Seven Victim's Names Of The Bay View 1886 State Militia Labor Workers Massacre To Be Added To Memorial

Seven trees and a memorial was erected in Bay View to recognized the 1886 state militia massacre of seven unarmed labor workers killed while trying to advocate for an eight-hour work day. The Bay View Rolling Mills historical marker and memorial didn't include the names of the victims, but are only identified as "people."

May 8, 2017

Bay View, WI (HNNUSA) - On Sunday, the Wisconsin Labor Historical Society and multiple public elected officials agreed to work together to add the names of the seven victims killed by the Wisconsin state militia in Bay View on May 5, 1886 to the current memorial. Most of the victims were among 1,500 people struggling to enact an eight-hour work day to coincide with the national movement in 1886. A memorial to commemorate them and seven trees were planted in their recognition at E. Russell Ave. and S. Superior St. in Bay View, but the seven victims names were never added and were only identified as "people." H. Nelson Goodson from the Milwaukee Southside neighborhood attended the 131st Anniversary of the tragic event and noticed that the names of the victims were not included in the erected memorial, but their names were only mentioned during the re-enactment of the massacre. When most to the public elected officials, including Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson (D), State Representatives Christine Sinicki (D), Jonathan Brostoff (D), Daniel Riemer (D) and Fred P. Kessler (D), Milwaukee Alderman T. Anthony Zielinski, Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic and others were called and invited to come up front to be recognized by those attending, Goodson took the opportunity to asked when will all of the public elected officials and those sponsoring the event will come together to add the names of the seven victims to the current memorial? They all agreed including the public attending that it was a good idea to do so and the sponsor of the event will work to make sure the victim's names, Frank Kunkel, Frank Nowarczyk, John Marsh, Robert Erdman, Johann Zazka, Martin Jankowiak, and Michael Ruchalski will be added to the memorial. (Source: Hispanic News Network U.S.A.)