‘Law and Order in Lawrence’ by Art Young, Industrial Worker, March 21, 1912.

Following the arrest of the IWW leaders, martial law was declared in Lawrence as violent clashes between strikers and police continued. In one such clash, a fifteen-year old boy died on the bayonet of a militiaman. In an effort to spare the children from further violence and economic hardship, the strike relief committee devised a program whereby the children of the strikers would be sent to sympathetic families in other cities. Frightened by the publicity this program began receiving and cognizant of the growing sympathy for the striking families, Lawrence authorities attempted to put a stop to the relief efforts.

On February 24, police surrounded the railroad station where a group of 150 children were preparing to depart. As the children, accompanied by their parents, made their way to the train, a mob of club-wielding policemen attacked. The beating and trampling of innocent women and children made headlines across the country and focused national attention on the Lawrence strike. Indeed, the public outcry was so great that the textile corporations eventually caved in and the strikers won their demands.

See this image in the Solidarity Forever: A Look at Wobbly Culture exhibit.