BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:702@mohawkvalley.today DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250605T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250605T180000 DTSTAMP:20250530T145643Z URL:https://mohawkvalley.today/events/the-lockout-of-the-20000/ SUMMARY:THE LOCKOUT OF THE 20\,000 DESCRIPTION:Lockout of the 20\,000 on Thursday\, June 5\, at 5:00 p.m.\nLit tle Falls' Response to the Closure of 50 Mills in Upstate New York\nPresen ted by the New York Labor History Association and Little Falls Historical Society at the Little Falls Public Library\, 10 Waverly Place\, Little Fal ls\, NY\, 13365.  Free admission!\nIn 1886\, mill owners locked out 20\,0 00 Mohawk Valley mill workers from their jobs -- a devastating\, transform ative event in New York State labor history -- which vanished from histori cal memory.  In the 1880s the Knights of Labor\, whose membership was ope n to women and African Americans (in an era when organized labor generally restricted its organizing efforts to white males)\, organized knitting mi lls across Herkimer County.  Hell-bent on crushing the Knights of Labor i n the mills\, mill owners used the pretext of a strike -- in a different u nion\, the Spinners Union -- to lock out 20\,000 of their employees.\n\nSt eve Davis\, a retired NLRB administrative law judge\, rediscovered the 188 6 lockout from entries in 1885-1887 Knights of Labor minute books no one h ad looked at for 139 years. (Judge Davis found the bound volumes by advert ising for “memorabilia concerning the Knights of Labor.” On June 5th h e’ll donate these rare volumes to the Little Falls Historical Society.)  With meticulous care\, Davis pieced together a portrait of the three-mon th lockout\, drawing on (generally hostile) news items in Mohawk Valley ne wspapers.  His talk will describe evictions and hardships suffered by the 2500 Knights of Labor members working in six Little Falls mills\; despera te efforts by the Knights of Labor to discipline members in adjacent towns -- for taking in strikebreaker boarders\; boycotts of local businesses ad vertising in newspapers opposed to the mill workers\; and lives &\; liv elihoods shattered -- as 20\,000 unionized mill workers were displaced.\n\ nIrwin Yellowitz\, president of the NY Labor History Association will prov ide background on the Knights of Labor -- 800\,000 members strong in 1886 -- but heading for a terrible reckoning in Haymarket Square\, Chicago\, Ma y 1st that same year.\n\nLittle Falls middle-schoolers will impersonate so me of the mill workers.\nFREE PROGRAM - In person and via Zoom:\nhttps://u s02web.zoom.us/j/88299143915?pwd=FBcAiBewy-rOc2qe8nnNy81FT45g21M.1\n\nMeet ing ID: 882 9914 3915\nPasscode: 196090\n\nPresented by the New York Labor History Association newyorklaborhistory.org\, (929) 754-0774\n\nIn conjun ction with the Little Falls Historical Society littlefallshistoricalsociet y.org\n\n[av_button label='DOWNLOAD THE FLYER' icon_select='yes' icon='new spaper' font='svg_entypo-fontello' title_attr='' button_type='' link='manu ally\,https://mohawkvalley.today/new/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lockoutfli er-poster-with-back.pdf' link_dynamic='' link_target='_blank' download_fil e='https://' attachment='' attachment_size='' downloaded_file_name='' size ='large' position='center' label_display='' size-text='' av-desktop-font-s ize-text='' av-medium-font-size-text='' av-small-font-size-text='' av-mini -font-size-text='' margin='' margin_sync='true' padding='' padding_sync='t rue' av-desktop-margin='' av-desktop-margin_sync='true' av-desktop-padding ='' av-desktop-padding_sync='true' av-medium-margin='' av-medium-margin_sy nc='true' av-medium-padding='' av-medium-padding_sync='true' av-small-marg in='' av-small-margin_sync='true' av-small-padding='' av-small-padding_syn c='true' av-mini-margin='' av-mini-margin_sync='true' av-mini-padding='' a v-mini-padding_sync='true' color_options='' color='theme-color' custom_bg= '#444444' custom_font='#ffffff' btn_color_bg='theme-color' btn_custom_grad _direction='vertical' btn_custom_grad_1='#000000' btn_custom_grad_2='#ffff ff' btn_custom_grad_3='' btn_custom_grad_opacity='0.7' btn_custom_bg='#444 444' btn_color_bg_hover='theme-color-highlight' btn_custom_bg_hover='#4444 44' btn_color_font='theme-color' btn_custom_font='#ffffff' btn_color_font_ hover='white' btn_custom_font_hover='#ffffff' border='' border_width='' bo rder_width_sync='true' border_color='' border_radius='' border_radius_sync ='true' box_shadow='' box_shadow_style='0px\,0px\,0px\,0px' box_shadow_col or='' animation='' animation_duration='' animation_custom_bg_color='' anim ation_z_index_curtain='100' hover_opacity='' sonar_effect_effect='' sonar_ effect_color='' sonar_effect_duration='1' sonar_effect_scale='' sonar_effe ct_opac='0.5' css_position='' css_position_location='\,\,\,' css_position_ z_index='' av-desktop-css_position='' av-desktop-css_position_location='\, \,\,' av-desktop-css_position_z_index='' av-medium-css_position='' av-medi um-css_position_location='\,\,\,' av-medium-css_position_z_index='' av-sma ll-css_position='' av-small-css_position_location='\,\,\,' av-small-css_po sition_z_index='' av-mini-css_position='' av-mini-css_position_location='\ ,\,\,' av-mini-css_position_z_index='' id='' custom_class='' template_clas s='' av_uid='' sc_version='1.0' admin_preview_bg='']\n\n \;\n\n \; \n\n \; ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://mohawkvalley.today/new/wp-content/upload s/2025/05/IMG_7487.jpeg CATEGORIES:Herkimer County,Little Falls NY LOCATION:Little Falls Public Library\, 10 Waverly Place\, Little Falls\, Ne w York\, 13365\, United States X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=10 Waverly Place\, Little F alls\, New York\, 13365\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Little Falls Public Library:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250309T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR