Lexington Avenue bombing
Encyclopedia
The Lexington Avenue bombing was the July 4, 1914 explosion of a bomb
in an apartment at 1626 Lexington Avenue
New York City
, killing four people and injuring dozens.
they had obtained from Russia. Plotting with them was Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW) member Arthur Caron
. They stored the dynamite at the apartment of another Anarchist Red Cross member, Louise Berger
. Berger was an editor of Emma Goldman
's Mother Earth News
. Several meetings were held at the Ferrer Center, where they devised a plan in which Caron, Berg, and Hanson were to plant a bomb at John D. Rockefeller
's home in Tarrytown, New York
.
According to later accounts, the three men, along with Alexander Berkman
and Charles Plunkett, met at the Ferrer Center at least twice to discuss the plot. Charles Plunkett, a party to the conspiracy, later stated that Berkman chose to remain behind the scenes rather than take an active role in the bombing due to his being on probation for the attempted assassination of Henry Clay Frick
. Berkman later denied any involvement or knowledge of the plan, a denial supported by some who knew him, and rejected by others.
, only a few blocks away from the Ferrer Center. Passers-by witnessed a shower of debris and rubble fall into the street. The three upper floors of the tenement building were wrecked from the explosion, while debris showered rooftops and the streets below. Large pieces of furniture were thrown hundreds of feet through the air due to the power of the blast. The bomb intended for Rockefeller had exploded prematurely at Berger's apartment, killing Hanson, Berg, Caron and Marie Chavez, who had apparently not been involved in the conspiracy but had merely rented a room in the apartment. The blast threw Caron's body onto the mangled and twisted fire escape. The mutilated bodies of Chavez and Hanson were found inside of the apartment. The blast had torn the body of Berg into pieces, which were seen by spectators being thrown through the air onto the streets. In total, twenty other people were injured, seven of them severely enough to be hospitalized. Berkman attended the men's funerals. Berger later denied any involvement, and police were unable to implicate her in the conspiracy.
Another IWW member named "Mike" Murphy was spending the night in the same apartment when the explosion occurred. The blast destroyed the floor underneath him, causing his bed to fall into the apartment below. Slightly dazed and confused, Murphy was able to walk away from the incident with only the loss of some clothes and a few minor bruises. He was immediately sought for questioning by the police, but was able to slip away to Mother Earth headquarters, where it is believed that Berkman sent him into hiding, accompanied by Charles Plunkett, another co-conspirator of the bombing. Murphy was first taken to New Jersey and then to Philadelphia by members of the Radical Library and finally on to Canada.
. On November 19, 1915, another bomb plot was discovered, this time against John D. Archbold, President of the Standard Oil Company, at his home in Tarrytown. Police theorized the bomb was planted by anarchists and I.W.W. radicals as a protest against the execution of I.W.W. member Joseph Hillstrom in Salt Lake City. The bomb was discovered by a gardener, who found four sticks of dynamite, weighing a pound each, half hidden in a rut in a driveway fifty feet from the front entrance of the residence. The dynamite sticks were bound together by a length of wire, fitted with percussion caps, and wrapped with a piece of paper matching the color of the driveway, a path used by Archbold in going to or from his home by automobile. The bomb was later defused by police.
later created a fictionalized version of this bombing and placed the semi-autobiographical narrator, using the name "John Lemaire," in the story as the innocent fourth roommate. This version appeared in Durant's 1927 book, Transition: A Sentimental Story of One Mind and One Era. In Durant's version, the innocent roommate survived. The parallels between the true story and Durant's version are unmistakable, as Durant associated with anarchists loosely affiliated with the Ferrer Center at which Durant taught. Durant further describes the bombing as intended retaliation against a wealthy industrialist whose company had caused a massacre of employees in Colorado
. Despite the use of fictionalized names, some confusion about Durant's intentions with this material has arisen, possibly due to editorial changes as the book was reprinted. An editor's "Caution" in the 1955 edition states that initially the book was "in the form of a novel; consequently it added, to the actual experiences and memories of the author, some events and conversations not actually his own."
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
in an apartment at 1626 Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue (Manhattan)
Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated by New Yorkers as "Lex," is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street...
New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, killing four people and injuring dozens.
The conspirators
In July 1914, two members of the Lettish section of the Anarchist Red Cross, Charles Berg and Carl Hanson began collecting dynamiteDynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
they had obtained from Russia. Plotting with them was 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) member Arthur Caron
Arthur Caron
Arthur Caron was a French Canadian anarchist and a member of the Industrial Workers of the World. He masterminded an attempt to assassinate John D. Rockefeller. He was killed along with Carl Hanson, and Charles Berg on July 4, 1914 when his bomb prematurely exploded.-References:...
. They stored the dynamite at the apartment of another Anarchist Red Cross member, Louise Berger
Louise Berger
Louise Berger was a Latvian anarchist, a member of the Anarchist Red Cross and editor of Emma Goldman's Mother Earth Bulletin in New York. Berger became well known outside anarchist circles in 1914 after a premature bomb explosion at her New York City apartment , which killed four persons and...
. Berger was an editor of Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
's Mother Earth News
Mother Earth (journal)
This version of Mother Earth was an anarchist periodical aimed at bringing up progressive issues, and discuss these. It was in circulation among people in the radical community in the United States from 1933 - 1934....
. Several meetings were held at the Ferrer Center, where they devised a plan in which Caron, Berg, and Hanson were to plant a bomb at John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
's home in Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
.
According to later accounts, the three men, along with Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman was an anarchist known for his political activism and writing. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century....
and Charles Plunkett, met at the Ferrer Center at least twice to discuss the plot. Charles Plunkett, a party to the conspiracy, later stated that Berkman chose to remain behind the scenes rather than take an active role in the bombing due to his being on probation for the attempted assassination of Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel steel manufacturing concern...
. Berkman later denied any involvement or knowledge of the plan, a denial supported by some who knew him, and rejected by others.
Explosion
At 9 a.m. on July 4, Berger left her apartment and headed over to the Mother Earth offices on 119th Street. Fifteen minutes later, a deadly explosion took place on the sixth story of Berger's tenement building at 1626 Lexington Avenue, between 102nd Street and 103rd Street in the thickly populated area of HarlemHarlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, only a few blocks away from the Ferrer Center. Passers-by witnessed a shower of debris and rubble fall into the street. The three upper floors of the tenement building were wrecked from the explosion, while debris showered rooftops and the streets below. Large pieces of furniture were thrown hundreds of feet through the air due to the power of the blast. The bomb intended for Rockefeller had exploded prematurely at Berger's apartment, killing Hanson, Berg, Caron and Marie Chavez, who had apparently not been involved in the conspiracy but had merely rented a room in the apartment. The blast threw Caron's body onto the mangled and twisted fire escape. The mutilated bodies of Chavez and Hanson were found inside of the apartment. The blast had torn the body of Berg into pieces, which were seen by spectators being thrown through the air onto the streets. In total, twenty other people were injured, seven of them severely enough to be hospitalized. Berkman attended the men's funerals. Berger later denied any involvement, and police were unable to implicate her in the conspiracy.
Another IWW member named "Mike" Murphy was spending the night in the same apartment when the explosion occurred. The blast destroyed the floor underneath him, causing his bed to fall into the apartment below. Slightly dazed and confused, Murphy was able to walk away from the incident with only the loss of some clothes and a few minor bruises. He was immediately sought for questioning by the police, but was able to slip away to Mother Earth headquarters, where it is believed that Berkman sent him into hiding, accompanied by Charles Plunkett, another co-conspirator of the bombing. Murphy was first taken to New Jersey and then to Philadelphia by members of the Radical Library and finally on to Canada.
Aftermath
The deaths of the bombmakers did not end the attacks against Rockefeller and Standard OilStandard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
. On November 19, 1915, another bomb plot was discovered, this time against John D. Archbold, President of the Standard Oil Company, at his home in Tarrytown. Police theorized the bomb was planted by anarchists and I.W.W. radicals as a protest against the execution of I.W.W. member Joseph Hillstrom in Salt Lake City. The bomb was discovered by a gardener, who found four sticks of dynamite, weighing a pound each, half hidden in a rut in a driveway fifty feet from the front entrance of the residence. The dynamite sticks were bound together by a length of wire, fitted with percussion caps, and wrapped with a piece of paper matching the color of the driveway, a path used by Archbold in going to or from his home by automobile. The bomb was later defused by police.
Transition
Philosopher Will DurantWill Durant
William James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife Ariel Durant and published between 1935 and 1975...
later created a fictionalized version of this bombing and placed the semi-autobiographical narrator, using the name "John Lemaire," in the story as the innocent fourth roommate. This version appeared in Durant's 1927 book, Transition: A Sentimental Story of One Mind and One Era. In Durant's version, the innocent roommate survived. The parallels between the true story and Durant's version are unmistakable, as Durant associated with anarchists loosely affiliated with the Ferrer Center at which Durant taught. Durant further describes the bombing as intended retaliation against a wealthy industrialist whose company had caused a massacre of employees in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Despite the use of fictionalized names, some confusion about Durant's intentions with this material has arisen, possibly due to editorial changes as the book was reprinted. An editor's "Caution" in the 1955 edition states that initially the book was "in the form of a novel; consequently it added, to the actual experiences and memories of the author, some events and conversations not actually his own."
Further reading
- Margaret Marsh. Anarchist Women 1870-1920. Temple University Press; ISBN 0-87722-202-9