Memorial Day Massacre

BROADCAST ON PBS

Narrated by Josh Charles

Memorial Day Massacre explores a shameful and largely forgotten episode in labor and media history, made all the more vital today as union organizing catches fire in the United States after years of union busting efforts and the decline of American manufacturing.

During the height of union activity across America in 1937, workers at smaller steel mills were fighting for their unions to be recognized as had already been done by the largest firms. In Chicago, workers at Republic Steel were striking for an 8-hour day, 40-hour week, and extra pay for overtime. In anticipation of the strikes, Republic set up a headquarters for Chicago Police at the mill, and armed them with wooden clubs and tear gas. As the strike commenced, Chicago police opened fire on the striking Republic Steel workers and their supporters in an open field, killing ten and wounding 40 others. Nearly all of them were shot in the back as they fled.

Press reports at the time generally accepted the false police accounts that the unionists, allegedly led by Communists and foreigners, were "rioting" and attacked first. Orlando Lippert, an on-scene cameraman, managed to capture the truth on film for Paramount News. However, the footage was so damning to the official narrative that Paramount suppressed any screenings out of fear of sparking unrest across the country.

It was not until Paul Y. Anderson, a famous reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at the time, revealed the cover-up. Then, under Senator Robert M. La Follette Jr., a congressional committee held hearings and screened the footage for the first time, inspiring national outrage. But the damage to the labor cause had already been done, slowing union organizing for years to come.

Memorial Day Massacre tells this story via interviews with first-hand observers, archival news photos, and the complete shocking Paramount footage —previously never screened at this length — which was preserved by the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress in 1997. Through an honest reckoning with this tragic event nearly a century ago, we might better understand the demands of workers and the ways in which corporations, press, and law enforcement align to resist them.

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT: The mass media, right up to The New York Times, was supporting the police story, that they had no choice but to open fire on this mob. And Paramount had the footage, had the evidence. They created a newsreel, and they decided not to release it. They created a second newsreel and didn't release that. And it took being subpoenaed by the La Follette hearing, and the screening on Capitol Hill then forced Paramount to release a third newsreel. And even then, city officials in Chicago, in St. Louis, in Massachusetts banned its showing. So even in its final form, it was not released in full.

I think the lesson, among other things, is the importance of visual evidence when there's police shootings and police brutality, as we see today. That's why there's such a focus on releasing bodycams and dashboard cams.

Of course, another lesson is, with the great labor activity today, that they stand on the shoulders of people from the past who sacrificed so much.

— Greg Mitchell

Preview link available upon request. Contact [email protected] for more information

A Film by Greg Mitchell

Producer: Lyn Goldfarb

33 minutes

Scene Selection • Closed Captioned

Grades 9 - Adult

Item #: MDM-2061

In 1937 Chicago, police shot and killed 10 steelworkers and union activists, and then Paramount News buried the only footage

Starting at $79

Licensing Options

K-12 Classroom, Public Libraries: DVD - $89 K-12 DVD + Digital File - $139 Colleges & Institutions: DVD - $295 Colleges: DVD with Digital Site License - $395 K-12 School District pricing available. Please inquire at [email protected] Community Screenings: Please Complete 'Host a Screening' Form found on top menu bar

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Reviews and Festivals

NOMINATED FOR 2024 EMMY AWARD FOR CULTURE & HISTORY

"So important. Another piece of forgotten history and lesson in the manipulation of truth."

— David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist / New York Times Bestselling author

"Riveting, moving, infuriating, and ultimately inspiring. The combination of union organizing, police violence, and good media/bad media makes it very timely."

— Nina Bernstein, investigative reporter for The New York Times

"Highly Recommended. Memorial Day Massacre is an effective piece of advocacy in support of the labor movement... An effective window into the history of the labor movement and the level of violence that used to be openly deployed against it."

— Alan Witt, SUNY Geneseo for Educational Media Reviews Online

"A harrowing account of state-sanctioned violence and subsequent media coverup, Memorial Day Massacre uses narration, archival footage and audio interviews to reconstruct this shocking episode from the Little Steel strike of 1937. An effective interrogation of the relationship between media and power as well as a poignant reminder never to take our rights for granted, and the often deadly toll paid by those who fought for them."

— Eric Marsh, DePaul University

"Excellent. [Does] an outstanding job in reminding us of these incidents we forget."

— Oliver Stone, Academy-award winning director

"A devastating documentary. This film is so good."

— Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!

"Required viewing for historians, especially media historians."

— Thomas Doherty, Professor of American Studies, Brandeis University / author

"A film that should be seen by anyone concerned with labor conditions and the history of police violence in the USA."

— Paul Buhle, retired Senior Lecturer, Brown University

"An important part of our Steelworkers history."

— United Steelworkers Union

"A fine piece of work on American history, film history. and human history. Powerful indeed, on a subject that's as timely as ever."

— David Sterritt, Editor-in-Chief, Quarterly Review of Film and Video / critic, The Christian Science Monitor

"Stunning. Rivetingly tells the story of one of the greatest human rights atrocities in U.S. history, and the success of the forces of democracy to defeat the attempt of the powers that be to hide it from the public."

— Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland / Reaganland

"What a horrifying event, and so effectively chronicled in this film."

— Sarah Kernochan, Academy-award winning director

"Very instructive in the best sense of the word... So valuable to have the voices of the strikers."

— Deborah Shaffer, Academy-award winning director

"More than providing a timeline summary, Mitchell crafts both a lively piece of integral journalism and an easy-to-grasp story... Memorial Day Massacre does great when bridging facts from in-between edits and when using archival audio interviews to help reset the context properly, making for a startling and urgent film... Important, frank, and much-needed."

— Bill Arceneaux, Movie Going with Bill

"The Paramount film footage is powerful, the narration is great. I absolutely love this."

— Scott Horton, contributing editor, Harper's Magazine

"An awesome film — and the hidden history behind it."

— David Beard, executive editor, National Geographic

"Excellent... this is Oscar-level stuff... Mitchell is a brilliant documentarian of history."

— Rod Lurie, director

"Take 30 minutes to watch this incredible doc."

— Daniel Denvir, Jacobin

WINNER

SoCal Journalism Awards, National Reporting

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