An ordinary woman, who lived between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who sought her fortune in the United States but met a sad fate. A tenacious but unknown female figure, remembered for her determination to seek a better life for herself and other working-class women. Anna LoPizzo She was a textile worker who carried forward her ideals by giving her life for them.
A few notes on its existence
Anna LoPizzo, whose real name is Anna Maria Lo Pizzo, was born in Buccheri on November 26, 1878. Her father was Gaetano Lo Pizzo and her mother was Giuseppa Ramondetta. Living in a rural and poor area in the Syracuse hinterland, she believed that emigrating to the United States would be a turning point in her life. Anna arrived at Ellis Island, a crossroads of emigrants, on July 28, 1909, headed to Lawrence, Massachusetts, and found hospitality with her uncle Francesco Ramondetta. The woman found work as a textile worker because numerous factories in the sector had sprung up in the town. She soon realized that the hope of a better life abroad was just a pipe dream, especially for migrant workers.
Due to the mechanization of work, factory owners have decided to fire qualified personnel and hire unskilled workers, especially women and children under 14. In times of economic liberalism, then as now, the aim is not to guarantee adequate working conditions but to maximize profits and reduce costs for the company. Un work, that of the textile factories, alienating, exhausting, and with increasingly precarious conditions. Unsafe workplaces, with unsafe and crowded buildings, low wages, and excruciating production. Cases of tuberculosis, rickets, and infant mortality were frequent.
Anna LoPizzo and the bread and roses strike
An increasingly unsustainable situation for workers. In January 1912, a new Massachusetts law reduced working hours for women and children from 56 to 54. This, however, corresponded to a sharp drop in weekly wages of six dollars a week. The workers, already living in dire poverty, refused to accept this further injustice and so began to organize protests. Anna LoPizzo was among the most sensitive workers who internalized the idea that those who work have dignity, in terms of conditions and wages. The textile worker, who emigrated from Buccheri, especially believed that the worker's pursuit of freedom and self-determination was fundamental. A life, therefore, in which work could be reconciled with other aspects of life. Hence the name of the strike: “The worker must have bread, but also roses”.
The workers stopped the looms, shouting "Short pay, short pay." Within a short time, tens of thousands of workers had gone on strike, supported by the union. Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)Its two main exponents, Joseph Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti, participated in the establishment of a committee with two representatives for each ethnic group in the factories. Workers organized both demonstrations and factory occupations, as well as more recreational protest activities, such as debates, shows, and dances. The aim was to lead an existence not alienated from work. An indefinite strike in which workers practiced civil disobedience.
The death of Anna LoPizzo and its implications
On January 29, 1912, during a demonstration, police shot and killed a 34-year-old textile worker. According to several witnesses, police officer Oscar Benoit fired the fatal shot, but he remained unpunished. Arturo Giovannitti and Joseph Ettor were arrested, charged with murder despite their absence from the demonstration. This was a glaring injustice, perpetrated with the aim of weakening the labor movement and union demands. The workers' strike continued until March 14, achieving significant gains in wage increases. But the struggle for the release of Giovannitti and Ettor continued, joined by Joseph Caruso, arrested in April.
The three defendants were tried in September 1912; workers held demonstrations in their support. Ettor, Giovannitti, and Caruso were ultimately acquitted in November 1912. The Bread and Roses Strike had a profound impact on the history of labor in the United States. Although union demands declined in the years that followed, the demonstrations demonstrated that the unity of workers in the fight for rights and equality, if sustained, is effective.
Eighty-eight years after Anna LoPizzo's death on September 14, 2000, a plaque with the symbol of bread and roses was placed on her grave. This was David R. Morris's wish, in recognition of her civic and political commitment to both workers' rights and women's self-determination. The plaque was displayed at Lawrence Heritage State Park during the annual festival. Bread and Roses which takes place every first Monday of September in the USA. One of the countless women who are almost forgotten but who were instrumental in what they believed in and fought for.
