 During Bughouse Square's height in the 1920s and 1930s, poets, religionists, and philosophers addressed the crowds, but the mainstays were soapboxers from the revolutionary left, especially from the Industrial Workers of the World.Many of the speakers became legendary and included anarchist Lucy Parsons, Ben Reitman, John Loughman, socialist Frank Midney, feminist-Marxist Martha Biegler, Frederick Wilkesbarr, Herbert Shaw (the "Cosmic Kid"), Kenneth Rexroth in his youth, the Sheridan twins (Jack and Jimmy), famed criminal defense lawyer Julius Lucius Echeles (about Clarence Darrow, and some of his own experiences with judges, justice and defendants); and one-armed "Cholly" Wendorf.Today the Newberry organizes the debates as a celebration of the legacy of Bughouse Square and of First Amendment rights.