and arrested him for disorderly conduct. Kid Blink was given a fine and let go, while a group of newsboys outside the court jeered at him. [22]
After the rumors about Kid Blink and David Simmons' desertion of the strike, combined with their failure to obtain a parade permit, the newsboys' faith in centralized leadership was diminished. [22] Other newsboys stepped up to lead the strikers, [23] but none of them had the same level of power and influence that Kid Blink once had.
On August 1, 1899, the World and Journal offered the newsboys a compromise: the price of a hundred papers would remain at 60¢, but they would buy back any unsold papers. This meant that the boys, who had trouble selling all their papers would not be forced to sell late into the night to avoid taking a loss for the day. The newsboys accepted this compromise, ended the strike and disbanded the union on August 2, 1899. [24]
The leadership of the newsboy strike was less centralized than most unions, with boys in each neighborhood feeling more loyalty to the other boys in their area than to the centralized leadership. [2] That said, some boys were more influential than others, organizing rallies, acting as spokespeople for the strike, and being interviewed by papers such as the New York Tribune , New York Sun or New York Herald . The papers often quoted the strikers with their New York accents, depicted as an eye dialect, using such sayings as "Me nobul men is all loyal." [25]
The face of the strike was Louis "Kid Blink" Baletti. Kid Blink was 18 during the strike, and was described by papers at the time as an "undersized boy" [26] with red hair and an eye patch over his left eye. [13] He also went by the nicknames “Red Blink,” [26] "Muggsy McGee" [27] and "Blind Diamond." [28]
Kid Blink was a charismatic leader. Several newspapers recorded speeches, which he gave at rallies, one of which reads in part "Friens and feller workers. This is a time, which tries de hearts of men. Dis is de time when we've got to stick together like glue... We know what we want and we'll get it even if we are blind." [29] His speech at the Irving Hall rally won him a floral horseshoe for the best speech of the evening.
Kid Blink was accused of betraying the strike and accepting a bribe to sell the boycotted papers, and though some sources claim he was acquitted of these charges, he still stepped down from his leadership position after being accused. [30]
When he was arrested during the strike, Kid Blink told the police his name was Louis Ballat, [31] but he was likely lying or they misheard because his real name appears to have been Louis Baletti. [32]
After the strike, Kid Blink got a job as a cart driver and later as a saloon keeper. He may have also worked as the right-hand man to New York mobster Chuck Connors. He died in July 1913 at the age of 32 of tuberculosis. [33]
David Simmons was president of the newsboy union at the beginning of the strike, and treasurer in the second half, after he was accused of betraying the strike and was forced to step back from his leadership role. [30] He was twenty-one at the time of the strike and had been selling newspapers since the age of eight. He was also a well-known amateur prizefighter at the local athletic clubs. [23]
Simmons read a list of resolutions at the rally at Irving Hall, which the crowd reportedly found quite boring. [16]
Ed "Racetrack" Higgins [34] was the leader of the Brooklyn union, and was elected vice-president of the general union after Kid Blink and David Simmons were accused of selling out. [35] Higgins was a fixture at the Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and referenced horses in many quotes at the time of the strike. [36]
Higgins was a charismatic speaker, several papers mentioning his use of humor in his speeches to the striking newsboys. Brooklyn Life referred to him as "a born leader of boys, and he may yet be of men." [37] His speech at the rally went off so well that the New York Times said that "If the newsboys present could have had a vote last night, 'Race Track Higgins' could have had any office in their gift."
Morris Cohen was union president after Kid Blink and David Simmons stepped down. [38] Very little is known about him, but a July 20 memo from Joseph Pulitzer's business manager, Don Seitz, named Cohen as the boy who started the strike in New York City. [2]
Henry "Major Butts" Butler was leader of the Upper Manhattan union after Kid Blink stepped down. [39] He was arrested on July 31, 1899, on a charge of blackmail after telling executives at the New York World that he would not break the strike for less than $600 ($600 in 1900 is roughly equivalent to $22,000in 2023). [40]
Annie Kelly was one of the few newswomen loyal to the strike, a fact that made her very popular with the striking newsboys, who saw her as "almost a patron saint." [41] She was the only woman to speak at the rally at Irving Hall, after being pulled on stage by a crowd of cheering newsboys, where she told them "All I can say, boys, is to stick together and we'll win. That's all I've got to say to you." [26]
The newsboys' strike of 1899 has been credited with inspiring later strikes, including the Butte, Montana newsboys' strike of 1914, [42] and a 1920s strike in Louisville, Kentucky. [43]
Some decades later, the introduction of urban child-welfare practices led to improvements in the newsboys' quality of life.
The newsboys were fictionalized in 1942 by DC Comics as the Newsboy Legion, first appearing in issue number 7 of Star Spangled Comics and continuing therein, through issue 64, as well as in various forms, including the modern-day comics.
The events of the 1899 strike later inspired the 1992 Disney film Newsies , including a character named Kid Blink (who wears an eye patch), but in this version of the story, the leader of the strike was named Jack Kelly. A musical theatre adaptation of the film, also called Newsies , debuted in 2011 and played on Broadway from 2012 to 2014, and on tour from 2014 to 2016. A live filmed version of the stage production with cast members from both the Broadway and Tour productions was digitally released on May 23, 2017, on Netflix and later switched to Disney+. In November 2022, a production of Newsies opened Off West End in London for a limited run. [44]
The newsboy strike is described in detail in the 2003 non-fiction book Kids on Strike!
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in history.
Hearst Corporation, its wholly owned subsidiary Hearst Holdings Inc., and HHI's wholly owned subsidiary Hearst Communications Inc. (usually referred to simply as Hearst) constitute an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.
William Randolph Hearst Sr. was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboyant methods of yellow journalism in violation of ethics and standards influenced the nation's popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human-interest stories. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887 with Mitchell Trubitt after being given control of The San Francisco Examiner by his wealthy father, Senator George Hearst.
In journalism, yellow journalism and the yellow press are American newspapers that use eye-catching headlines and sensationalized exaggerations for increased sales. The English term is chiefly used in the US. In the United Kingdom, a similar term is tabloid journalism. Other languages, e.g. Russian, sometimes have terms derived from the American term. Yellow journalism emerged in the intense battle for readers by two newspapers in New York City in 1890s. It was not common in other cities.
The 1890s was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on January 1, 1890, and ended on December 31, 1899. In American popular culture, the decade would later be nostalgically referred to as the "Gay Nineties". In the British Empire, the 1890s epitomised the late Victorian period.
Newsies is a 1992 American historical musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by choreographer Kenny Ortega from a screenplay written by the writing team of Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, it is loosely based on the New York City newsboys' strike of 1899. Featuring twelve original songs by Alan Menken with lyrics by Jack Feldman and an underscore by J. A. C. Redford, it stars Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, Ann-Margret, and Robert Duvall.
Max Casella is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series Doogie Howser, M.D., The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Vinyl, Cro and the voice of Daxter in the Jak and Daxter video game series.
The London plan is a largely antiquated system of newspaper distribution in which the paper carriers buy newspapers in bulk from the publisher and sell the papers to the reading public for a profit. The plan was imported from London to the United States by Benjamin Day in the nineteenth century.
Newsboy or news boy may refer to:
The Kenosha News is a daily newspaper published in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States. The morning paper serves southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois. It was the original and flagship property of United Communications Corporation.
The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker. The deaths served as a breaking point for more than 1,300 African American men from the Memphis Department of Public Works as they demanded higher wages, time and a half overtime, dues check-off, safety measures, and pay for the rainy days when they were told to go home.
The Baxter Street Dudes was a New York City teenage street gang, consisting of former newsboys and bootblacks, who ran the Grand Duke's Theatre from the basement of a dive bar on Baxter Street in Manhattan during the 1870s. Led by founder Baby-Face Willie, gang members operated the Grand Duke's Theatre and established the venue as their headquarters. Members of the Baxter Street Dudes wrote and performed plays, musicals and variety shows which were enjoyed by other street toughs and slummers throughout the city. The theater house eventually became a popular underworld hangout, from which the gang found financial success.
David Nasaw is an American author, biographer and historian who specializes in the cultural, social and business history of early 20th Century America. Nasaw is on the faculty of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he is the Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Professor of History.
The Evening World was a newspaper that was published in New York City from 1887 to 1931. It was owned by Joseph Pulitzer, and served as an evening edition of the New York World.
William Wolf Weinstone (1897–1985) was an American Communist politician and labor leader. Weinstone served as Executive Secretary of the unified Communist Party of America, the forerunner of today's Communist Party USA, from October 15, 1921, to February 22, 1922, and was an important figure in the party's activities among the auto workers of Detroit during the 1930s.
Newsboys' Home is a 1938 crime film that starred Jackie Cooper and The Little Tough Guys.
Newsies: The Musical is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and a book by Harvey Fierstein. The show is based on the 1992 musical film of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the real-life Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City, with Fierstein's script adapted from the film's screenplay by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White.
A newspaper hawker, newsboy or newsie is a street vendor of newspapers without a fixed newsstand. Related jobs included paperboy, delivering newspapers to subscribers, and news butcher, selling papers on trains. Adults who sold newspapers from fixed newsstands were called newsdealers, and are not covered here. The hawkers sold only one newspaper, which usually appeared in several editions a day. A busy corner would have several hawkers, each representing one of the major newspapers. They might carry a poster board with giant headlines, provided by the newspaper. The downtown newsboy started fading out after 1920 when publishers began to emphasize home delivery. Teenage newsboys delivered papers on a daily basis for subscribers who paid them monthly. Hawkers typically purchased a bundle of 100 copies from a wholesaler, who in turn purchased them from the publisher. Legally every state considered the newsboys to be independent contractors, and not employees, so they generally were not subject to child labor laws.
Abe "The Newsboy" Hollandersky was an American professional boxer who won the Panamanian national Heavyweight Title when he defeated Californian Jack Ortega in nine rounds in Panama City on May 30, 1913. American congressmen, Naval personnel, and canal workers were among the crowd of nearly two thousand who watched Hollandersky gain victory over an opponent who outweighed him by over thirty-five pounds. The New York Times announced Hollandersky's best known win the following morning.
Noni White is an American screenwriter and actress. White is best known for co-creating and writing the screenplay for Newsies along with her husband Bob Tzudiker, which was based on the real-life Newsboys' strike of 1899. Newsies began as a "classic underdog story ripped from the history books", with writers Tzudiker and White approaching producer Michael Finnell with an idea for a nonmusical drama; however, Disney studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg redirected the project to become a musical.