When paperboys stopped delivering a couple of very big newspapers in 1899 it was a big deal. Big enough that the two biggest publishers in the world got pretty scared. But did it actually accomplish anything?
This Stuff You Should Know episode dives into the 1899 Newsboy Strike, one of the most remarkable labor uprisings in American history led entirely by kids selling newspapers on the streets of New York City. When major papers refused to lower their bundle prices after the Spanish-American War ended, thousands of young newsies—many as young as six or seven—organized themselves into a unified force, complete with elected leadership and strategic tactics that won over the hearts of New Yorkers. It's a wild story of child laborers fighting back against greedy newspaper moguls like William Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, complete with flipped delivery wagons, mob marches, and speeches that would make grown union organizers proud.
Movies Discussed
💬 Comments
Log in to leave a comment.