Salem Commons

All three defendants, Ettor, Giovannitti, and Caruso, were acquitted on November 26, 1912, marking the end of the Bread and Roses riots. In the end, about 27,000 workers were positively affected, gaining a 5-25% wage increase, overtime pay, and a modification of the “premium system.”

The phrase "bread and roses" preceded the strike, appearing in a poem by James Oppenheim published in 1911. It reads,

"As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men,

For they are women's children, and we mother them again.

Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;

Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!"

The total casualties in the Bread and Roses strikes were 3 deaths (Anna LoPizzo, John Ramey, and Jonas Smolskas), countless injuries, and 296 arrests. Soon after the riots were deemed a success and the workers were given their raises, the IWW left Lawrence and moved on to assist other strikes, taking the pressure off the mills. In the next few years, the strikers lost nearly all the gains they had won. However, the strikes were not a failure: they established that workers could organize and stand up for themselves, and set a precedent for workers in the future. The Bread and Roses strike leaves a heritage as being one of the most successful strikes in American history. By its example, others were inspired to change their situations by standing up for their rights and what they believed. The strike’s legacy is the knowledge that it is possible for workers to improve their working and living conditions and for their efforts to have a far-reaching effect, benefitting American labor in general. Today, the Bread and Roses Heritage Festival is still celebrated in Lawrence each Labor Day.

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