Objekt des Monats
Jedes Objekt in der Sammlung des Deutschen Auswandererhauses erzählt eine ganz persönliche Auswanderungs- oder Einwanderungsgeschichte. In dieser Rubrik stellen wir Ihnen jeden Monat ein anderes Objekt vor – eine Fotografie, ein Dokument oder ein persönliches Erinnerungsstück.
May 2020
Letter from the year 1887
Historical Context
On May 1, 1886, 80,000 workers in Chicago demonstrate for the eight-hour workday. They are inspired by the German immigrant August Spies in the Workers’ newspaper:
“Bravely forward! The fight has begun. (…) Workers, your slogan should be: no compromises! Cowards to the back! Men to the front! The die is cast! May 1, 1886, the historical significance of which will only be understood and appreciated in later years, is here.”
The Chicago Mail nervously warns of “troublemakers” like Spies, claiming they would incite “unrest and riots” on May 1. Initially, the newspaper seems to be wrong, as nothing happens. However, the situation between the police and demonstrators escalates. On May 3, the police shoot two striking workers in front of a harvesting machinery factory. At a demonstration against the killings, a bomb explodes on May 4 at Haymarket in Chicago, killing several police officers. Eight defendants, including five German immigrants, are held responsible for the bomb in court. One of them is August Spies, the editor of the Chicago Workers’ newspaper. None of the defendants can be proven to have a connection to the bombing, but the judge ascribes to them an indirect, agitational responsibility. All but one defendant are sentenced to death. On May 1, 1890, the first “Day of Struggle for the Labor Movement” is held to commemorate the victims of the Haymarket Riot.
Short Biography of Louis Schutz
In 1880, Louis Schütz moved from the village of Westerfeld in Hochtaunus to Newark to pursue a career as a professional musician. Three years later, he brought his younger brother Fritz over. Both enjoyed a successful career as musicians in ‘Voss’ First Regiment Band’, which originated from a military band of the American Civil War. The two brothers and their children did not just play music; they also described life in the USA to their relatives in Germany: more than 130 letters were sent back to Westerfeld.
Significance of the object
One of these letters describes the aftermath of the Chicago Haymarket Riot. On November 25, 1887, shortly after the execution of several death sentences, Louis Schütz wrote to his mother expressing his fear of a bad reputation for the German community due to the backgrounds of the convicted:
The main topic of conversation here in recent weeks was the execution of the Chicago anarchists; I don’t know if you read about it in Germany or not. Seven men, the main leaders and agitators of the anarchists, including five Germans, were sentenced to death for inciting the crowd at a workers’ assembly in the Haymarket in Chicago to throw a dynamite bomb at the police, resulting in the deaths of police officers and injuries to 60 people. Two of these would-be reformers were commuted to life imprisonment; one committed suicide the day before the execution, and the remaining four were hanged at the same time on November 11. As you can imagine, much was spoken and written about this, but the worst part is that it casts a dark shadow over the peace-loving Germans living here, as most of them were our compatriots.
However, it was not this workers’ uprising that harmed the reputation of the German communities in the long run, but rather the arms race of the German Empire and then World War I.
Do you also have …
… a story of migration or immigration in your family to tell, and would like to donate it along with the related objects and documents to the German Emigration Center for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau at the phone number 0471 / 90 22 0 – 0 or via email at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de
Archive: Previous Objects of the Month
Show all objectsDo You Also Have …
… a story of emigration or immigration in your family that you would like to share with the German Emigration Center together with the related objects and documents for its collection? Then please contact Dr. Tanja Fittkau by phone at +49 471 / 90 22 0 – 0
or by e-mail at: t.fittkau@dah-bremerhaven.de