The History of the Stonecutters’ Riot:
A Lecture by Daniel Walkowitz

Historians of New York City refer to 1834 as the Year of the Riot. Much is known of the Abolitionist Riot and Election Day Riot. But a third ‘riot’ took place in the vicinity of Washington Square Park that same year when stonecutters protested NYU’s use of contract prison labor to hew the stone for its first building. The contest between the university and laborers would take a series of ironic turns over the next years, twists that would expose the tumultuous life of working people in the burgeoning industrialized new metropolis.

Join historian, author, producer, and NYU professor Daniel Walkowitz as he recounts these working men’s struggle to protect their jobs.