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| Landmark #873 | Fresno County | Visited: February 16, 2013 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A plaque in a planter! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: At the corner of Mariposa and I Streets, from October 1910 to March 1911, the Industrial Workers of the World fought for the right of free speech in their efforts to organize Fresno’s unskilled labor force. This was the first fight for free speech in California, and the first attempt to organize the valley’s unskilled workers.
OTHER TIDBITS: The IWW, or Wobblies, were a radical labor rights organization whose goal was to dissolve the system and concept of wages, and put workers in charge. One of their representatives, Frank Little, arrived in Fresno in 1910, calling all workers, lumberjacks, miners, seasonal agricultural workers, even if they were African-American, Mexican, or even (gasp) Chinese, to join his cause! This was the corner where Mr. Little spoke on his soapbox and where Police Chief William Shaw repeatedly arrested him and his followers for “vagrancy.” They were denied jury trials, placed in dark cells, and sprayed with high-pressure hoses for singing! That brought scores more Wobblies flooding into Fresno! They came in such numbers that in March of the next year, the Wobblies got released! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: In planter, 100 ft SW of clock tower Broadway and Mariposa Mall Fresno, CA 93721 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~218mi (351km) — 3.7hrs |
| When should I go? | Whenever the mood strikes you! |