Big and Little Steel Little Steel Strikes The Memorial Day
Massacre The Struggle Intensifies The Women's Day Massacre The
Strike's Revival By Benjamin Blake, Western Reserve Historical
Society The National Guard and Martial Law For the union, the
"Women's Day Massacre" was not only a tragedy, but it once again
illustrated how peaceful protest could unexpectedly explode into
to violence. For John Steuben and Bob Burke, SWOC's two most
important Youngstown organizers, it was a bitterly frustrating
experience. After twenty-five exhausting days of maintaining
disciplined and highly effective mass picket lines, the two
militant unionists, both Communist Party members, were unable to
contain the rage of the rank and file in the face of an
unanticipated police provocation. While the steelworkers fought
the police to a standoff, it was a pyhrric victory. Republic was
not trying to move strikebreakers or supplies into the mill at
the time of the battle. Moreover, while sympathy for the
strikers may have increased with