LaborFest Free History Walk: SF’s 1916 Preparatory Day Bombing

Submitted by the Event Organizer

San Francisco 2021 LaborFest (July 1-31)

LaborFest is an annual festival celebrating the history and culture of working people through film, art, lectures, tours, and exhibits all over the Bay Area from July 1-31, 2021

LaborFest opens its 28th annual festival with a month of timely events inspired by local and international labor activists and labor history. The program schedule includes both international and local films and videos, a labor history walk and bike tour, lectures, forums, readings, theatrical and musical performances. Most events are free of charge but donations by the public will be accepted.

LaborFest is the premier labor cultural arts and film festival in the United States.  LaborFest recognizes the role of working people in the building of America and making it work even in this time of COVID-19.  The festival is self-funded with contributions from unions and other organizations that support and celebrate the contributions of working people.

LaborFest 2021
July 1-31, 2021

• See schedule of Online/Zoom Events
• In person LaborFest events – See the full schedule

In Person Events Schedule

7/1 Thursday 7:00pm: Theatre play: “Hold These Truths”
Location: San Francisco Playhouse
Tickets $15-$100

7/3 Saturday 12pm: Labor History Bike Tour by Chris Carlsson
Meet at 518 Valencia, near 16th Street, in San Francisco, at 12noon
Donation requested

7/4 Sunday 10:00am: San Bruno Mountain Walk with David Schooley
Meet at 10:00 AM at the San Bruno Mountain Watch office (44 Visitacion Avenue, Suite 206, in Brisbane)
FREE

7/5 Monday 12:00pm: 1934 SF General Strike Walk and presentation with Gifford Hartman
Meet at the south column at Harry Bridges Plaza (across from the Ferry Building) in San Francisco
FREE

7/10 Saturday 2:00pm: Book reading: Mobilizing in OUR OWN NAME with Clarence Thomas
Location: ILWU 10 hall – 400 N. Point St., SF Henry Schmidt room
FREE

7/17 Saturday 10:00am: WPA Harvey Smith Berkeley Walk
Meet at the Main Berkeley Post Office – corner of Milvia & Alston
FREE

7/18 Sunday 7:00pm: Revolutionary Poets: Building Socialism, Fighting Fascism
Location: Specs Bar, 12 William Saroyan Place, San Francisco, CA
FREE

7/23 Friday 4:00pm: Concert “BlackRock, Stop Union Busting”
Location: 400 Howard St. at 1st Street
FREE

7/24 Saturday 12pm: Tom Mooney and Preparatory Day Bombing Walk
Meet at One Market Street in San Francisco
FREE

7/25 Sunday 10:00am: Labor Politics and Architecture of San Francisco – Walk with Brad Wiedmaier
Meet at ILWU Sculpture at Mission & Steuart in San Francisco
FREE

7/30 Friday 6:00pm: Eleventh Annual San Francisco Living Wage Coalition Awards Dinner
Location: San Jalisco Restaurant, 901 South Van Ness Avenue at 20th Street in San Francisco
$35 per ticket in advance or a group rate of $250 for eight tickets in advance

7/31 Saturday 12:00pm: Oakland General Strike Walk with Gifford Hartman
Meet at the fountain in Latham Square, at the intersection where Telegraph and Broadway converge, across from the Rotunda Building (Oakland City Center/12th St. BART)
FREE

7/31 Saturday 6pm: Labor Maritime History Boat Tour
3-hour boat tour of the Bay from Pier 41
$60

Saturday, July 24, 2021
San Francisco 2021 LaborFest (July 1-31)

Meet at One Market Street, SF
With Gifford Hartman, David Duckworth

During this walking tour, we visit several sites, which were integral to the unfolding of events following a bomb explosion on Steuart Street at Market Street on July 22, 1916. With fervor building to engage the United States in the war in Europe, businessmen in San Francisco embraced the cause, while labor leaders and the left denounced it. With the bomb killing ten people and wounding forty, no clear culprit was identified. But, two figures from the left, labor organizers and anarchists Tom Mooney and Warren K. Billings, were framed for the murder of the victims and spent many years in prison before being released. On this tour, we learn not only about the war between business and labor and open and closed union shops, but also about the divisive issues of American aggression in the Pacific region and against Mexico, crusading and yellow journalism in the city of San Francisco, and the mood of the country regarding World War I.

The tour lasts approximately two hours.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.