May 7, 1969: 55 years ago, May 7 1969, members of the Red Guard, a Maoist group made up [...]

55 years ago, May 7 1969, members of the Red Guard, a Maoist group made up of working-class Chinese youth from San Francisco, gave a talk on Chinese history to a San Rafael High School history class at the invitation of a student. The teacher was forced to make a …

May 7, 1907: Bloody Tuesday

May 7 1907, two days into the Carmen’s Union streetcar strike, two workers, 19-year-old James Walsh and 23-year-old John Buchanan, were killed after a confrontation between striking workers and armed scabs in what became known as “Bloody Tuesday.” The day before the strike was declared, Patrick Calhoun of United Railroads …

May 5, 1907: Cable Car Workers Walk Off-work

May 5 1907, over 1,500 workers from the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America (commonly known as the Carmen’s Union) voted to strike and walked off work demanding $3 per day and an 8-hour work day, grinding the city to a halt. On day one the …

May 4, 1969: 55 years ago, May 4 1969, dozens of members of the Red Guard Party marched [...]

55 years ago, May 4 1969, dozens of members of the Red Guard Party marched into Portsmouth Square wearing field jackets and blasting “The East is Red” to interrupt a group of Chinese foreign students who had gathered to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the May 4th Movement The Red …

May 4, 1887: San Jose's Chinatown Burns

May 4 1887, a fire ripped through the Second Market Street Chinatown in San Jose, destroying the neighborhood. Part of a wave of anti-Chinese violence, this was the third time fire had destroyed one of San Jose’s Chinatowns, previously burned down in 1870 and 1872. Built after the Vine Street …