The Oshkosh Woodworkers Strike of 1898

By the late nineteenth century, Wisconsin was one of the premier lumber producing states in the country, and Oshkosh became a major lumber manufacturing center. While the industry prospered, the factory workers toiled for very low wages, and their working conditions and wages continued to deteriorate. Following rising prices after the U.S. declared war on Spain in April 1898, woodworkers voted to strike, and the strike soon grew violent. In an attempt to stop the strike, the owner of the Paine Lumber Company and his son accused three of the labor leaders of criminal and civil conspiracy to damage their company. The strike was called off after the preliminary hearing, but labor leader Thomas Kidd asked Clarence Darrow to defend him and the other labor leaders against the conspiracy charges. All of the men were found not guilty. While the case did not provide meaningful advancement for the workers, the verdict remains a pivotal moment in labor history and Darrow’s tactics and success maintained his popularity in labor circles.

"It has fallen to your lot, gentlemen, to be leading actors in one of the great dramas of human life. For some mysterious reason Providence has placed in your charge for today, aye for ages, the helpless toilers, the hopeless men, the despondent women and suffering children of the world; it is a great, a tremendous trust, and I know you will do your duty bravely, wisely, humanely and well; that you will render a verdict in this case which will be a milestone in the history of the world, and an inspiration and hope to the dumb, despairing millions whose fate is in your hands." – Conclusion of Clarence Darrow's closing argument in the trial of State of Wisconsin v. Kidd, Zentner and Troiber (1898).

Argument of Clarence S. Darrow in the Wood-Workers Conspiracy Case (1898).

Clarence Darrow's final argument in the case of the State of Wisconsin v. Thomas I. Kidd, George Zentner and Michael Troiber for conspiracy arising out of the strike of Woodworkers at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The defendants were acquitted on November 2, 1898.

"The Very Pictures of Anarchy": Women in the Oshkosh Woodworkers' Strike of 1898, By Virginia Glenn Crane, 84 Wisconsin Magazine of History 44-59 (Spring 2001).

Article which describes the important role women played in supporting the strike. Professor Crane is also the author of the most comprehensive book about the strike: The Oshkosh Woodworkers' Strike of 1898: A Wisconsin Community in Crisis. Used by permission of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Newspaper clippings from Thomas Kidd's scrapbook.

Newspaper clippings about the Oshkosh Woodworker strike and other labor issues. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

The American Workman by Thomas Kidd

Thomas Kidd, General Secretary of the Amalgamated Wood-Workers International Union of America, was the main defendant in the conspiracy trial after the Oshkosh Woodworkers' Strike. Published in The Making of America by Robert Marion La Follette, William Matthews Handy, Charles Higgins, 1906.

Letters Written by Thomas Kidd about the Oshkosh WoodWorker' Strike (1898).

Five letters written by Thomas Kidd as General Secretary of the Amalgamated Wood-Workers International Union of America. Kidd makes several references to Clarence Darrow. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

The Amalgamated Wood Workers' International Union of America: A Historical Study of trade unionism in its Relation to the Development of an Industry (1912).

This doctoral thesis was written by Frederick Shipp Deibler.