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Unionized Teamsters and the Struggle over the Streets of theEarly-Twentieth-Century City

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

David Witwer
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Extract

Two political cartoons from the 1905 Chicago Tribune portrayedhow some elements in society viewed the rise of a powerful Teamsters Union.On 29April 1905, the front page cartoon depicted a husky teamster engaged in asympathetic strike while the caption read, “The Dictator in His Old Actof Blocking Commerce” (Figure 1). A month later, on 3 June 1905, acartoon played on the coincidence of the June 1905 uprising in Russia and agrand jury investigation of Teamster strike leaders in Chicago. The titlecaption read, “The Grand Dukes of Russia and the Grand Dukes ofChicago” (Figure 2). Both cartoons emphasized the theme of irresponsiblepower—either that of a dictatorship or of an unprincipled grand duke.Teamster leaders were tyrants, these images said.The sphere in which thisirresponsible power was wielded extended beyond the realm of union affairs, andthe relay the true menace conveyed by these images.They asserted that Teamsterleaders held it in their power to stop the flow of business activity inChicago.

Information

Type
Special Issue: The Working Classes and Urban Public Space Edited byElizabeth Faue
Information
Social Science History , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , spring 2000 , pp. 183 - 222
Copyright
Copyright © Social Science History Association 2000 

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