Travis, The following is from the Grollier Multimedia Encyclopedia; although the article is hardly a paradigm of objectivity, I hope the information will help. Joe Towson [log in to unmask] Haymarket Riot The Haymarket Riot occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886, when police broke up a workers' demonstration organized by anarchists. On May 3 laborers had battled police at the McCormick Reaper Company, which had hired nonunion workers during a strike to obtain an 8-hour working day. One person was killed, and the anarchists accused the police of brutality, calling a protest rally at Haymarket Square the next day. When police tried to disperse the rally, a bomb exploded in police ranks and rioting erupted. Eleven people were killed. The bomber was never identified, but eight anarchist leaders were convicted as accessories to murder. Four were hanged, one committed suicide, and three were jailed. In 1893, Governor J. P. Altgeld of Illinois pardoned the three survivors. Bibliography: Avrich, P., The Haymarket Tragedy (1984); David, Henry, History of the Haymarket Affair (1936; repr. 1964); Foner, Philip S., ed., Autobiographies of the Haymarket Martyrs (1969).