Arturo Giovannitti
Encyclopedia
Arturo M. Giovannitti was an Italian-American union leader, socialist political activist, and poet. He is best remembered as one of the principal organizers of the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike
and as a defendant in a celebrated trial ensuing from that event.
, in what is now the Province of Campobasso
, Italy
, at the time part of the Abruzzi, but now part of Molise
. He emigrated from Italy to Canada in 1900 and, after working in a coal mine and railroad crew, began preaching in a Presbyterian mission. He soon came to the United States
where he studied in Union Theological Seminary
. Though he did not graduate, he ran rescue missions for Italians in Brooklyn and Pittsburgh and began writing for the weekly newspaper of the Italian Socialist Federation. In 1911, he became the newspaper's editor.
posted new rules limiting the hours of workers to 54 a week, down from a standard of 56 previously in effect. It soon became clear that the employers had no intention of adjusting wage rates upwards to compensate for the lost work time, and a strike ensued.
On January 12, 1912, the Italian-language branch of Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW) Local 20 decided to send to New York City for Joe Ettor, the organization's top Italian-language leader, to come to Lawrence and lead the strike. Within a few days, Ettor called his friend Giovannitti to Lawrence to coordinate relief efforts. Giovannitti soon began speaking to Italians. His most noted address was his "Sermon on the Common" which mimicked the cadences of Jesus' Beatitudes -- "Blessed are the rebels for they shall reconquer the earth."
The trial of Giovannitti, Ettor, and Caruso was the cause of much agitation in the fall of 1912. On January 29, a striker named Anna LoPizzo
was shot and killed during a police crackdown on an unruly mob. Although Ettor and Giovannitti were three miles from the scene, both were arrested and imprisoned on the charge of inciting to a riot leading to the loss of life. While in jail, Giovannitti wrote many poems. By the time of the trial that fall, several were published in leading journals, bringing him widespread fame. Giovannitti's poem "The Walker," in which he recounted the tormented footsteps of a prisoner, brought him comparisons to Walt Whitman
and Oscar Wilde
.
The imprisonment of Ettor and Giovannitti became a cause celebre, attracting nationwide attention and inspiring activists who called for the guaranteeing of free speech. Workers from across America contributed to the Ettor-Giovannitti Defense Fund which eventually totaled $50,000.
The trial of Ettor, Giovannitti, and a co-defendant accused of firing the shot that killed the picketer, began on September 30, 1912 in Salem, Massachusetts
before Judge Joseph F. Quinn
. As was the custom in capital cases in Massachusetts, the three defendants were kept in an open metal cage in the courtroom. The trial received coverage throughout America and Europe. Prosecution witnesses quoted from speeches by Ettor and Giovannitti. Ettor: "This town won't be very happy in two days. Something is going to happen... keep the gun shops busy..." Giovannitti (to strikers): "Prowl around like wild animals looking for the blood of the scabs." Yet defense witnesses testified without contradiction that Ettor and Giovannitti were miles away from the scene of the murder while Joseph Caruso, the third defendant in the case, was at home eating supper at the time of the killing.
Giovannitti and Ettor both delivered closing statements at the end of the two-month trial. Giovannitti's speech brought many in the gallery to tears. Though he began by noting it was "the first time in my life that I speak publicly in your wonderful language," he soon spoke eloquently about his love of life: "I am twenty-nine years old. I have a woman that loves me and that I love. I have a mother and father that are waiting for me. I have an ideal that is dearer to me than can be expressed or understood. And life has so many allurements and it is so nice and bright and so wonderful that i feel the passion of living in my heart." Yet if allowed to go free, he added, "Let me tell you that the first strike that breaks again in this Commonwealth or any other place in America where the work and the help and the intelligence of Joseph J. Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti will be needed and necessary, there we shall go again regardless of any fear and any threat. We shall return again to our humble efforts, obscure, humble, unknown, misunderstood -- soldiers of this mighty army of the working class of the world, which out of the shadows and the darkness of the past is striving towards the destined goal which is the emancipation of human kind, which is the establishment of love and brotherhood and justice for every man and every woman in this earth."
All three defendants were acquitted on November 26, 1912.
wrote: "Giovannitti is, like Shelley, a poet of revolt against the cruelty, the poverty, the ignorance which too many of us accept." But Giovannitti, following ten months in prison, avoided involvement in volatile strikes. Instead, he devoted hmself to poetry, editing radical journals, and protesting World War I, which claimed two of his brothers. On into the 1920s and 1930s, he appeared at various workers' rallies, charming crowds with his Vandyke beard and flowery Italian and English.
In 1950, Giovannitti was stricken by a paralysis in both legs. He remained bedridden until his death in the Bronx on New Year's Eve in 1959.
Giovannitti's papers, consisting of a typescript play called "The Alpha and the Omega (In Memory of a very Rich Holy Man)," are housed at the University of Minnesota
.
Translator:
Lawrence textile strike
The Lawrence Textile Strike was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World. Prompted by one mill owner's decision to lower wages when a new law shortening the workweek went into effect in January, the strike spread rapidly through the...
and as a defendant in a celebrated trial ensuing from that event.
Early years
Arturo Giovannitti was born January 7, 1884 in RipabottoniRipabottoni
Ripabottoni is a comune in the Province of Campobasso in the Italian region Molise, located about 20 km northeast of Campobasso. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 644 and an area of 31.9 km²....
, in what is now the Province of Campobasso
Province of Campobasso
The Province of Campobasso is a province in the Molise region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Campobasso.It has an area of 2,909 km², and a total population of 230,692...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, at the time part of the Abruzzi, but now part of Molise
Molise
Molise is a region of Southern Italy, the second smallest of the regions. It was formerly part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise and now a separate entity...
. He emigrated from Italy to Canada in 1900 and, after working in a coal mine and railroad crew, began preaching in a Presbyterian mission. He soon came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where he studied in Union Theological Seminary
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
. Though he did not graduate, he ran rescue missions for Italians in Brooklyn and Pittsburgh and began writing for the weekly newspaper of the Italian Socialist Federation. In 1911, he became the newspaper's editor.
Political career
On January 1, 1912, in accordance with a new state law, the textile mills of Lawrence, MassachusettsLawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...
posted new rules limiting the hours of workers to 54 a week, down from a standard of 56 previously in effect. It soon became clear that the employers had no intention of adjusting wage rates upwards to compensate for the lost work time, and a strike ensued.
On January 12, 1912, the Italian-language branch of Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
(IWW) Local 20 decided to send to New York City for Joe Ettor, the organization's top Italian-language leader, to come to Lawrence and lead the strike. Within a few days, Ettor called his friend Giovannitti to Lawrence to coordinate relief efforts. Giovannitti soon began speaking to Italians. His most noted address was his "Sermon on the Common" which mimicked the cadences of Jesus' Beatitudes -- "Blessed are the rebels for they shall reconquer the earth."
The trial of Giovannitti, Ettor, and Caruso was the cause of much agitation in the fall of 1912. On January 29, a striker named Anna LoPizzo
Anna LoPizzo
Anna LoPizzo was a striker killed during the Lawrence textile strike , considered one of the most significant struggles in U.S. labor history...
was shot and killed during a police crackdown on an unruly mob. Although Ettor and Giovannitti were three miles from the scene, both were arrested and imprisoned on the charge of inciting to a riot leading to the loss of life. While in jail, Giovannitti wrote many poems. By the time of the trial that fall, several were published in leading journals, bringing him widespread fame. Giovannitti's poem "The Walker," in which he recounted the tormented footsteps of a prisoner, brought him comparisons to Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
and Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
.
The imprisonment of Ettor and Giovannitti became a cause celebre, attracting nationwide attention and inspiring activists who called for the guaranteeing of free speech. Workers from across America contributed to the Ettor-Giovannitti Defense Fund which eventually totaled $50,000.
The trial of Ettor, Giovannitti, and a co-defendant accused of firing the shot that killed the picketer, began on September 30, 1912 in Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
before Judge Joseph F. Quinn
Joseph F. Quinn
Joseph F. Quinn was the first Irishman elevated to the bench in Massachusetts where he served on the Essex County Superior Court after being appointed by Governor Eugene Foss in 1911. He lived in Salem and was the son of an immigrant from the days of the potato famine. He attended University of...
. As was the custom in capital cases in Massachusetts, the three defendants were kept in an open metal cage in the courtroom. The trial received coverage throughout America and Europe. Prosecution witnesses quoted from speeches by Ettor and Giovannitti. Ettor: "This town won't be very happy in two days. Something is going to happen... keep the gun shops busy..." Giovannitti (to strikers): "Prowl around like wild animals looking for the blood of the scabs." Yet defense witnesses testified without contradiction that Ettor and Giovannitti were miles away from the scene of the murder while Joseph Caruso, the third defendant in the case, was at home eating supper at the time of the killing.
Giovannitti and Ettor both delivered closing statements at the end of the two-month trial. Giovannitti's speech brought many in the gallery to tears. Though he began by noting it was "the first time in my life that I speak publicly in your wonderful language," he soon spoke eloquently about his love of life: "I am twenty-nine years old. I have a woman that loves me and that I love. I have a mother and father that are waiting for me. I have an ideal that is dearer to me than can be expressed or understood. And life has so many allurements and it is so nice and bright and so wonderful that i feel the passion of living in my heart." Yet if allowed to go free, he added, "Let me tell you that the first strike that breaks again in this Commonwealth or any other place in America where the work and the help and the intelligence of Joseph J. Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti will be needed and necessary, there we shall go again regardless of any fear and any threat. We shall return again to our humble efforts, obscure, humble, unknown, misunderstood -- soldiers of this mighty army of the working class of the world, which out of the shadows and the darkness of the past is striving towards the destined goal which is the emancipation of human kind, which is the establishment of love and brotherhood and justice for every man and every woman in this earth."
All three defendants were acquitted on November 26, 1912.
Death and legacy
In the wake of the trial, Giovannitti published his first book of poems, "Arrows in the Gale," in 1914. In an introduction to the book, Helen KellerHelen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
wrote: "Giovannitti is, like Shelley, a poet of revolt against the cruelty, the poverty, the ignorance which too many of us accept." But Giovannitti, following ten months in prison, avoided involvement in volatile strikes. Instead, he devoted hmself to poetry, editing radical journals, and protesting World War I, which claimed two of his brothers. On into the 1920s and 1930s, he appeared at various workers' rallies, charming crowds with his Vandyke beard and flowery Italian and English.
In 1950, Giovannitti was stricken by a paralysis in both legs. He remained bedridden until his death in the Bronx on New Year's Eve in 1959.
Giovannitti's papers, consisting of a typescript play called "The Alpha and the Omega (In Memory of a very Rich Holy Man)," are housed at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
.
Works
- Ettor and Giovannitti Before the Jury at Salem, Massachusetts, November 23, 1912. With Joseph J. Ettor. Chicago: Industrial Workers of the World, n.d. [1912].
- Address of the Defendant Arthuro M. Giovannitti to Jury. Salem Court House, November 23, 1912. Boston: Boston School of Social Science, 1912. —reissued with new title, 1913.
- Arrows in the Gale. Introduction by Helen KellerHelen KellerHelen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
. Riverside, CT: Hillacre Bookhouse, 1914. - The Cage. Riverside, CT: Hillacre, 1914.
- Come era nel principio (tenebre rosse): Dramma in 3 atti. Brooklyn: Italian IWW Publishing Bureau, 1918.
- "Communism on Trial," in The Red Ruby: Address to the Jury by Benjamin Gitlow. [New York]: Communist Labor Party, n.d. [1920]; pp. 14–15.
- Eugenio V. Debs: Apostolo del socialismo. With Girolamo Valenti. Chicago: Italian Labor Publishing Co., n.d. [c. 1920].
- Parole e sangue. New York: Labor Press, 1938.
- Quando canta il gallo. Chicago, E. Clemente, 1957.
- Collected Poems. Chicago, E. Clemente, 1962.
Translator:
- Émile Pouget, Sabotage. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Co., 1913.
Further reading
- Bruce Watson, Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream, New York, NY, Viking [2005]
- William D. Haywood, Speech of William D. Haywood on the Case of Ettor and Giovannitti, Cooper Union, New York. Lawrence, MA: Ettor-Giovannitti Defense Committee, n.d. [1912].
External links
- The Walker (Poem & further links) at the Stan Iverson Memorial Library
- Quale Press