Coxey’s Army (1894) First Mass March of Protesters at Washington, D.C. - Clio

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1. Coxey's Army at Brightwood Riding Park

Jacob Coxey and his procession of unemployed workers camped at the Brightwood Riding Park as they prepared to march to the U.S. Capitol on May 1, 1894, to petition the government for public jobs and other relief. The marchers departed Coxey’s hometown of Massillon, Ohio on Easter Day, March 25, 1894, reached Rockville, Maryland on April 28, and then crossed into the District of Columbia on April 29. Newspaper reporters covered every step of the march as it made its way to Washington. Government officials and Washingtonians anxiously awaited the protesters, wondering if they intended to peacefully demonstrate or would instigate a riot. Coxey rented the ten-acre Brightwood Riding Park for a nominal sum from an owner that supported Coxey’s cause. The horse track, which straddled 16th Street, N.W. (located two blocks to the east of the historic marker), closed in 1909 when the city extended 16th Street, N.W. to the north, cutting the park in two. The Brightwood neighborhood is now home to the Washington Tennis Center.

2. Coxey's Army passes Treasury Department

After leaving Brightwood Riding Park, Coxey’s Army paraded south down 14th Street and eventually neared the Treasury Department located at the intersection of 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Coxey and his men would have found this area heavily guarded. In the weeks leading up to Coxey’s arrival in the nation’s capital, government officials began to worry about whether his troop of unemployed workers intended to use violence to achieve their goals. News reports about other bands of unemployed workers forming in other U.S. cities and beginning to make their way to Washington added to the fears of many. U.S. Secret Service agents infiltrated Coxey’s Army, suspecting he might intend to seize the Treasury Department as a means to further his cause. The Secret Service deployed forces to protect the building, while President Grover Cleveland and city officials took steps to increase military and police contingents throughout the capital in anticipation of the worst. In the end, the marchers passed by the Treasury Department peacefully and turned east onto Pennsylvania Avenue to make their way to the U.S. Capitol.

3. Coxey's Army passes "Newspaper Row"

As Coxey’s Army turned onto Pennsylvania Avenue, they marched through what was once Washington’s “Newspaper Row.” In this part of town, Coxey and his men would have seen several buildings that housed Washington’s numerous city newspapers as well as the Washington bureaus of several out-of-town papers. The Evening Star Building located at the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 11th Street, N.W. was built four years after Coxey and his men passed by but remains one of the surviving examples of the newspaper headquarters that once comprised “Newspaper Row.” The media played a critical role in telling the story of Coxey’s march on Washington, which was one of the most widely read and followed stories in U.S. history. Coxey and his partner Browne enlisted the media to spread the word about their demands and employed a sophisticated public relations strategy for the time. Although many newspaper and magazine stories sought to portray Coxey and his marchers as anarchists, other reports depicted the unemployed and homeless in a more sympathetic light, helping to change public perceptions about those out of work. Coxey also integrated African Americans into his march, which produced widespread support from Washington’s Black community.

4. Coxey's Army at the U.S. Capitol

As Coxey and his marchers approached the Capitol, they would have encountered thousands of spectators, many surging up the sides of the Peace Monument and spilling onto the streets. Mounted calvary had to clear a route to enable the procession to continue. Coxey and his marchers turned south at the Peace Monument and crossed in front of the Capitol before turning east onto Independence Avenue (called Avenue B in 1894). A mounted officer ordered the procession to halt, but the crowd and marchers ignored the command and continued advancing. With spectators again snarling the route, the procession halted at First Street, S.E., where Coxey dismounted his carriage and attempted to make his way on foot to the Capitol’s east steps. Pandemonium ensued as the crowds surged around Coxey, causing him to stumble to the ground. The police tried to regain order with calvary and batons. In the melee, an altercation ensued between Browne and the police, who clubbed, arrested, and hauled Browne away. Regaining his footing, Coxey reached the Capitol steps and attempted to read his prepared remarks before the police ushered him away without resistance. The police then dispersed the crowd with force, although reporters noted that Coxey’s followers had maintained discipline and order as the march reached its climatic ending.

5. Coxey's Army at Camp Tyranny

After the police hustled Coxey away from the Capitol as he tried to speak, he rejoined his men at a camp they established near an old canal located near the present-day intersections of 1st, M, and Canal Streets, S.W. They christened it Camp Tyranny. Conditions at the camp were deplorable, with The New York Times describing it “as barren and desolate an acre of ground as can be found anywhere within the limits of the District.” The marchers’ May 1 dinner consisted of hard-boiled eggs, soup, bread, and water. Coxey threatened to remain at this location all summer in order to convince Congress to implement his relief measures, but city health officials began to press for the camp’s closure, which spurred Coxey to relocate his men in mid-May to another site in Bladensburg, Maryland just over the District boundary. Coxey and Browne were subsequently tried and sent to prison for trespass on the Capitol grounds. The inglorious end to the march left many reporters criticizing Coxey’s march as a senseless crusade, although scholars subsequently have treated it more positively, noting its influence on future activists seeking to march on Washington to petition the government.

This Tour is a Digital Story Map.

Coxey’s Army (1894) First Mass March of Protesters at Washington, D.C.

Created by Mark Tesone on October 18th 2020, 7:20:19 pm.

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Description

This digital map traces the first major protest march on Washington, D.C. The march took place in 1894 when unemployed workers suffering from the economic Panic of 1893, which was until then the worst depression in U.S. history, marched on Washington to demand public works jobs. Press reports at the time described the marchers both as peaceful petitioners and as radical anarchists and tramps. President Grover Cleveland mustered the military and the police, who assailed the protesters and arrested their leaders. Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey organized the march, which included processions heading to Washington from several other cities. This tour follows “Coxey’s Army” of protesters through Washington and passes several historical sites as the protesters made their way on foot through the city to the U.S. Capitol. Each stop highlights important aspects of this historic event, including the political views of Coxey and other march leaders, their economic and reform objectives, the contributing role that journalists, African Americans, and government officials played in shaping the event, and the important influence Coxey’s march had on future reform and protest movements.

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