Pioneer Aid and Support Association

PA and transition to ILHS

PA was formed on December 15, 1887. It was comprised of members of the Central Labor Union, the Defense Committee, and the Amnesty Association. CLU arranged for the post-death care of Spies, Parsons, and Fischer. NYT later described PA as a compromise from fights between the CLU and the Anarchist Defense Committee. To care for widows and orphans.

CLU was viewed as being very focused on foreigners – the foreign-born and foreign-oriented workers and was sympathetic to the anarchists, and had close connections to the Int. Working Peoples Association. Supported 8-hour as a strategy, but more to the anarchistic side. Was formed in the spring of 1884, under the leadership of the Progressive Cigar Makers Union No. 15. Formed to have a more revolutionary leaning than the Trades Assembly – removed itself from. Claimed a membership of 12,000 in 1885. CLU was first there in May 1886 – they retained Salomon and Zeigler to represent. (their first act?)

1887 article said that CLU might buy a big tract at Waldheim. Subcom. Of DC and AA?

Defense Committee was organized in My 22, 1886. Ernest Schmidt was the leader, and George Schilling was active. and they began to raise money – collected $40,000. It had an air of respectability that won it some acceptance even among critics (Pierce.)

Defense Committee was very proactive. It wanted to make sure that dime museums would not profit from the tragedy – and obtained all the relics, including the clothes the men were executed in and other articles. Defense Committee actually bought the cemetery lots first and then title was transferred to PA after about a year. (or was it specific men?)

Amnesty Association was probably formed in October of 1887, Schilling and DC began the movement for clemency, and the AA was formed to raise funds, arrange meetings, circulate petitions, and try to swing public opinion in favor of a reprieve. Lucy worked to collect signatures and funds. Darrow was active.

PA formed in December 15, 1887. Their minutes start in 88. “Organization founded to assist the families of the executed and imprisoned men.” Expanded to care for the grave site. It was also called “The Pioneer Aid and Relief Association” and the Chicago Pioneer Benefit and Aid Society.” (Alarm)  And maybe Pioneer Benevolent Association- ticket to even in ILHS archives.

Article in Dec 88 indicates that PA is largely composed of women.

PA Monument Committee: Louis Vonierok?, William Urbam, Dr. Ernest Schmidt, Herr Kaune, M. Schnerdinger, and Thomas Grief.

PA money invested in bonds from the beginning (Schaak)

1890 and 91 had a big rift. Two big articles with Lucy/Martin stuff, and also short article in Jan 1891 covers an uneventful meeting of PA and DC – low turnout.

See monument time line. 

On October 28, 1947, the Daily Worker in New York published a letter to the editor from K. Briesemeister, president of Pioneer Aid and Support Association  in Chicago. Briesemeister wrote that the organization was getting smaller every year, and that the few members remaining are getting old and worry that their further activities will be of short duration. They are asking for contributions for a perpetual care fund of $10,000 to preserve and perpetuate the Haymarket Martyrs Monument as a landmark in the history of the American labor movement.

ILHS history

Suhrbuhr writes that ILHS came into existence pretty directly due to the Police Monument. In 68 (?) after WU bombing, Bill Garvey, editor of Midwest Steel Labor, inspired the creation of HWSMC. Told a casual gathering at the Blackstone Hotel that a Chicago union had given money to the PM restoration fund. The group decided to hold a demonstration at Haymarket Square on May Day to help educate the public about the workers’ side of the story in 1886. This group decided to form an ad hoc committee and call themselves the “Haymarket Workers Memorial Committee.” Bring awareness to the public.

March 1969 Statement of Purpose for HSWMC addressing the myths, legends and misconceptions about the tragic events of May 4, 1886. Eloquently – lessons of Haymarket, historical context, legitimacy of social protest, Honor the memory of the struggle for the 8-hour day; ongoing struggle for truth and justice.

The successful demonstration was held on Sunday, May 4, 1969 at the site of the Haymarket incident, on Randolph Street between DesPlaines and Halsted. The publicity flyer, done up in the style of the original broadside, offered that “Good Speakers will be there to explain the meaning of the Haymarket Events in light of the Social Struggles of Today.” Studs Terkel was Master of Ceremonies. It was so successful that people agreed to organize a group to keep the memory alive.

June 1969 correspondence between Irving Abrams and HSWMC /Bill Garvey on letterheads(sole remaining member of PA (double check this in 1969) about cooperation and support.

The charter meeting of ILHS was held on August 5, 1969 at Joe Jacobs office, He was a labor lawyer and the nephew of Les Orear.  Charter and Bylaws were adopted, and Les Orear was elected president and Bill Adelman vice-president. Irving Abrams, attended the first meeting and was a charter member. Garvey opened the meeting by stating that the purpose was to consider the possibility of stimulating among trade unionists, historians, and others an interest in forming a society in Illinois to preserve the state’s labor historical records presently being lost and destroyed for lack of interest and to promote the facts of the state’s rich and colorful labor history.

Founding members were James Hirsh, Stanley Johnson, Morris Davidson, John Schumpp, Ken Appelhans, Joe Grafen, Irving Abrams, Joseph Griganti, Ernest DeMais, Leslie Orear, Robert Kelly, Frank McCallister, Sam Sloan, Joe Norrick, Roger Kapfhammer, Anthony Zanetello, Arthur Weinberg, William Byrne, Nancy Byrne, Staughton Lynd, William Garvey, Norman Roth, Bob Christianson, Clarence Greene, Joseph Jacobs.

Reuben Soderstrom, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO was the first honorary membership given out. The organization’s first acquisition was given by Joe Jacobs, his personal collection of mementos from the  “Chicago Labor College Collection.” The small treasury of dues ($5 per year) was deposited with Amalgamated Bank, a bank with strong union ties that had been founded by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Still there. 

Arrangements were made with the Illinois State Historical Library in Springfield to act as a perpetual repository of local union and personal records. /labor records retention project. September 69 District 12 Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workman passed a resolution applauding the formation of ILHS and urged all other labor unions in Illinois to support and join the society.

In January of 1970, a proposal was made and unanimously passed that the Haymarket Square Workers Memorial Committee be merged with the ILHS. $400 was carried over to ILHS as part of this. In March ILHS was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization. In April, Irving Abrams made a motion which carried that the Pioneer Aid and Support Association be perpetuated to maintain the upkeep of the Haymarket Monument in Waldheim Cemetery.

Interesting that also at this meeting was a reference to the Haymarket Square plaque not being accepted if the word “anarchist(s)” was not deleted from the plaque. In November, Abrams was given honorary life membership.

In March of 1971, a motion was made and passed that transferred title of the Waldheim monument to the ILHS. Member Al Widel was appointed to obtain an estimate of the total cost for restoration of the monument which was noted as requiring considerable improvement at that time. This was reported in Federation News.

Daily News reported that they refurbished the police monument! Les letter refutes.

Significant Commemorations:

1937 – 50^th. Detailed in Abrams memoir.

Check on date of Centennial event vs. Landmark event – when was the sidewalk replaced?

Oscar Neebe and Haymarket

ON was at home during the H event, He was questioned and released on May 5, 1885. On May 9, police searched his house while he was at work. They found a 38-caliber revolver, a sword, a breech-loading rifle, and a red flag. He was arrested on May 27.


CDT 5-28-86
ON was taken into custody on May 27. Found at home at 307 Sedgewick, he was was reported as quiet and undemonstrative when arrested. and told officers that he could prove that he had been at home the evening of May 4. He was taken to County Jail with Lingg and Engel. He was first booked into the Boys department and later transferred to the Mens department.

Background was given - he was engaged as a partner in the Acme Yeast Company, at 508 Sedgewick. He was described as German, and about 30 years of age. A member of the Socialist Publishing Society, the Trib described him as "an active anarchist." He had been found at the offices of the Arbeiter-Zeitung on May 5, was arrested but then soon after released. He received permission from Mayor Harrison to continue publishing the A-Z, and managed it for a few days after.

"His name had not been mentioned in connection with the Anarchists for some days, and the fact that he was to be indicted was kept a secret because he was not under arrest."









6/4 Bail is fixed at $17,000.

6/5 He is released on bond - details of bond listed.

ON and Hepp give speeches.

8/1 IMPORTANT long story covering esp. the Neebe defense. Also defense discusses how frequently newspaper accounts are wrong. (Mr. Salomon's Effort)

NYT Aug 9, 1886 story covering previous days' picnic to support and raise funds for the men. ON appears - the only one granted bail - and is cheered by the crowd.

"They Tell Their Story of Hope" - CDT - Chairman of the Grand Jury never believed Oscar was guilty. "Grinnell himself admitted, that prior to his argument to the jury, that the evidence against Neebe was not sufficient . . . " Article continues that Neebe was never an anarchist, and added that he had gained weight in prison. Louis took his kids while he was in prison. There is re-reporting of the lost fingers.

Physical appearance details in CDT: "Pen Pictures of the Anarchists."

Messer-Kruse: Grinnel agreed on June 3 that ON could post bail. Rau testified that they all went out and experimented with explosives. Defense decided to allow all 7 cases to be tried as one. "Oscar Neebe didn't even know the H meeting was happening," In prison, ON was a nurse in the hospital.

Oscar Neebe and Conrad Seipp

In April of 1886, Brewers and Maltsters were organized and received a $15/month wage increase with a time decrease to 10 hour work days. Oscar Neebe and Charles Hepp were key to these organizing efforts. Seipp Brewing was the first and largest brewery to sign.

In the trial, Salomon said that he would prove that Oscar Neebe was indicted solely on the evidence of certain persons who, out of spite, desired to disagree with him. (CDT 6-3-86)

In his autobiography, Oscar Neebe states that Julius Grinnell, the prosecutor for the Haymarket trial, told him personally that a few prominent Germans had reported that Oscar was a very dangerous man, and Oscar surmised that these prominent Germans were a few German democratic beer brewers of Chicago. He believed that it was to please them that he received 15 years in the penitentiary for daring to organize their employees. He noted that the brewers could not forget that they now had to pay their workers $15 more per month for only 10 hours/day work.

In the preface to the 2nd edition of Henry David's Haymarket book, John F. Kendrick, a neighbor of Oscar's is quoted as saying that Oscar told him that while in prison and after, he found satisfactory evidence that he was railroaded because the Seipp Brewing Company was out to get him for organizing their brewery wagon drivers, and that they spent judiciously $90,000 to do it.

Conrad Seipp had immigrated from Germany in the 1840s.  His summer estate at Lake Geneva, Black Point, is open to the public and its Facebook page indicates that Seipp had fought for the royals in the 1848 German revolution.

The Chicago Tribune, in reporting his death, quoted someone as saying that "During the anarchist troubles he always expressed himself sorry for the dupes of pernicious teachers, but for the loafers of the Most order he had only words of the strongest contempt. When the brewers went out on strike, it was a notorious fact that only 3 men from Seipps went out, and they were . . . "

Julius Grinnell and Conrad Seipp seemed to have been friends. Grinnell gave the eulogy at Seipp's funeral, praising him as a man "who upheld the laws when anarchy and riot threatened."

Oscar Neebe bio

Per Neebes: Neebe's family were French Huguenots, left for Germany because of persecution.



Oscar Neebe was born July 12, 1850 in New York. His parents were German immigrants Henry  and  Neebe. He was the    of    children, with brothers Louis, Henry, and  Conrad. The family returned to Germany when Oscar was     , so that the children could receive a German education. Oscar returned to the New York. when he was 14, and saw and was affected by returning soldiers from the Civil War. He began to study the gold and silver beating trade, but lung problems from this caused him to leave and go west to Chicago. Work was hard to come by, and Oscar lived marginally until he found work in a saloon. Working up to bartender, he served laborers from the McCormick Machine works, and their conditions caused him to support the 8-hour day movement.

In 1868, he hired on a cook on a lake ship, departed at Cleveland, and went back to New York where he was taken on as an apprentice in a tinsmith shop. With this training he went to work in different shops manufacturing various vessels and cans, and began to see firsthand the tensions between workers and owners. He witnessed owners driving down wages, and using child labor.

In 1873, Oscar married Ann Meta Monsees in Philadelphia. He had followed his brother Louis there and bounced between NY and Philly a bit. Returned to Chicago in 1877. and got a job with a manufacturing company and worked there until he was dismissed for labor activities. He barely held it together until 1879 when he got a job selling yeast. He stayed with them until 1881 when he started the Acme Yeast with his brother Henry and two others. During this time he continued to observe and reflect on the exploitation of labor by owners, to read a great deal, and to reject religion. The Communards of Paris in 1871 were a huge influence, and he became involved with communist groups in Chicago from 1877 to 1880.

He became involved with the Socialistic Publishing Society and the Arbeiter Zeitung in 1880, and worked hard to organize labor, including the Brewers and Maltsters, and also bakers. As a member of the Socialistic Publishing Company, Oscar - along with 13 others, was sued for libel by Recorder James Brockway in 1880.





While in prison, there was a fair amount of attention. The Daily InterOcean reported in April of 1890 that Thomas Broderick, a convicted railroad bomber, had made statements alleging mistreatment of the H martyrs in prison. Oscar, along with Schwab and Fielden, denied this. Oscar spoke of his Keeper, George Wilcox, as one of the best of the guards. In his work as a floor runner in the harness shop, Oscar stated that he was never punished or reported, and was well-treated.

Oscar and Regina had some rocky times. Oscar was involved with a widow he met in Milwaukee, and it was reported in the Trib on August 20, 1896. Regina charged him with divorce in March of 1898. (3-19-98)



CDT 5-28-86
ON's home is at 307 Sedgewick.  He is a partner in Acme Yeast at 568 Sedgwick. He's a member of the Socialistic Publishing Company. He was found at the office of Arbeiter Zeitung on the morning of May 5. He was arrested and then released. His brother Louis had been defeated for North Town Collection in spring 1885.




CDT March 9, 1887
Covers the day before and describes ON learning of his wife's death by a jailer giving him a newspaper accounting it. Fell on his cot with a groan. Later, his brothers Louis and Conrad, and his daughter arrive. Only his daughter was allowed to enter his cell - they embraced and wept. Can  he attend funeral? Sheriff Matson is fine with it.

NYT article says that ON will be allowed to attend funeral.

CDT march 10, 87 reports that ON is allowed to visit home, but not attend funeral. [Tone has changed from previous articles - tone is sympathetic to ON.]  His temporary release was kept very quiet. Louis picked him up, and they proceeded to Louis' house where Oscar's children waited. They were together for 45 minutes and the children were quite upset when he left.

Then Oscar went to his brother's (Conrad) saloon at 281 Sedgewick, where Meta was laid out on the second floor. He collapsed and was crying and sobbing, and reporter said "Those present say it was one of the most painful scenes ever witnessed by them." Her body will be taken to Graceland, and Louis has power of attorney, Oscar was returned to the jail. Much discussion about the funeral becoming a political demonstration, Neebe brother asks Harrison if they need a permit, and Harrison says no and shows support.

Louis wanted to clarify/correct about Meta running a saloon. During the trial, with the assistance of Bartholomay & Burgeweger Brewing Company obtained possession of a saloon at 272 W. Twelth Street. She gave it up 6 weeks later because it was too much with no male help, and there was inadequate business to employ a man. She moved to a small cottage behind Louis's house and stayed there until the defective sewers were a problem. She then moved with her children to Conrad's new place at 281 Sedgewick, and lived there until her death. Meta was born near Bremen, and was ~32 at her death. She was the mother of five children, 3 of them living.

Timeline of the Haymarket Martyrs monument

Timeline of the Haymarket Martyrs Monument

                                                            Draft                                              

1873

A new secular German cemetery, Waldheim Cemetery, is formally dedicated on August 17. Purchased from Ferdinand Haas by a group of German lodges and benevolent orders, the new cemetery is praised as a place where the speech of a brother is valued as much as a sermon. The Chicago Daily Tribune account of the story notes that “it is hardly necessary to add that there will be no church nor chapel on the premises.”

1886

On May 4, a bomb is thrown during a labor demonstration in Haymarket Square. The impact on labor and working people and their history is immeasurable. Eight men, active in anarchist and labor activities, are arrested, tried, and found guilty of conspiracy in one of the country’s biggest judicial travesties. The men, Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolph Fischer, Louis Lingg, Samuel Fielding, Michael Schwab, and George Engel are sentenced to death. Oscar Neebe is sentenced to 15 years. In 1887, Fielding and Schwab request and receive clemency to life sentences. 

1887

Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolph Fischer, and George Engel are hanged on November 11. Louis Lingg was killed the night before by dynamite and it is ruled a suicide. 

The funeral on November 13 is probably the largest ever seen in Chicago. There is a parade to gather the bodies at their family homes, followed by a railroad procession to Waldheim Cemetery where an elaborate ceremony is held. The bodies are then temporarily placed in the stone and iron receiving vault at the entrance to the cemetery. Grave robbers attempt to break into the vault on November 17 to steal August Spies’ body. They had obtained keys to the receiving vault, but flee when they see that the vault is guarded.

Throughout the last two weeks of November, there is much discussion among the Defense Committee, the Amnesty Association, and also management at Waldheim Cemetery. Waldheim’s board is very reluctant to accept the martyrs’ bodies. They pass a resolution restricting anyone executed by the state from being buried there unless they or a blood relative already owned a lot before sentenced. They are determined to prohibit future ceremonies or demonstrations at the grave.

(Later, in 1898, the Oak Park Vindicator publishes an “interesting” story about the cemetery selection saying that the owner of Forest Home Cemetery had heard that the anarchists’ committee was interested in Forest Home for the burial. He hurried to the cemetery, locked the entrance gate, and hid for the rest of the day. The anarchists’ committee came by, found Forest Home locked, and therefore proceeded to Waldheim. They were refused admission at Waldheim, but the brother of one of the executed men had a plot there and demanded the right to bury whomever he wanted.)

The monument to the executed men begins to be discussed by the Defense Committee and the Amnesty Association. Their subcommittee visits Waldheim to look at lots. From the beginning, their intent is to erect a monument surrounded by the graves of sympathizers. The subcommittee considers buying an entire section of the cemetery to be used as a labor burial ground, but that is beyond their means. It is reported that they end up purchasing 8 lots in Block N in Waldheim Cemetery: 868, 869, 870, 949, 950, 951, 952, and 953. Lots are purchased by the Defense Committee in the names of Frank Stauber, Henry Linnemeyer, and Max Oppenheimer. 

The Pioneer Aid and Support Association is formed on December 15 to provide for the families of the executed men. The Alarm reports that it was also called the Pioneer Aid and Relief Association, and the Chicago Pioneer Benefit and Aid Society.

On December 18, the men’s bodies are removed from the receiving vault at the cemetery, and they are permanently buried in one grave in Section N, Lot 869 at Waldheim. The grave is a wide excavation large enough for five coffins. Each man’s resting place is marked by his initials, and there is a shared headstone with medallions and the date.

1888

Concerns begin to arise about adequate money to support the families of the executed men. In January, the Anarchist Relief Committee meets. (This is a consolidation of the Defense Committee and the Pioneer Aid and Support Association.) There is some general discussion that the families of the executed men are all living comfortably. Lucy Parsons would like funds to publish books about the Haymarket tragedy and writings of her husband. Mrs. Engel wants to open a small store.

1889

The business-sponsored police statue is dedicated in Chicago on Memorial Day. The son of Mathias Degan, the first police officer killed by the bomb, unveils the statue.

1890

The title to the lots at Waldheim is transferred to Pioneer Aid and Support Association in April from Frank Stauber, Henry Linnemeyer, Max Oppenheimer, and Ernest Schmidt. The deed document includes lots 866, 867, and 789, and indicates that the lots are for the burial place of Spies, Parsons, Fischer, Engel, Fischer, and Lingg, and “for no other purpose, or burial of any other corpses.” 

Issues regarding the funds to support the families of the executed men continue to be discussed in the fall. There is strong concern that funds will run short, and the Central Labor Union files a protest before the Pioneer Aid and Support Association. The main areas of discussion are Lucy Parsons’ travel expenses, and also the fact that Mrs. Parsons has a boarder, Martin Lacher, who may be neglecting his children and sickly wife. In addition, there is some feeling expressed that Mrs. Spies’ five grown children should be able to support her. There are reports of physical altercations at some of the meetings.

Lulu Parsons, the 8-year-old daughter of Albert and Lucy Parsons, tragically dies of lymphadenoma on October 13. Initially she is buried very close to her father, but her body is later moved to Section D, Lot 84. This lot was purchased by Charles Rudolph in 1888, and is located on the far north side of the cemetery, now very close to the Eisenhower expressway.

1891

In May, a design contest for the monument is announced by the Pioneer Aid and Support Association. Prizes will be $100 for first place, $50 for second, and $25 for third. Requirements are that the drawing will be for a monument costing between $3,000 and $5,000, and that it must embody the principles and ideas of the men whose graves are marked by it. 

1892

Chicago Tribune reports on a secret meeting of the monument committee of Pioneer Aid and Support Association on January 17. Committee members Louis Vonbrook, Ernst Schmidt, M, Schmiedinger, Herr Kaune, and William Urban met at Greif's Hall and declared the winner of the monument design contest. Seventeen designs were submitted, mostly from the Chicago area but also from New York, Washington, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. 

First prize of $100 goes to Albert Weinert while Hans Herbst takes second with a prize of $50. Both men had been been in Chicago working on buildings and ornaments and for the World's Fair.

The winning design was inspired by Ferdinand Freiligraht's poem, Revolution and the Trib includes the inspirational passage:

And though ye caught your noble prey
   Within the hangman's sordid thrall;
And though your captive was led forth
   Beneath the city's rampart wall;
And though the grass lies o'er her green
   Where at the morning's early red
The peasant girl brings funeral wreaths--
   I tell you, still she is not dead.

The monument will be about sixteen feet high and twelve feet square at the pedestal. A description of the design is included, sounding very much like the monument is. One detail will not make it to the actual monument, although at least one newspaper will report that it did, presumably incorrectly, that lateral faces of the plinth will bear bronze medallion busts of the five dead anarchists.

Expected cost of the monument is $6-8,000, of which $3,500 has already been raised.

Albert Weinert, a German journeyman sculptor who has been working in Chicago on Columbian Exhibition buildings, wins the design contest in February. It is widely reported that his design is based on the poem Die Revolutione by Ferdinand Freiligrath. Weinert is also awarded the contract for erecting the monument, and it is announced that Troost Monument Company will do the stone work. At this point, it is reported that there are no plans for any cornerstone ceremonies. Images of the proposed monument are being sold at Greif’s saloon. 

The Chicago Daily Tribune reports in September that the foundation for the monument is being laid ten feet deeper than planned due to soft ground. The monument will weigh 45 tons, and the foundation is being built of concrete and stone.

A time capsule will be placed near the monument. Pioneer Aid and Support Association has asked 17 organizations to gather memorial statements to be immortalized in the foundation or cornerstone of the monument. Pioneer Aid minutes for October indicate that these memorials should be sent to the treasurer by the first of November.

In spite of rainy weather on November 6, thousands of people attend ceremonies at Waldheim where the cornerstone of the monument is laid. The time capsule, a lead-lined box containing trial documents, labor organization papers, photographs of the executed men, and other items is buried under the cornerstone. 

A bust of August Spies is included in the inventory list of the time capsule. (Death masks of the men had been made by artist Charles Hoffman, and they were used to produce plaster-of-paris busts of at least Spies and Lingg. The Spies bust was 28 inches high, and has an inscription along the shoulder that says “Born Lendek Germany, 1855. August Vincent Theo. Spies. Murdered Nov. 11, 1887.” The lower inscription says “Last words of Spies: There will be a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today.” Spies is sculpted with the marks of the noose visible, and wearing a “dress-coat and a turndown collar and a necktie in which is a horseshoe scarf-pin.”    Michael Schaack, in his opportunistic book, "Anarchy and Anarchists" indicated that Nina Van Zandt Spies owned a marble bust of Spies. ) 

The Chicago Morning News Record article covering the event includes a line drawing of two men lowering the iron receptacle into a hole in the ground. Michael Britzius, president of the Cigarmakers’ Union speaks to the intent of this time capsule: “When generations to come dig up these records and read them they will wonder that such barbarity could have been tolerated in the nineteenth century.”

1893

In April, work is continuing steadily on the monument. The bronze figure has been cast by American Bronze Company in Chicago, and has been examined and approved by the committee. The stone work is in route from New England.

The bronze statue is placed into position on its pedestal on May 17. The Chicago Daily Tribune reports that “Bas-reliefs of Spies, Parsons, Lingg, Engel, and Fischer gleam from the monument sides.” ??

On June 25, the Haymarket Martyrs Monument is publicly unveiled and dedicated in a large ceremony. Visitors from all over the world are in Chicago for the Columbian Exposition, and excursions have been organized from St. Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo, and other cities. 

Albert Parsons, Jr. draws the curtain to unveil the Monument. The sculptor, Albert Weinert, formally presents the statue to Pioneer Aid and Support Association.  Even mainstream newspapers consistently praise the artistry of the Monument, although there is usually a reference to the statue’s defiant attitude. An attractive iron fence surrounds the Monument and plot area.

The next day, June 26, recently elected Governor Peter Altgeld pardons the men. This act ends up ruining Altgeld’s career.

Dated July 8, an inventory list of items that had been included in the time capsule on November 6, 1892 is added to the last pages of the Pioneer Aid and Support Association minutes book.

1895

In November, Waldheim Cemetery officials forbid the annual parade and ceremony. There is discussion of moving the bodies elsewhere.

More discussion of disinterring the bodies continues into December. The idea of cremating the bodies and moving them to a location that allows demonstrations is popular, but not realistic financially and does not take place. 

Labor hero, Eugene V. Debs, visits the Monument – it’s his first stop after being released from jail in November for mail obstruction charges in the Pullman railroad strike.

1898

Emma Goldman is in Chicago in March and visits Michael Schwab in the hospital. She also goes to Waldheim to see the Monument.

Michael Schwab dies on June 29 from pulmonary problems incurred while in prison. He is cremated, and his ashes are buried next to the Monument in Lot 789.

1905
IWW is formed in Chicago, Delegates make a trip to Waldheim.

1907

A survey in April indicates that two lots at the Monument are not wholly owned by Pioneer Aid. Consequently, parcels of land not covered by their deed had been fenced in. The lots 866 and 789 are each several feet short. The survey document also indicates that the Monument is located on plots 950 and 951.

  

1916

Oscar Neebe dies on April 22. He is cremated and buried in Lot 952. 

1937
The 50th anniversary brings about many tributes.  A committee called the International Labor Defense oversees the celebration. Flowers and laurel wreaths will be offered for sale, and names of donors will be inscribed on a parchment scroll at the foot of the monument. Alaskan cannery workers endorse this.

On November 3, the Daily Worker in New York reports that "labor's most renowned prisoner", Tom Mooney, has sent a $10 contribution to the International Labor Defense for a wreath in his name to be placed at the Martyrs Monument in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Haymarket incident. Writing from San Quentin, Mooney compares his case of wrongful conviction based on labor activism to that of the executed men. The International Labor Defense consequently indicates that they will send $10 to the Mooney defense fund.

1942

On March 7, Lucy Parsons is killed in a fire at her home, along with her husband, George Markstall. The ashes of Lucy, George, and Albert, Jr. (who had died in 1917) are buried in lot 869. Lucy’s will left her home to the Pioneer Aid and Support Association, with the requirement that it never be sold, and that the rental income be used for maintenance of the Monument. Pioneer Aid and Support Association can not collect rents on owned property due to its tax-exempt status, but is allowed to sell the lot for $700. 

1945

Pioneer Aid and Support Association Board instructs their committee to paint the chains of the ornamental iron fence light gray, and the posts black. Earlier, in Edward Wagenknecht’s (1900-2004) memoir, Daughters of the Covenant, as a child he remembered the chains were painted red, black, and gold.

1946

Lucy Parson’s grave marker is unveiled next to the Monument on Memorial Day.

1947

Pioneer Aid and Support Association minutes discuss repairing the sidewalk around the Monument.

On October 28, 1947, the Daily Worker in New York published a letter to the editor from K. Briesemeister, president of Pioneer Aid and Support Association  in Chicago. Briesemeister wrote that the organization was getting smaller every year, and that the few members remaining are getting old and worry that their further activities will be of short duration. They are asking for contributions for a perpetual care fund of $10,000 to preserve and perpetuate the Haymarket Martyrs Monument as a landmark in the history of the American labor movement.

1953

Pioneer Aid and Support Association minutes show that the iron fence is deteriorating and the urns are cracked.

1956

New cement work is done around the Monument in March.

1968

On May 4, the police statue in Chicago is defaced with black paint.

In late 1968 or early 1969, Bill Garvey and other labor writers and educators gather at the Blackstone Hotel and share outrage that a union, the Teamsters, donated funds to help restore the police statue. Garvey is an inspirational leader in the group, and they are determined to build an advocacy group for labor history.

Waldheim and Forest Home cemeteries are sold to a developer, Lawrence Malanfant.

1969

Waldheim Cemetery merges with Forest Home Cemetery in February. Malanfant sections off some of the land and builds apartments.

On May 4, a street demonstration is held in Haymarket Square under the auspices of the Haymarket Workers Memorial Committee, led by Bill Garvey and hosted by Studs Terkel. This rally is so successful that the group decides to form an ongoing organization.

In June, Irving Abrams, as president of Pioneer Aid and Support Association, writes to the Haymarket Workers Memorial Committee indicating that Pioneer Aid is having difficulty maintaining the Monument. He knows that that HWMC is interested in having a labor monument placed in Haymarket Square, but asks them to consider taking up perpetual care of the Haymarket Martyrs Monument in Forest Home instead.

The charter meeting of the Illinois Labor History Society takes place on August 5 in attorney Joe Jacobs’ office. Twenty-five people sign that they attended.

1970

The Haymarket Square Workers Memorial Committee merges with ILHS in January.

ILHS incorporates as a not-for-profit organization on March 3.

ILHS minutes for April 16, show that Irving Abrams moves, and the motion carries, that “Pioneer Aid and Support Association be perpetuated to maintain the upkeep of the Haymarket Monument in Waldheim Cemetery.”

1971

On April 26, the deed to the Monument is transferred to ILHS by Irving Abrams, the sole survivor of Pioneer Aid and Support Association.

Chicago Daily News erroneously reports that ILHS had utilized its funds to clean the police statue. ILHS refutes this, and continues to recommend that the police statue be moved to Chicago police headquarters. 

A public ceremony is held on May 2 at the Monument, and the title is ceremonially turned over to the Illinois Labor History Society. The Monument has been cleaned and refurbished for the occasion.

1972

After numerous relocations due to vandalism and destruction, including a Weather Underground bombing, and after public complaints about the ongoing expense, the police statue is finally moved to Chicago police headquarters.

1980

Irving Abrams dies, and is buried in Lot 869. His wife, Esther, will join him in 1985.

1981

“Solidarity” graffiti in red and white paint appears on the Monument, linking it to Polish struggles for political freedom. 

1986

The centennial celebration program goes quite well, except for some disruption by anarchists.

1990

Forest Home Cemetery’s license to provide perpetual care is revoked. Owner Lawrence Malanfant had taken the perpetual care fund and invested in a Chicago building that was then foreclosed on. The court appoints a trustee to oversee the perpetual care fund.

1991

There is mortgage foreclosure on Forest Home Cemetery. The cemetery is sold to Lee Brukman. Brukman trades a $3 million mortgage for junk bonds that go into receivership.

1993

The Monument is rededicated in a June ceremony celebrating the centennial of the Altgeld pardon.

Lee Brukman sells the cemetery to Consolidated Investors Diversified Ltd, a company with only two shareholders: Carl Hunking and David Naranjo. Hunking and Naranjo are businessmen with many complicated deals and no available telephone number. Hunking uses an earlier $2.5 million debt to Brukman as the down payment.

1994

In December, the cemetery files for bankruptcy. (Interestingly, one of the creditors is American Wilbert Vaults, a company evolved from the original Haas family.) The cemetery is plundered after the cemetery fence is sold and security is eliminated.

Significant damage is done to the Monument. The bronze floral piece on the front and plaque on the rear are stolen, as is the large bronze tablet on the nearby Cigar Makers Grave. 

1995

Yevgeny Yevtushenko, famed Russian poet, visits the Monument in May. He is distressed about the damage.

1997

On February 18, the National Park Service officially classifies the Monument as a National Historic Landmark. This is particularly noteworthy because commemorative properties and grave sites are not normally designated as landmarks. The Monument is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

In August, the Autonomous Zone (A-Zone) - an anarchist group that was active in Chicago for about ten years - indicates interest in replacing the bronze plaque that was stolen in 1994.

1998

The Laborers and Cement Masons union lays a new concrete surround and walkway at the Monument.

On May 3, the National Historic Landmark marker is unveiled in a large ceremony at the Monument in Forest Home. The Monument has been cleaned and refurbished for the event. A number of anarchists, including members of the Autonomous Zone and the Louis Lingg Society, attend and anger is expressed over the fact that the ceremony includes government sponsorship, a Catholic benediction, and the song “America the Beautiful.” Some pushing and shoving takes place.

The Autonomous Zone indicates interest in replacing the bronze floral piece that was stolen in 1994.

2001

July minutes of ILHS indicate that the National Historic Landmark marker has been vandalized with a circled A.

2004

“New Forest Home Cemetery, LLC” with the added name of “Forest Home Cemetery” is filed with the Illinois Secretary of State. The agent is listed as John K. Kallman. 

2009

It is proposed that Andrzej Dajonowski of Conservation of Sculpture and Objects Studio (located next to Forest Home cemetery) be hired to restore the missing floral spray and clean the Monument. Dajonowski has been strongly recommended by the National Park Service and the Chicago Park District. There is also some discussion of recreating the ornamental iron fence around the lots.

2010

The ILHS Board accepts Andrzej Dajonowski’s bid to restore the bronze floral spray, and Mark Rogovin is listed as artistic consultant for the restoration project.

2011

The bronze spray is replaced, and the Monument is restored and rededicated on May 1.

2016

The Illinois Secretary of State’s corporation database indicates that “New Forest Home Cemetery, LLC”, as filed in 2004, is currently active in March. 

In October, Lake Forest College professor and urban archaeologist, Rebecca Graff, leads a dig on the south edge of the Monument, attempting to find the time capsule.