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(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Local newspapers were important sources of national news in the 19th century. This article on the sentencing of anarchists for the "Haymarket Riot" appeared in the Turners Falls Reporter. Turners Falls was a small industrial village within Montague, Massachusetts, a town on the Connecticut River opposite Deerfield. The labor violence that caused the trial occurred during a strike and rally in Chicago for the eight hour day (May 4, 1886). During the demonstration a bomb was thrown at police and a gun battle ensued. Eight anarchists were convicted for murder in a widely publicized trial. Four men were eventually executed. The socialist holiday "May Day" originated with this event.

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