THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

By: Amy Norton

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

NEWISE

Newsies were boys or girls.

They were generally between the ages of 6-16

S Michael McNelisAge 8

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

NEWISE

They were usually orphaned and lived on the streets

They worked all day most of the time trying to make a living

S

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

GIANTS

Pulitzer was the owner of The World

Hearst was the owner of The Journal

They constantly competed. They lost money in “the war”.

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

REASON

The “World” & “The Journal” prices rose from 50¢ to 60¢ per 100

Occurred in the Spanish-American War when headlines were good.

Newsies felt the increase when the war, the headlines, & sales ended.

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

LEADER

Unorganized & weren’t employees so they formed their own union.

Some strike leaders were “Kid” Blink

Orator & Moral Leader

“Racetrack” Higgins VP of Union & Orater

Dave Simonds Ex. President Of Union

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

S

GOAL Change the price back

Have their rights respected To do this they had to

STICK TOGETHER

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

S

SCAB

Some people wouldn’t strike or joined after the others left

To get them to join the Newsies would beat them up and tear papers

This resulted in a lot of violence The boys wouldn’t hit girls

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

S

SCAB

The boys would also attack newspaper wagons by beating up the driver and ripping up papers.

Police would be sent to guard newspaper carts, but few arrests were ever made.

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

Y

RALL

To help bring the boys together they held a rally at New Irving Hall.

“Kid” Blink encouraged boys not to attack wagons & steal papers

The boys decided to make a change. Although it helped people respect them, it also backfired

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

RESULT

The Strike ended up falling apart.

The scabs weren’t afraid to go to work with the decrease in violence

Some of the newsies were bribed into working for the papers “Kid” Blink David Simonds

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

DEALS

Although the newsies had “lost the strike” conditions improved

Price remained at 60¢ per 100

The “big guys” would buy back any unsold Newspapers.

Despite the loss it showed how a group of kids could make a big difference.

THE NEWSBOYS STRIKE OF 1899

CITED

Newsies [VHS]. Dir. Kenny Ortega. Perf. Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall. Walt Disney Video, 1994. DVD.

http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reportsitem.aspx?id=100463

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/

EXTRA! EXTRA! HOT OFF THE PRESS!

EXTRA

MRS. SHAPIRO,DON’T FORGET OUR FINAL EXAMS!!!!!