Old Salem Jail

Congressional hearings followed a violent incident at the Lawrence train station on February 24th after police and militia tried to stop another 40 children from fleeing to Philadelphia. The police tried to detain the children and arrest the parents, but in the process began clubbing the mothers and their children and violently dragging them away from the train to be taken away in trucks. Luckily the press was there to witness the violence and reported extensively on the event, attracting the attention of the nation. Many of the women arrested refused to pay the fines to the police and opted for jail time, several of them with their babies. This incident gained national attention, including that of Helen Herron Taft, the wife of then-president William Taft. She facilitated investigations by the US house and senate into the strikes. The congressional hearings that followed included interviews of children working in the mills. These interviews exposed the shocking conditions of the mills and led to further investigation into the wool company.

On March 1, 1912 after lots of negative press, the American Woolen Company offered a 5% pay raise to the workers, but the workers rejected it. With lots of pressure on them, the mill owners decided to concede and give the Lawrence workers, and all the workers throughout New England, a raise of up to 20%. All the children who had been taken to supporters in surrounding areas came home on March 30th, 1912. But Ettor and Giovannitti remained here in prison for months after the strike was over. Bill Haywood threatened another general strike if the men were not released, demanding "Open the jail gates or we will close the mill gates.” The IWW raised $60,000 for Ettor and Giovannitti’s defense and held demonstrations and mass meetings. On September 30th, 15,000 Lawrence workers went on strike for the day demanding the men’s release. Swedish and French workers proposed a boycott of wooled goods from the US and a refusal to load ships going to those countries. Supporters in Italy rallied in front of the US consulate in Rome. These outpourings of support worldwide, and the threat of further protests, prompted the trial to begin soon after.

Other prominent guests in this old Salem Jail included Albert DeSalvo (the Boston Strangler) in the 1960s, and Harry Houdini, who staged an escape in 1906. When it closed in 1991, the jail was one of the oldest continuously functioning jails in the US. This building is now luxury apartments and a restaurant.

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