San Diego Free Speech Fight 100th Year Anniversary

THE STORY

• At the end of 1911 and the beginning of 1912, San Diego passed an ordinance which forbade public speaking on the fifty blocks in the center of the city, in the area around E Street and 5th.
• The enemies of free speech at the time were many in local government, business, and the press, and free speech fighters were the victims of violence at the hands of the local police as well as torture by vigilantes.
• The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) worked with its local allies and created the Free Speech League, the umbrella that included many union members and members of the community to become involved in the fight.
• One memorable incident involved the famous anarchist Emma Goldman, who came to support the effort and was met with an angry mob at Santa Fe Station intending to attack her. This is just one example of the violence that became commonplace.
• The right to free speech was eventually won back for San Diegans in 1915 when the ban was overturned and legal picketing was restored as a basic right.

Today, those who enjoy the right to assemble, protest, and speak in public in San Diego have the Free Speech League of the Progressive Era to thank for fighting to maintain basic rights for all San Diegans. The legacy of this time lived on in every labor and civil rights fight that followed.

COMMEMORATION EVENTS

January 6th - Exhibit Opening Event, Centro Cultural de la Raza, Balboa Park

January 26th - 100th Year Anniversary Celebration, Saville Theatre, San Diego City College

February 3rd - The Lemon Grove Incident, Centro Cultural de la Raza, Balboa Park

February 8th - Commemoration at the original site of the fight, 5th and E Street, Downtown San Diego

February 20th - San Diego Free Speech Fight Forum, Auditorium of the School of Leadership & Education Sciences building at the University of San Diego

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