Nov 21 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2687 -
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Sale 2687 - Lot 58

Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
(CALIFORNIA.) Press photographs from the dynamite bombing of the Los Angeles Times building. 12 photographs, 6½ x 8½ inches or smaller, with various Brown Brothers stamps and manuscript captions on verso; early copy prints, minor to moderate wear. Los Angeles, CA, 1905-1911
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Additional Details

Early on the morning of 1 October 1910, a dynamite explosion destroyed the offices and printing press of the Los Angeles Times, killing 21 workers. Months later, the crime was pinned on brothers John J. and James B. McNamara, leaders of the ironworkers union which was feuding with the newspaper. Union leader Samuel Gompers proclaimed their innocence and Clarence Darrow was hired to defend them, but they ultimately pled guilty.

2 of these photographs show the Times Building wreckage. 6 show the McNamara brothers (one of them with Gompers). One shows a bomb device and another shows the wagon delivering the McNamara brothers to the county jail. Finally, two show Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg, who was killed in a similar trade union bombing in 1905.

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