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Extra! Extra! Newsies Strike of 1899

Today there are many ways for us to access the news: radio, print, television and internet. However, back in 1899 the only way to get the news besides word-of-mouth was to read it in the newspaper. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, young children (mostly boys – but girls too) called newsies would purchase a pile of 100 newspapers for 50 cents each day. They would then spend hours shouting out headlines in order to persuade those passing by to purchase a newspaper for one penny. A newsie had to sell all of the papers he or she bought in a day in order to earn a profit. Most of these children were either homeless or living in lodging houses*, and working as newsies was how they survived the tough streets of New York City.

Newsgirl & Boy Selling around saloon entrances. Bowery. Location: New York, New York. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine, July 1910. (Courtesy: commons.wikimedia.org)
Newsgirl & Boy Selling around saloon entrances. Bowery. Location: New York, New York. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine, July 1910. (Courtesy: commons.wikimedia.org)

In 1898, publishers increased the price of a newspaper bundle to 60 cents because of the Spanish-American War. (The headlines were so dramatic then that it was easier to sell papers.) But after the war, when life went back to normal, two newspaper publishers did not bring their prices back down: Joseph Pulitzer (New York Evening World) and William Randolph Hearst (New York Evening Journal). At this high rate, newsies could not make enough money to pay for their lodging and their food, and on July 21, 1899, the newsies went on strike!

Pulitzer’s World Building from Park Row, designed by George Post, was at one time the tallest building in the world. It sits near the Tribune building, at center. (Courtesy: boweryboyshistory.com)
Pulitzer’s World Building from Park Row, designed by George Post, was at one time the tallest building in the world. It sits near the Tribune building, at center. (Courtesy: boweryboyshistory.com)

For two weeks, thousands of angry newspaper boys and girls boycotted their positions, filling the streets of downtown Manhattan and crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. They brought traffic, businesses, and life in general to a halt. Newsies and their supporters teared up Pulitzer and Hearst published newspapers of anyone who tried selling them in the streets and requested that the public no longer buy either paper until the strike was settled.

Several rallies drew more than 5,000 newsies, complete with charismatic speeches by strike leader Kid Blink. The New York Tribune quoted Kid Blink’s speech:

“Friens and feller workers. Dis is a time which tries de hearts of men. Dis is de time when we’se got to stick together like glue…. We know wot we wants and we’ll git it even if we is blind.”

The havoc in New York City and the strike’s spreading across the New York metropolitan area, as well as to New Haven, Connecticut; Fall River, Massachusettes; and Providence, Rhode Island made it hard for the New York Evening World and New York Evening Journal to continue. Eventually, Pulitzer and Hearst agreed on a negotiation. They kept the price of the bundle of papers at 60 cents but would buy back any papers that went unsold from the newsies each day.

A Lewis Hine photograph with the caption “Group of newsboys starting out at Brooklyn Bridge early Sunday morning.” The newsies got up every morning to pick up their bundle of newspapers. New York newspapers raised the price of these bundles during the Spanish-American War, when circulation increased. (Courtesy: boweryboyshistory.com)
A Lewis Hine photograph with the caption “Group of newsboys starting out at Brooklyn Bridge early Sunday morning.” The newsies got up every morning to pick up their bundle of newspapers. New York newspapers raised the price of these bundles during the Spanish-American War, when circulation increased. (Courtesy: boweryboyshistory.com)

While the Village and our other neighborhoods would have been quite chaotic during those two hot weeks in late July and early August of 1899, the spirited rallies of the newsboys and girls at that time showcase the drive and passion that make our community a dynamic place to live and work. Though child labor laws did not come into play until the 1920s, the newsboys’ strike of 1899 did inspire others to take action: igniting the Butte, Montana Newsboys’ Strike of 1914 and a 1920s strike in Kentucky.

*Want to know more about the newboys’ lodging houses?

Click here to read about 295 East 8th Street, a seven-apartment building that once housed poor boys who worked as newsies and bootblacks.

Click here to read about the Tompkins Square Lodging House for Boys

4 responses to “Extra! Extra! Newsies Strike of 1899

  1. Interesting article. Would submit one correction regarding conjugation. In the paragraph that begins “For two weeks thousands of angry newspaper boys…their supporters teared up Pulitzer and Hearst published….” Change “teared” to tore.

  2. 1. Where and when does this movie about the newspaper strike take place?
    2. Who were the two owners of the newspapers?
    3. What types of kids were the Newsies?
    4. Why do you think the guy sold the Newsie 20 papers but only gave him 19?
    5. Compare child labor and child chores.
    6. Why was there a strike, what was it about, what did they want?
    7. Why were David and his brother selling newspapers?
    8. Fill in the blank: “Headlines don’t sell paps, _____________ sell paps.”
    9. There was another strike mentioned in the video, which strike was mentioned?
    10. When David’s family invited Jack to dinner, what did they add to the stew?
    11. Referring to the above question, what would this indicate?
    12. What was the reaction (newsies) to the newspaper price increase?
    13. How did the Newsies try to strengthen the power of the strike?
    14. Give examples of negotiation from the video?
    15. Give examples of compromise from the video?
    16. Describe Jack as a person.
    17. Jack became a scab? What is a scab?
    18. What was the Newsies response to Jack becoming a scab?
    19. How did Pulitzer try to “influence” Jack into becoming and then staying a scab?
    20. Why did Pulitzer “bribe” Jack?
    21. Do you agree or disagree with the concept of a scab?
    22. Why does Joe increase the price of papers?
    23. Explain the power of the press, according to Joe (Pulitzer).
    24. Who was Snyder and what was his purpose?
    25. What does, “if it’s not in the paper, it didn’t happen” mean?
    26. How did the Newsies take power from Joe?
    27. What happened when the Newsies put out a paper?
    28. What was a sweatshop kid?
    29. Denton said “I have to have a paper to write for” what did he mean and why?
    30. What struggles did the Newsies have while trying to organize?
    31. What reforms did the Newsies finally get?
    32. Why was Joe afraid of the Newsies?
    33. What was the House of Refuge?
    34. How did Pulitzer benefit from the House of Refuge?
    35. According to David, why did his father get fired from the factory?
    36. What obstacles did the Newsies encounter?
    37. How was the printing press an advantage for the Newsies and how did they use it?
    38. What did Denton mean when he said one voice turns into a hundred voices?
    39. What was the Governor’s response to the strike?
    40. Pulitzer and his self-interest?? Money and/or power??

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