Message from the Secretary-Treasurer

Brothers and Sisters,

On January 8, 1912, the San Diego City Council passed an oppressive ordinance forbidding public speaking, singing, hand-billing or picketing in a fifty block area downtown.

What we now think of as the Gaslamp District was targeted because of the congregation of worker organizers and the rising popularity of soapbox speeches to inform the working class of their ability to organize for a better life. The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), along with community allies, union members and workers from throughout the west coast, created the Free Speech League to challenge the ordinance.

But, unlike the first amendment fights of today, this fight was waged on the streets of San Diego. Thousands of protesters flocked to downtown to challenge the ordinance, which the city began enforcing on February 8th, 1912. Hundreds were jailed, beaten, tarred and feathered, and run out of town. The right to free speech, however, was eventually restored in 1915.

The San Diego Labor Council is proud of the role that organized labor played in challenging and eventually restoring the right to free speech in San Diego.

We hope you will join us in celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the San Diego Free Speech Fight – which we will kick off with an exhibit and reception at the Centro Cultural de la Raza in San Diego's Balboa Park on Friday, January 6th at 7:00 p.m. For information about this and other events we have planned all month long, please click here.

In solidarity,