The Famous Speeches of the Eight Chicago Anarchists

Back in print for the first time in decades. A classic in US labor history.

On May 1, 1886, Albert and Lucy Parsons led upwards of 80,000 striking workers and their supporters through the streets of Chicago. Across the country workers were advocating for the eight-hour day. On May 3, police killed two striking workers on the west side of Chicago. In response, a rally was called for May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. There a bomb was thrown, eventually killing seven policeman and wounding dozens of others. Eight anarchists were accused: four were hanged, two had their sentences commuted, one served six years, and one died by suicide in his cell. Accused and convicted of conspiracy, the state of Illinois couldn’t prove any of them threw the bomb, so they instead tried to kill the anarchist movement. This miscarriage of justice ignited labor movements across the United States and around the world. Collected here are the voices of the accused from their sentencing in the fall of 1886.

For decades after Albert was hanged, Lucy Parsons carried on her husband’s legacy through writing, public speaking, and publishing The Famous Speeches of the Eight Chicago Anarchists. The chilling and defiant words of the accused--six of whom were not even at Haymarket Square the night of the bombing--are gripping still, these many years later.

＂If you think that you can crush out these ideas that are gaining ground more and more every day, if you think you can crush them out by sending us to the gallows; if you would once more have people suffer the penalty of death because they have dared to tell the truth--and I defy you to show us where we have told a lie--I say, if death is the penalty for proclaiming the truth, then I will proudly and defiantly pay the costly price! Call your hangman!＂ --August Spies

＂For such a government as this I can feel no respect, and will combat them, despite their power, despite their police, despite their spies. I hate and combat, not the individual capitalist, but the system that gives him those privileges. My greatest wish is that workingmen may recognize who are their friends and who are their enemies. As to my conviction, brought about as it was, through capitalistic influence, I have not one word to say.＂ --George Engel

＂I will ask you to hang me, too; for I think it is more honorable to die suddenly than to be killed by inches. I have a family and children; and if they know their father is dead, they will bury him. They can go to the grave, and kneel down by the side of it; but they can’t go to the penitentiary and see their father, who was convicted for a crime that he hasn’t had anything to do with. That is all I have got to say. Your honor, I am sorry I am not to be hung with the rest of the men.＂ --Oscar Neebe

Speeches from August Spies, Michael Schwab, Oscar Neebe, Adolph Fischer, Louis Lingg, George Engel, Samuel Fielden, Albert Parsons are accompanied by a preface and introduction from Lucy Parsons, foreword by labor historian David R. Roediger, and a public speech from 1901 commemorating the Haymarket anarchists by poet and writer Voltairine de Cleyre.

Lucy Parsons (1851-1942) was a labor organizer, writer, public speaker, and cofounder of the Industrial Workers of the World. She was of Black, Mexican, and, likely, Native American ancestry. Parsons published Life of Albert R. Parsons in 1889 and a collection of her writings, Lucy Parsons: Freedom, Equality and Solidarity - Writings and Speeches, 1878-1937, was published in 2004.

David R. Roediger is author of Wages of Whiteness, Towards the Abolition of Whiteness, and is coeditor of Haymarket Scrapbook. He has been active in the surrealist movement, labor support, and anti-racist organizing.

Voltairine de Cleyre (1866-1912) was the first prominent American-born anarchist. From her writings and speeches, through the illnesses that plagued her, the assassination attempt that left her clinging to life, to her early death at forty-five, she worked tirelessly to promote anarchism.

August Spies (1855-1887) was a German-born anarchist, editor of the Arbeiter-Zeitung, labor activist, and upholsterer by trade. He was hanged on November 11, 1887.

Michael Schwab (1853-1898), born in Germany, was a bookbinder by trade and associate editor of the Arbeiter-Zeitung, and was later pardoned by Illinois governor John Altgeld.

Oscar Neebe (1850-1916) was born in New York City, and settled in Chicago in 1877 with his family, was office manager of the Arbeiter-Zeitung, and was later pardoned by Illinois governor John Altgeld.

Adolph Fischer (1858-1887) was born in Germany and immigrated to the US at the age of fifteen. He was a member of the International Working People’s Association, a typesetter for the Arbeiter-Zeitung, and was hanged on November 11, 1887.

Louis Lingg (1864-1887) was born in Germany, apprenticed as a carpenter, and was active in his union. He died on November 10, 1887, after ingesting a blasting cap smuggled into his cell by Dyer D. Lum.

George Engel (1836-1887) emigrated to the US from Germany in 1873, moving to Chicago in 1876 where he operated a toy shop. Engel was a member of the International Working People’s Association and was hanged on November 11, 1887.

Samuel Fielden (1847-1922) was born in England and settled in Chicago in 1869. Engel was a Methodist pastor, worked as a teamster, treasurer for the International Working People’s Association, and was a labor activist. He served six years of his fifteen year sentence before being pardoned by Illinois governor John Altgeld.

Albert R. Parsons (1848-1887) moved from Texas to Chicago with wife Lucy in 1873, was a typesetter, labor leader, editor of The Alarm, member of the Knights of Labor, and in 1883 helped establish the International Working People’s Association. He was hanged on November 11, 1887.