Preparedness Day Bombing — Forgotten History

It’s a sunny San Francisco day and crowds of people pack the sidewalks as the parade procession lumbers by. American flags are waving, bands are playing, people cheer and public officials stoically wave the crowds by. It is a joyous occasion and few worries abound. Then in a second it all comes to an end, an explosion erupts sending the crowd and marchers into a panic.

Preparedness Day

In 1916 as World War One embroiled Europe, Asia, and Africa the United States largely sat on the sidelines. Most Americans preferred to stay neutral and President Woodrow Wilson largely echoed those beliefs. However there were voices that supported America entering the war and as US ships, most notably the RMS Lusitania, were being sunk by Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare it seemed that entering the war would eventually be inevitable.

This inevitability faced a problem however, America was not ready to go to war. Many state officials knew this and people such as former President Teddy Roosevelt, President Wilson, and many other former generals and war secretaries spoke out saying that the US needed to prepare for a major war. The American military was far behind in numbers when compared to other major countries and was woefully under equipped to take on any prolonged military action, especially overseas. In order to prepare the United States for if/when they would enter the war a Preparedness Day was planned. This day would be celebrated all across the country and major cities such as New York and San Francisco would hold large parades. These festivities were meant to excite the populace about joining the war, to encourage support for the military, and to spread patriotism. In particular it was hoped that the celebration would encourage young Americans to join the military, but not everyone was happy about the holiday.

Veterans marching in the San Francisco Preparedness Day Parade, Courtesy of SF Gate

On Saturday July 22, 1916 parades across the country were in full swing with San Francisco boasting one of the largest at over 51,000 attendants. The procession would last 3.5 hours and consisted of 52 bands and over 2,000 organizations ranging from government to military to civic groups. Oddly enough no labor unions participated in the parade, saying that it was to protest the US entering the war and businesses profiting off of their labor. After roughly an hour and a half of the parade a bomb hidden in a suitcase filled with bullets and other metal objects exploded killing 10 people and injuring 40 others. One account says that a mother was lifting up her young son when the bomb exploded near her, the blast ripped off both of her legs but the child was amazingly unharmed. She later died of her injuries. The explosion rocked more than those attending that day, and would lead to much unrest in the following years.

Spot where the bomb exploded, Courtesy of the Associated Press

Causes

Tensions between labor and capital were high during this time in American history, especially in San Francisco where numerous strikes had taken place throughout the years. Workers were demanding more rights and better wages while business owners attempted to find ways to circumvent their demands. Labor unions and social reformers detested Preparedness Day and the parades, they believed it was a ploy by businessmen to make the US join the war. In joining the war the businesses would reap huge profits by selling munitions and other equipment to the government. The labor leaders were not necessarily wrong as many of the parades, including the one in San Francisco, were funded by business leaders and their lobbyists did try to convince politicians to enter the war. The union's beliefs were one thing but the average worker also had reason to worry about entering the war. The draft was a large fear for many working class Americans as no one knew if they would be called up to fight. Tensions between union and labor were dying down a bit around 1916 but the underlying problems persisted and any major event could set them off.

General strike in San Francisco, Courtesy of Liberation School

Another sect that added to the volatility were the anarchist groups in the city. San Francisco had a lively anarchist community that openly recruited, even going so far as to advertise in newspapers and on the radio. They were extremely public groups that unlike today, openly advocated their policy. They had a belief that stretched all the way back to the French Revolution called “Propaganda of the Deed”. This belief in a nutshell said that one action, especially a violent attention grabbing one, could light a spark that would lead others to perform more actions and cause change.

Aftermath

After the bombing District Attorney Charles Ficker worked fast to make arrests and find the culprits. Ficker had his own personal agenda to strike a blow against labor, and he enlisted former Pinkerton Detective Martin Swanson to help him. The Pinkertons were well known at the time for being able to find solutions for those who had a strike to deal with and most were against those involved in the labor movement, Swanson was no different as he had worked against labor strikes in the past. Swanson was asked to make a list compiling all the labor leaders and agitators who were in town during the parade. Working off of the people they had trouble with in the past he made the list and found five possible suspects. Of the five they narrowed it down to three. Without warrants Thomas Mooney, his wife Rena Mooney, and Warren K. Billings were arrested for the bombing.

Thomas was a known radical labor agitator who organized strikes and spoke out against those on the capital side. He was also a known socialist who had previously traveled around the country to spread the ideology. His wife Rena was targeted because she helped him organize the strikes. Billings was largely targeted for the same reasons as Mooney since he was a union leader and also helped to organize strikes.

Warren, Mooney, and Rena were arrested, Rena would be released soon after, and held in solitary confinement. They were not allowed to talk to their family or friends and most importantly were denied access to legal council. District Attorney Ficker and his team wanted a quick trial with is assistant DA saying, “They oughta be hung without ceremony”. On August 2 both Mooney and Warren were charged with murder and promptly went to trial.

The trial was stacked against the two labor sympathizers and neither had much of a chance of winning. Police work at the crime scene was shoddy. Souvenir hunters were not stopped from taking evidence and the area was washed of its dirt and blood before police could collect any real evidence, it is widely believed that this was done on purpose. Photos used in the case were doctored by the prosecution, and the jury was handpicked by the DA to guarantee that the two would be found guilty. One of the most heinous courses of action taken by the DA was coercing witnesses to commit perjury. One of the most notable examples was when a witness who claimed to have seen the two men set the suitcase down on the sidewalk before driving off was later found to not have even been in the city during that weekend. With this corruption it is unsurprising that both men were found guilty. Mooney was sentenced to death and Billings was sentenced to life in prison.

All hope was not lost however as President Woodrow Wilson found out about the trials corruption and asked California Governor William Stephens to look into the case. Two weeks before Mooney’s execution date Governor Stephens commuted his sentence to life in prison. For the next two decades the investigation continued and with mounting evidence showing that neither of the convicted men could have commited the crime Governor Culbert Olson pardoned them in 1939. To this day the identity of the actual bomber is still unknown.

Political comic of the time from a labor perspective, Courtesy of Vox

The bombing had a widespread effect on the public. It made people much more cautious of extremists and helped to shrink extremist groups like the anarchists and socialists. It also reopened tensions between labor and capital that were lying below the surface just waiting for an event like this to happen, further spreading the gap between rich and poor. Finally it also spread hatred for immigrants. Many of the bombing suspects were immigrants from Eastern Europe and these people were also often the ones pushing anarchy and socialism so often these immigrants were hit with double hatred. The Preparedness Day Bombing was not the first and certainly was not the last bombing in American history but it is a good event to look at to understand the tensions between the labor and capital groups at the time.

If you would like to learn more about the bombing or the struggle between labor and capital in general then check out my affiliate links below:

Personal Thoughts

I thought this was going to be one of those events where something happens and not much comes of it but I was completely wrong. This event really helped me understand how bad labor tensions were in America. I knew they were bad but when it comes to this period in history I usually focus on The Great War and really not much else. While this event has its roots in World War One it turned into something that had little to do with it and more into the general issues facing the US at the time. It was interesting seeing one of the major events happening in America just before they entered the war.

Sources:
https://time.com/4411324/san-francisco-1916-bombing-preparedness-day-parade-anniversary-centennial/

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/preparedness-day-bombing-in-san-francisco

https://www.c-span.org/classroom/document/?6450

Aug 2 Preparedness Day Bombing