This week in 1887

“The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today.”

— August Spies, convicted of murder, hanging, Illinois.
Executed November 11, 1887

Spies was a German-born immigrant who eventually became the editor of the anarchist paper Arbeiter-Zeitung. On the day of the Haymarket Riot, he spoke on stage at Haymarket Square and was still on stage when the bomb was thrown. It has been reported that he began his speech with a clear statement of nonviolence. Despite clearly not being the thrower of the bomb, he was charged with being involved in the planning of the event.