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| image = Wallstreetbmb.jpg
| image = Wallstreetbmb.jpg
| image_size = 325px
| image_size = 325px
| caption = The aftermath of the explosion<br />([[Federal Hall National Memorial]] is at the right)
| caption = The aftermath of the explosion. [[Federal Hall National Memorial]] is at the right.
| location = [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]
| location = [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]
| coordinates = {{coord|40.7070|-74.0103|type:event_globe:earth_region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates = {{coord|40.7070|-74.0103|type:event_globe:earth_region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}
| target = [[Wall Street]]
| target = [[Wall Street]]
| date = September 16, 1920
| date = {{Start date and age|mf=yes|1920|09|16}}
| time = 12:01&nbsp;pm
| time = 12:01&nbsp;pm
| timezone = <!-- the Standard Time Act of 1918 was repealed in 1919 -->
| timezone = <!-- the Standard Time Act of 1918 was repealed in 1919 -->
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| motive = Possible revenge for the arrests of [[Sacco and Vanzetti]] and/or the deportation of [[Luigi Galleani]]
| motive = Possible revenge for the arrests of [[Sacco and Vanzetti]] and/or the deportation of [[Luigi Galleani]]
}}
}}
[[Image:Wallstreetbombing1920-page-001.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Cover of ''[[The New York Times]]'' reporting on the Wall Street bombing.]]
[[File:Wallstreetbombing1920-page-001.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Cover of ''[[The New York Times]]'' reporting on the Wall Street bombing.]]


The '''Wall Street bombing''' occurred at 12:01&nbsp;pm on Thursday, September 16, 1920, in the [[Financial District, Manhattan|Financial District]] of [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]. The blast killed thirty people immediately, and another ten died later of wounds sustained in the blast. There were 143 seriously injured, and the total number of injured was in the hundreds.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|160–61}}<ref name="barron"/>
The '''Wall Street bombing''' was an act of [[terrorism]] on [[Wall Street]] at 12:01&nbsp;pm on Thursday, September 16, 1920. The blast killed 30 people immediately, and another 10 later died of wounds that they sustained in the blast. There were 143 seriously injured, and the total number of injured was in the hundreds.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|160–61}}<ref name="barron"/>


The bombing was never solved, although investigators and historians believe it was carried out by [[Galleanists]] ([[Italian Americans|Italian]] [[anarchist]]s), a group responsible for a [[1919 United States anarchist bombings|series of bombings the previous year]]. The attack was related to postwar social unrest, labor struggles, and [[anti-capitalist]] agitation in the United States.
The bombing was never solved, although investigators and historians believe it was carried out by [[Galleanists]], a group responsible for a [[1919 United States anarchist bombings|series of bombings the previous year]].

The Wall Street bomb killed more people than the 1910 [[Los Angeles Times bombing|bombing of the ''Los Angeles Times'']], which was the deadliest act of [[terrorism]] on U.S. soil up to that point.


==Attack==
==Attack==
At noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed by lunchtime crowds on [[Wall Street]] and stopped across the street from the headquarters of the [[JPMorgan Chase|J.P. Morgan & Co.]] bank at [[23 Wall Street]], on the [[Financial District, Manhattan|Financial District]]'s busiest corner. Inside the wagon, {{convert|100|lb|kg}} of [[dynamite]] with {{convert|500|lb|kg}} of heavy, cast-iron [[Sash window|sash weights]] exploded in a timer-set detonation,<ref name="watson"/>{{rp|77}} sending the weights tearing through the air.<ref name="avr"/> The horse and wagon were blasted into small fragments, but the driver was seen by witnesses leaving the vehicle and escaping down a side street.<ref name="BudasWagon">{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Mike |title=Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb |date=2017 |publisher=Verso |isbn=9781784786649 |page=3}}</ref><ref name="Brooks_1999">{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=John |title=Once in Golconda : a true drama of Wall Street, 1920-1938 |date=1999 |publisher=John Wiley |location=New York |isbn=9780471357537 |page=15}}</ref>
At noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed by lunchtime crowds on [[Wall Street]] and stopped across the street from the headquarters of the [[J.P. Morgan & Co.]] bank at [[23 Wall Street]], on the [[Financial District, Manhattan|Financial District]]'s busiest corner. Inside the wagon, {{convert|100|lb|kg}} of [[dynamite]] with {{convert|500|lb|kg}} of heavy, cast-iron [[sash weight]]s exploded in a timer-set detonation,<ref name="watson"/>{{rp|77}} sending the weights tearing through the air.<ref name="avr"/> The horse and wagon were blasted into small fragments, but the driver was seen by witnesses leaving the vehicle and escaping down a side street.<ref name="BudasWagon">{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Mike |title=Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb |date=2017 |publisher=Verso |isbn=9781784786649 |page=3}}</ref><ref name="Brooks_1999">{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=John |title=Once in Golconda : a true drama of Wall Street, 1920–1938 |date=1999 |publisher=John Wiley |location=New York |isbn=9780471357537 |page=15}}</ref>


The 40 fatalities were mostly young people who worked as messengers, stenographers, clerks, and brokers. Many of the wounded suffered severe injuries.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|329–30}} The bomb caused more than [[United States dollar|US$]]2&nbsp;million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|2|1920|r=1}}}} million today) in property damage and destroyed most of the interior spaces of the Morgan building.<ref name="nyt2"/>
The 40 fatalities were mostly young people who worked as messengers, [[stenographers]], clerks, and [[Stockbroker|brokers]]. Many of the wounded suffered severe injuries.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|329–30}} The bomb caused more than [[United States dollar|US$]]2&nbsp;million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|2|1920|r=1}}}} million today) in property damage and destroyed most of the interior spaces of the Morgan building.<ref name="nyt2"/>


Within one minute of the explosion, William H. Remick, president of the [[New York Stock Exchange]] (NYSE), suspended trading in order to prevent a [[List of stock market crashes and bear markets|panic]].<ref name="Remick"/> Outside, rescuers worked feverishly to transport the wounded to the hospital. James Saul, a 17-year-old messenger, commandeered a parked car and transported 30 injured people to an area hospital.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 17, 1920 |title=Boy Seizes Auto and Takes 30 Injured to the Hospital |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/09/17/archives/boy-seizes-auto-and-takes-30-injured-to-the-hospital.html|access-date=May 6, 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Police officers rushed to the scene, performed first aid, and appropriated all nearby automobiles as emergency transport vehicles.<ref name="nypd20"/>
Within one minute of the explosion, [[William H. Remick]], president of the [[New York Stock Exchange]] (NYSE), suspended trading in order to prevent a [[List of stock market crashes and bear markets|panic]].<ref name="Remick"/> Outside, [[Emergency medical services|rescuers]] worked feverishly to transport the wounded to the hospital. James Saul, a 17-year-old messenger, commandeered a parked car and transported 30 injured people to an area [[hospital]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 17, 1920 |title=Boy Seizes Auto and Takes 30 Injured to the Hospital |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/09/17/archives/boy-seizes-auto-and-takes-30-injured-to-the-hospital.html|access-date=May 6, 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[Police officer]]s rushed to the scene, performed [[first aid]], and appropriated all nearby automobiles as emergency transport vehicles.<ref name="nypd20"/>


==Reaction==
==Reaction==
The [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s [[Bureau of Investigation]] (BOI, the forerunner of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], or FBI) did not immediately conclude that the bomb was an act of [[terrorism]]. Investigators were puzzled by the number of innocent people killed and the lack of a specific target, other than buildings that suffered relatively superficial, non-structural damage. Exploring the possibility of an accident, police contacted businesses that sold and transported explosives.<ref name="nyt"/> By 3:30&nbsp;pm, the [[board of governors]] of the NYSE had met and decided to open for business the next day. Crews cleaned up the area overnight to allow for normal business operations, but in doing so they destroyed physical evidence that might have helped police investigators solve the crime.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|160–61}} The [[Sons of the American Revolution]] had previously scheduled a patriotic rally for the day after (September 17) to celebrate [[Constitution Day (United States)|Constitution Day]] at exactly the same intersection. On September 17, thousands of people attended the rally in defiance of the previous day's attack.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|166–68}}
The [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]]'s [[Bureau of Investigation]] (BOI, the forerunner of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], or FBI) did not immediately conclude that the bomb was an act of [[terrorism]]. Investigators were puzzled by the number of innocent people killed and the lack of a specific target, other than buildings that suffered relatively superficial, non-structural damage. Exploring the possibility of an accident, police contacted businesses that sold and transported [[Explosive|explosives]].<ref name="nyt"/> By 3:30&nbsp;pm, the [[board of governors]] of the NYSE had met and decided to open for business the next day. Crews cleaned up the area overnight to allow for normal business operations, but in doing so they destroyed physical evidence that might have helped police investigators solve the crime.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|160–61}} The [[Sons of the American Revolution]] had previously scheduled a patriotic rally for the day after (September 17) to celebrate [[Constitution Day (United States)|Constitution Day]] at exactly the same intersection. On September 17, thousands of people attended the rally in defiance of the previous day's attack.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|166–68}}


[[File:Wall-street-vic-200916.jpg|thumb|left|Captioned "Dead in front of [J.P.] Morgan's [bank]", taken on the day of the bombing]]
[[File:Wall-street-vic-200916.jpg|thumb|left|Captioned "Dead in front of [J.P.] Morgan's [bank]", taken on the day of the bombing]]


The New York assistant district attorney noted that the timing, location, and method of delivery all pointed to Wall Street and J.P. Morgan as the targets of the bomb, suggesting in turn that it was planted by radical opponents of capitalism, such as [[Bolshevik]]s, [[anarchism|anarchists]], [[communism|communists]], or militant [[socialism|socialists]].<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|150–51}} Investigators soon focused on radical groups opposed to U.S. financial and governmental institutions and known to use bombs as a means of violent reprisal.<ref>{{cite book|title=Hopeless Cases: The Hunt for the Red Scare Terrorist Bombers|author=Charles H. McCormick|publisher=University Press of America|year=2005}}</ref> Often throughout the [[Gilded Age]] radical ideology and violence was used as a form of protest by groups to initiate change. When simple protests were not enough, these extremists would resort to ruthless measures to be heard. Although the violence proved to be detrimental to their overall cause, many historians saw that this was a clear point of radical behavior aimed at facilitating transformation throughout the classes. They observed that the Wall Street bomb was packed with heavy sash weights designed to act as [[Shrapnel shell|shrapnel]], then detonated on the street in order to increase casualties among financial workers and institutions during the busy lunch hour.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gage |first=Beverly. |date=2007 |title=Why Violence Matters: Radicalism, Politics, and Class War in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era |journal=Journal for the Study of Radicalism |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=99–109 |doi=10.1353/jsr.2008.0021 |s2cid=154748636 |issn=1930-1197}}</ref>
The New York assistant district attorney noted that the timing, location, and method of delivery all pointed to Wall Street and [[J.P. Morgan & Co.|J.P. Morgan]] as the targets of the bomb, suggesting in turn that it was planted by radical opponents of [[capitalism]], such as [[Bolshevik]]s, [[anarchists]], [[communists]], or militant [[socialists]].<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|150–51}} Investigators soon focused on [[Radical politics|radical groups]] opposed to U.S. financial and governmental institutions and known to use bombs as a means of violent reprisal.<ref>{{cite book|title=Hopeless Cases: The Hunt for the Red Scare Terrorist Bombers|author=Charles H. McCormick|publisher=University Press of America|year=2005}}</ref> Often throughout the [[Gilded Age]], radical ideology and violence was used as a form of protest by groups to initiate change. When simple protests were not enough, these extremists would resort to ruthless measures to be heard. Although the violence proved to be detrimental to their overall cause, many historians saw that this was a clear point of radical behavior aimed at facilitating transformation throughout the classes. They observed that the Wall Street bomb was packed with heavy [[Sash window|sash weights]] designed to act as [[Shrapnel shell|shrapnel]], then detonated on the street in order to increase casualties among financial workers and institutions during the busy lunch hour.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gage |first=Beverly. |date=2007 |title=Why Violence Matters: Radicalism, Politics, and Class War in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era |journal=Journal for the Study of Radicalism |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=99–109 |doi=10.1353/jsr.2008.0021 |s2cid=154748636 |issn=1930-1197}}</ref>


Officials eventually blamed anarchists and communists for the Wall Street bombing. ''[[The Washington Post]]'' called the attack an "act of war".<ref name="gage2"/> The bombing stimulated renewed efforts by police and federal investigators to track the activities and movements of foreign radicals. Public demands to track down the perpetrators led to an expanded role for the BOI, including the bureau's General Intelligence Division headed by [[J. Edgar Hoover]].<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|272–82}} The [[New York City Police Department]] (NYPD) also pushed to form a "special, or secret, police" to monitor "radical elements" in the city.<ref name="nypd20"/>
Officials eventually blamed anarchists and communists for the Wall Street bombing. ''[[The Washington Post]]'' called the attack an "act of war".<ref name="gage2"/> The bombing stimulated renewed efforts by police and federal investigators to track the activities and movements of foreign radicals. Public demands to track down the perpetrators led to an expanded role for the BOI, including the bureau's General Intelligence Division headed by [[J. Edgar Hoover]].<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|272–82}} The [[New York City Police Department]] (NYPD) also pushed to form a "special, or secret, police" to monitor "radical elements" in the city.<ref name="nypd20"/>
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==Investigations==
==Investigations==
The BOI investigation stalled when none of the victims turned out to be the driver of the wagon. Though the horse was newly shod, investigators could not locate the stable responsible for the work.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|171–75}} When the [[blacksmith]] was located in October, he could offer the police little information.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|225–26}} Investigators questioned tennis champion [[Edwin P. Fischer|Edwin Fischer]], who had sent warning postcards to friends, telling them to leave the area before September 16. He told police he had received the information "through the air". They found Fischer made a regular habit of issuing such warnings, and had him committed to Amityville Asylum, where he was diagnosed as insane but harmless.<ref name="bryk"/><ref name=bellows/> Meanwhile, [[Robert W. Wood]] helped to reconstruct the bomb mechanism.<ref>{{cite book |title=Doctor Wood, Modern Wizard of the Laboratory |author-link=William Buehler Seabrook |author=Seabrook, W. |year=1941 |location=New York |publisher=Harcourt Brace}}</ref>{{page number|date=September 2020}}
The BOI investigation stalled when none of the victims turned out to be the driver of the wagon. Though the horse was newly shod, investigators could not locate the stable responsible for the work.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|171–75}} When the [[blacksmith]] was located in October, he could offer the police little information.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|225–26}} Investigators questioned tennis champion [[Edwin P. Fischer|Edwin Fischer]], who had sent warning postcards to friends, telling them to leave the area before September 16. He told police he had received the information "through the air". They found Fischer made a regular habit of issuing such warnings, and had him committed to Amityville Asylum, where he was diagnosed as insane but harmless.<ref name="bryk"/><ref name=bellows/>


[[File:Wallstreetbomb.jpg|thumb|right|Remnants of the damage from the 1920 bombing are still visible on [[23 Wall Street]].]]
[[File:Wallstreetbomb.jpg|thumb|right|Remnants of the damage from the 1920 bombing are still visible on [[23 Wall Street]].]]


The BOI and local police investigated the case for over three years without success. Occasional arrests garnered headlines but each time they failed to support [[indictment]]s.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|217–19, 249–53}}<ref>Edmonton Bulletin (Edmonton, Canada), May 14, 1923, p. 1 (arrest of Noah Lerner)</ref> Most of the initial investigation focused on anarchists and communists, such as the [[Galleanist]] group, whom authorities believed were involved in the 1919 bombings.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|207–08}} During [[President of the United States|President]] [[Warren G. Harding]]'s administration, officials evaluated the [[Soviets]] and the [[Communist Party USA]] as possible masterminds of the bombing.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|261–90, 295–308}} In 1944, the FBI, successor to the BOI, investigated again. It concluded that its agents had explored many radical groups, "such as the [[Union of Russian Workers]], the [[Industrial Workers of the World|I.W.W.]], Communist, etc. ... and from the result of the investigations to date it would appear that none of the aforementioned organizations had any hand in the matter and that the explosion was the work of either [[Italian-Americans|Italian]] anarchists or Italian terrorists."<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|325}}
The BOI and local police investigated the case for over three years without success. Occasional arrests garnered headlines but each time they failed to support [[indictment]]s.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|217–19, 249–53}}<ref>Edmonton Bulletin (Edmonton, Canada), May 14, 1923, p. 1 (arrest of Noah Lerner)</ref> Most of the initial investigation focused on anarchists and communists, such as the [[Galleanist]] group, whom authorities believed were involved in the 1919 bombings.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|207–08}} During [[President of the United States|President]] [[Warren G. Harding]]'s administration, officials evaluated the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Communist Party USA]] as possible masterminds of the bombing.<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|261–90, 295–308}} In 1944, the FBI, successor to the BOI, investigated again. It concluded that its agents had explored many radical groups, "such as the [[Union of Russian Workers]], the [[Industrial Workers of the World|I.W.W.]], Communist, etc. ... and from the result of the investigations to date it would appear that none of the aforementioned organizations had any hand in the matter and that the explosion was the work of either [[Italian-Americans|Italian]] anarchists or Italian terrorists."<ref name="gage"/>{{rp|325}}


One Galleanist in particular, Italian anarchist [[Mario Buda]] (1884–1963), an associate of [[Sacco and Vanzetti]] and the owner of a car which led to the arrest of the latter for a separate robbery and murder, is alleged by some historians, including [[Paul Avrich]], to be the man most likely to have planted the bomb. Avrich and other historians theorize that Buda acted in revenge for the arrest and indictment of Sacco and Vanzetti.<ref name="avr2"/><ref>Avrich, Paul, ''Anarchist Voices: Interview of Charles Poggi'', p. 133: Among other interesting admissions, Buda acknowledged that Niccola Sacco was in fact present ("''Sacco c'era''") at the South Braintree payroll robbery and murder for which he was eventually executed.</ref><ref name="newby"/> Buda's involvement as the Wall Street bombmaker was confirmed by statements made by his nephew Frank Maffi and fellow anarchist Charles Poggi, who interviewed Buda in [[Savignano sul Rubicone]], Italy, in 1955.<ref>Avrich, Paul, ''Anarchist Voices: Interview of Charles Poggi'', p. 133: "Buda was a real militant, capable of anything. In 1933 I drove to New York with Buda's nephew, Frank Maffi...Frank said, 'Let's drive downtown and see my uncle's bomb', and he took me to Wall Street, where the big explosion took place in September 1920, just before Buda sailed for Italy. You could still see the holes in the Morgan building across the street."</ref> Buda (at that time known by the [[Pseudonym|alias]] of Mike Boda) had eluded authorities at the time of the Sacco and Vanzetti arrests, was experienced in the use of dynamite and other explosives, was known to use sash weights as shrapnel in his time bombs, and is believed to have constructed several of the largest package bombs for the Galleanists.<ref name="avr2"/><ref name=del/><ref name="watson"/>{{rp|15}} These included the [[Milwaukee Police Department bombing]], which was a large black powder bomb that killed nine policemen in [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]], the time of the bombing, but he was neither arrested nor questioned by police.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/09/16/the_1920_wall_st_bombing_a_terrorist_attack_on_new_york.html|title=The 1920 Wall St bombing: A terrorist attack on New York|magazine=Slate Magazine|date=September 16, 2014 |access-date=30 April 2016}}</ref>
One Galleanist in particular, Italian anarchist [[Mario Buda]] (1884–1963), an associate of [[Sacco and Vanzetti]] and the owner of a car which led to the arrest of the latter for a separate robbery and murder, is alleged by some historians, including [[Paul Avrich]], to be the man most likely to have planted the bomb. Avrich and other historians theorize that Buda acted in revenge for the arrest and indictment of Sacco and Vanzetti.<ref name="avr2"/><ref>Avrich, Paul, ''Anarchist Voices: Interview of Charles Poggi'', p. 133: Among other interesting admissions, Buda acknowledged that Niccola Sacco was in fact present ("''Sacco c'era''") at the South Braintree payroll robbery and murder for which he was eventually executed.</ref><ref name="newby"/> Buda's involvement as the Wall Street bombmaker was confirmed by statements made by his nephew Frank Maffi and fellow anarchist Charles Poggi, who interviewed Buda in [[Savignano sul Rubicone]], Italy, in 1955.<ref>Avrich, Paul, ''Anarchist Voices: Interview of Charles Poggi'', p. 133: "Buda was a real militant, capable of anything. In 1933 I drove to New York with Buda's nephew, Frank Maffi...Frank said, 'Let's drive downtown and see my uncle's bomb', and he took me to Wall Street, where the big explosion took place in September 1920, just before Buda sailed for Italy. You could still see the holes in the Morgan building across the street."</ref> Buda (at that time known by the [[Pseudonym|alias]] of Mike Boda) had eluded authorities at the time of the Sacco and Vanzetti arrests, was experienced in the use of dynamite and other explosives, was known to use sash weights as shrapnel in his time bombs, and is believed to have constructed several of the largest package bombs for the Galleanists.<ref name="avr2"/><ref name=del/><ref name="watson"/>{{rp|15}} These included the [[Milwaukee Police Department bombing]], which was a large black powder bomb that killed nine policemen in [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]]. However, he was neither arrested nor questioned by police.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/09/16/the_1920_wall_st_bombing_a_terrorist_attack_on_new_york.html|title=The 1920 Wall St bombing: A terrorist attack on New York|magazine=Slate Magazine|date=September 16, 2014 |access-date=30 April 2016}}</ref>


After leaving New York, Buda resumed the use of his real name in order to secure a passport from the Italian vice-[[consul (representative)|consul]], then promptly sailed for [[Naples]].<ref name="avr"/> By November, he was back in his native [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], never to return to the United States.<ref name="avr"/> Galleanists still in the U.S. continued the bombing and assassination campaign for another 12 years, culminating in a 1932 bomb attack targeting [[Webster Thayer]], the presiding judge in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial.<ref name="avr2"/> Thayer, who survived the ensuing blast that destroyed his house and injured his wife and housekeeper, moved his residence to his club for the last year and a half of his life, where he was guarded 24 hours a day.<ref name="avr2"/>
After leaving New York, Buda resumed the use of his real name in order to secure a passport from the Italian vice-[[consul (representative)|consul]], then promptly sailed for [[Naples]].<ref name="avr"/> By November, he was back in his native [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]], never to return to the United States.<ref name="avr"/> Galleanists still in the U.S. continued the bombing and assassination campaign for another 12 years, culminating in a 1932 bomb attack targeting [[Webster Thayer]], the presiding judge in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial.<ref name="avr2"/> Thayer, who survived the ensuing blast that destroyed his house and injured his wife and housekeeper, moved his residence to his club for the last year and a half of his life, where he was guarded 24 hours a day.<ref name="avr2"/>


==In media==
==In media==
The bombing has inspired several books, notably ''The Day Wall Street Exploded'', by Beverly Gage, ''The Death Instinct'', by [[Jed Rubenfeld]],<ref name="seth"/> and ''Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb'' (2007) by [[Mike Davis (scholar)|Mike Davis]].{{cn|date=September 2020}}
The bombing has inspired several books, notably ''The Day Wall Street Exploded'' by Beverly Gage, ''The Death Instinct'' by [[Jed Rubenfeld]].<ref name="seth"/>


Upton Sinclair writes about this event in the book Oil!, chapter 11, section 9, second and third paragraphs. He argues that there was no conspiracy, rather the bombing was negligence from a truck driver carrying hazardous material who ignored the rules for their safe transport.
[[Upton Sinclair]] writes about this event in the book ''Oil!'' He argues that there was no conspiracy, rather the bombing was negligence from a truck driver carrying hazardous material who ignored the rules for their safe transport.<ref>chapter 11, section 9, second and third paragraphs</ref>


The bombing is the subject of the PBS series ''[[American Experience]]'' episode "The Bombing of Wall Street", broadcast in February 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/bombing-wall-street/# |title=The Bombing of Wall Street |website=[[American Experience]] |publisher=[[PBS]]}}</ref>
The bombing is the subject of the PBS series ''[[American Experience]]'' episode "The Bombing of Wall Street", broadcast in February 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/bombing-wall-street/# |title=The Bombing of Wall Street |website=[[American Experience]] |publisher=[[PBS]]}}</ref>


The bombing was in the closing scene of the 2012 film ''[[No God, No Master]]''.{{cn|date=September 2020}}
Additionally, the bombing is depicted in the 2012 period thriller film ''[[No God, No Master]]''.

In 2019, [[Black Metal]] band [[Outer Darkness]] released a song, "Whiskered Men With Bombs," about the incident.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/whiskered-men-with-bombs/1551479942?i=1551480397 |title=Whiskered Men With Bombs |website=[[Apple Music]]}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
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<ref name="bellows">{{cite web |url=http://www.damninteresting.com/terror-on-wall-street/ |title=Terror on Wall Street |first=Alan |last=Bellows |date=May 14, 2007 |access-date=December 25, 2011 |website=DamnInteresting.com}}</ref>
<ref name="bellows">{{cite web |url=http://www.damninteresting.com/terror-on-wall-street/ |title=Terror on Wall Street |first=Alan |last=Bellows |date=May 14, 2007 |access-date=December 25, 2011 |website=DamnInteresting.com}}</ref>


<ref name="avr2">{{cite book |last=Avrich |first=Paul |title=Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background |isbn=978-0-691-02604-6 |year=1991 |page=[https://archive.org/details/saccovanzettiana0000avri/page/213 213,227] |url=https://archive.org/details/saccovanzettiana0000avri/page/213}}</ref>
<ref name="avr2">{{cite book |last=Avrich |first=Paul |title=Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background |isbn=978-0-691-02604-6 |year=1991 |page=[https://archive.org/details/saccovanzettiana0000avri/page/213 213, 227] |publisher=Princeton University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/saccovanzettiana0000avri/page/213}}</ref>


<ref name="newby">{{cite book |last=Newby |first=Richard |title=Kill Now, Talk Forever: Debating Sacco and Vanzetti |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-0-7596-0792-7 |year=2011 |page=590}}</ref>
<ref name="newby">{{cite book |last=Newby |first=Richard |title=Kill Now, Talk Forever: Debating Sacco and Vanzetti |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-0-7596-0792-7 |year=2011 |page=590}}</ref>
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* {{Commons category-inline|Wall Street bombing}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Wall Street bombing}}


{{Terrorist attacks in the United States by deaths}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall Street bombing}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall Street bombing}}
[[Category:1920 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:1920 murders in the United States]]
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[[Category:1920s in Manhattan]]
[[Category:1920s in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Animal-borne bombs]]
[[Category:Animal-borne bombs]]
[[Category:Attacks on bank buildings]]
[[Category:Attacks on bank buildings in the United States]]
[[Category:Car and truck bombings in the United States]]
[[Category:Building bombings in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Crimes in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Crimes in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Financial District, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Financial District, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Galleanisti]]
[[Category:Galleanisti]]
[[Category:History of anarchism]]
[[Category:History of anarchism]]
[[Category:Improvised explosive device bombings in the United States]]
[[Category:Explosions in New York City]]
[[Category:Mass murder in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Road transport bombings]]
[[Category:Mass murder in New York City]]
[[Category:Mass murder in New York City]]
[[Category:Mass murder in the United States]]
[[Category:Mass murder in the United States in the 1920s]]
[[Category:Murder in New York City]]
[[Category:Political violence in the United States]]
[[Category:Political violence in the United States]]
[[Category:September 1920 events]]
[[Category:September 1920 events in the United States]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents by unknown perpetrators]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents by unknown perpetrators]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in New York City]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in New York City]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in the United States in the 1920s]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in the United States in 1920]]
[[Category:Unsolved mass murders in the United States]]
[[Category:Unsolved mass murders in the United States]]
[[Category:Wall Street]]
[[Category:Wall Street|Bombing]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents against transportation in the United States]]

Latest revision as of 03:46, 13 November 2024

Wall Street bombing
The aftermath of the explosion. Federal Hall National Memorial is at the right.
LocationManhattan, New York City
Coordinates40°42′25″N 74°00′37″W / 40.7070°N 74.0103°W / 40.7070; -74.0103
DateSeptember 16, 1920; 104 years ago (1920-09-16)
12:01 pm
TargetWall Street
Attack type
Horse-drawn wagon bomb
Animal-borne bomb attack
Deaths40 (plus one horse)[1]
Injured143 seriously injured, several hundred total
MotivePossible revenge for the arrests of Sacco and Vanzetti and/or the deportation of Luigi Galleani
Cover of The New York Times reporting on the Wall Street bombing.

The Wall Street bombing was an act of terrorism on Wall Street at 12:01 pm on Thursday, September 16, 1920. The blast killed 30 people immediately, and another 10 later died of wounds that they sustained in the blast. There were 143 seriously injured, and the total number of injured was in the hundreds.[2]: 160–61 [3]

The bombing was never solved, although investigators and historians believe it was carried out by Galleanists, a group responsible for a series of bombings the previous year.

Attack

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At noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed by lunchtime crowds on Wall Street and stopped across the street from the headquarters of the J.P. Morgan & Co. bank at 23 Wall Street, on the Financial District's busiest corner. Inside the wagon, 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite with 500 pounds (230 kg) of heavy, cast-iron sash weights exploded in a timer-set detonation,[4]: 77  sending the weights tearing through the air.[5] The horse and wagon were blasted into small fragments, but the driver was seen by witnesses leaving the vehicle and escaping down a side street.[6][7]

The 40 fatalities were mostly young people who worked as messengers, stenographers, clerks, and brokers. Many of the wounded suffered severe injuries.[2]: 329–30  The bomb caused more than US$2 million ($30.4 million today) in property damage and destroyed most of the interior spaces of the Morgan building.[8]

Within one minute of the explosion, William H. Remick, president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), suspended trading in order to prevent a panic.[9] Outside, rescuers worked feverishly to transport the wounded to the hospital. James Saul, a 17-year-old messenger, commandeered a parked car and transported 30 injured people to an area hospital.[10] Police officers rushed to the scene, performed first aid, and appropriated all nearby automobiles as emergency transport vehicles.[11]

Reaction

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The Justice Department's Bureau of Investigation (BOI, the forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI) did not immediately conclude that the bomb was an act of terrorism. Investigators were puzzled by the number of innocent people killed and the lack of a specific target, other than buildings that suffered relatively superficial, non-structural damage. Exploring the possibility of an accident, police contacted businesses that sold and transported explosives.[12] By 3:30 pm, the board of governors of the NYSE had met and decided to open for business the next day. Crews cleaned up the area overnight to allow for normal business operations, but in doing so they destroyed physical evidence that might have helped police investigators solve the crime.[2]: 160–61  The Sons of the American Revolution had previously scheduled a patriotic rally for the day after (September 17) to celebrate Constitution Day at exactly the same intersection. On September 17, thousands of people attended the rally in defiance of the previous day's attack.[2]: 166–68 

Captioned "Dead in front of [J.P.] Morgan's [bank]", taken on the day of the bombing

The New York assistant district attorney noted that the timing, location, and method of delivery all pointed to Wall Street and J.P. Morgan as the targets of the bomb, suggesting in turn that it was planted by radical opponents of capitalism, such as Bolsheviks, anarchists, communists, or militant socialists.[2]: 150–51  Investigators soon focused on radical groups opposed to U.S. financial and governmental institutions and known to use bombs as a means of violent reprisal.[13] Often throughout the Gilded Age, radical ideology and violence was used as a form of protest by groups to initiate change. When simple protests were not enough, these extremists would resort to ruthless measures to be heard. Although the violence proved to be detrimental to their overall cause, many historians saw that this was a clear point of radical behavior aimed at facilitating transformation throughout the classes. They observed that the Wall Street bomb was packed with heavy sash weights designed to act as shrapnel, then detonated on the street in order to increase casualties among financial workers and institutions during the busy lunch hour.[14]

Officials eventually blamed anarchists and communists for the Wall Street bombing. The Washington Post called the attack an "act of war".[15] The bombing stimulated renewed efforts by police and federal investigators to track the activities and movements of foreign radicals. Public demands to track down the perpetrators led to an expanded role for the BOI, including the bureau's General Intelligence Division headed by J. Edgar Hoover.[2]: 272–82  The New York City Police Department (NYPD) also pushed to form a "special, or secret, police" to monitor "radical elements" in the city.[11]

On September 17, the BOI released the contents of flyers found in a post office box in the Wall Street area just before the explosion. Printed in red ink on white paper, they said: "Remember, we will not tolerate any longer. Free the political prisoners, or it will be sure death for all of you." At the bottom was: "American Anarchist Fighters".[2]: 171–75  The BOI quickly decided that the flyer eliminated the possibility of an accidental explosion. William J. Flynn, director of the BOI, suggested the flyers were similar to those found at the June 1919 anarchist bombings.[2]: 171–75 [16]

Investigations

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The BOI investigation stalled when none of the victims turned out to be the driver of the wagon. Though the horse was newly shod, investigators could not locate the stable responsible for the work.[2]: 171–75  When the blacksmith was located in October, he could offer the police little information.[2]: 225–26  Investigators questioned tennis champion Edwin Fischer, who had sent warning postcards to friends, telling them to leave the area before September 16. He told police he had received the information "through the air". They found Fischer made a regular habit of issuing such warnings, and had him committed to Amityville Asylum, where he was diagnosed as insane but harmless.[17][18]

Remnants of the damage from the 1920 bombing are still visible on 23 Wall Street.

The BOI and local police investigated the case for over three years without success. Occasional arrests garnered headlines but each time they failed to support indictments.[2]: 217–19, 249–53 [19] Most of the initial investigation focused on anarchists and communists, such as the Galleanist group, whom authorities believed were involved in the 1919 bombings.[2]: 207–08  During President Warren G. Harding's administration, officials evaluated the Soviet Union and the Communist Party USA as possible masterminds of the bombing.[2]: 261–90, 295–308  In 1944, the FBI, successor to the BOI, investigated again. It concluded that its agents had explored many radical groups, "such as the Union of Russian Workers, the I.W.W., Communist, etc. ... and from the result of the investigations to date it would appear that none of the aforementioned organizations had any hand in the matter and that the explosion was the work of either Italian anarchists or Italian terrorists."[2]: 325 

One Galleanist in particular, Italian anarchist Mario Buda (1884–1963), an associate of Sacco and Vanzetti and the owner of a car which led to the arrest of the latter for a separate robbery and murder, is alleged by some historians, including Paul Avrich, to be the man most likely to have planted the bomb. Avrich and other historians theorize that Buda acted in revenge for the arrest and indictment of Sacco and Vanzetti.[20][21][22] Buda's involvement as the Wall Street bombmaker was confirmed by statements made by his nephew Frank Maffi and fellow anarchist Charles Poggi, who interviewed Buda in Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy, in 1955.[23] Buda (at that time known by the alias of Mike Boda) had eluded authorities at the time of the Sacco and Vanzetti arrests, was experienced in the use of dynamite and other explosives, was known to use sash weights as shrapnel in his time bombs, and is believed to have constructed several of the largest package bombs for the Galleanists.[20][24][4]: 15  These included the Milwaukee Police Department bombing, which was a large black powder bomb that killed nine policemen in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. However, he was neither arrested nor questioned by police.[25]

After leaving New York, Buda resumed the use of his real name in order to secure a passport from the Italian vice-consul, then promptly sailed for Naples.[5] By November, he was back in his native Italy, never to return to the United States.[5] Galleanists still in the U.S. continued the bombing and assassination campaign for another 12 years, culminating in a 1932 bomb attack targeting Webster Thayer, the presiding judge in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial.[20] Thayer, who survived the ensuing blast that destroyed his house and injured his wife and housekeeper, moved his residence to his club for the last year and a half of his life, where he was guarded 24 hours a day.[20]

In media

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The bombing has inspired several books, notably The Day Wall Street Exploded by Beverly Gage, The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld.[26]

Upton Sinclair writes about this event in the book Oil! He argues that there was no conspiracy, rather the bombing was negligence from a truck driver carrying hazardous material who ignored the rules for their safe transport.[27]

The bombing is the subject of the PBS series American Experience episode "The Bombing of Wall Street", broadcast in February 2018.[28]

Additionally, the bombing is depicted in the 2012 period thriller film No God, No Master.

See also

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Citations

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  1. ^ McCann, Joseph T. (2006). Terrorism on American Soil: A Concise History of Plots and Perpetrators from the Famous to the Forgotten. Sentient Publications. p. 63. ISBN 1591810493. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Gage, Beverly (2009). The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in its First Age of Terror. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199759286.
  3. ^ Barron, James (September 17, 2003). "After 1920 Blast, The Opposite Of 'Never Forget'; No Memorials on Wall St. For Attack That Killed 30". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Watson, Bruce (2007). Sacco and Vanzetti: The Men, the Murders, and the Judgment of Mankind. New York: Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-670-06353-6.
  5. ^ a b c Avrich, Paul (1996). Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 132–33.
  6. ^ Davis, Mike (2017). Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb. Verso. p. 3. ISBN 9781784786649.
  7. ^ Brooks, John (1999). Once in Golconda : a true drama of Wall Street, 1920–1938. New York: John Wiley. p. 15. ISBN 9780471357537.
  8. ^ "Havoc Wrought in Morgan Offices". The New York Times. September 17, 1920. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  9. ^ "Remick Nips Panic on Stock Exchange". The New York Times. September 17, 1920. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  10. ^ "Boy Seizes Auto and Takes 30 Injured to the Hospital". The New York Times. September 17, 1920. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  11. ^ a b New York (N.Y.) Police Department (1920). Annual Report. pp. 167–168.
  12. ^ "Explosive Stores All Accounted for; Some of the Striking Effects of the Explosion". The New York Times. September 17, 1920. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  13. ^ Charles H. McCormick (2005). Hopeless Cases: The Hunt for the Red Scare Terrorist Bombers. University Press of America.
  14. ^ Gage, Beverly. (2007). "Why Violence Matters: Radicalism, Politics, and Class War in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era". Journal for the Study of Radicalism. 1 (1): 99–109. doi:10.1353/jsr.2008.0021. ISSN 1930-1197. S2CID 154748636.
  15. ^ Gage, Beverly. "The First Wall Street Bomb". History News Service. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
  16. ^ "Funds are Needed in Fight on Reds". The New York Times. September 19, 1920. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  17. ^ Bryk, William (March 6, 2001). "Wall Street's Unsolved Bombing Mystery". New York Press. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  18. ^ Bellows, Alan (May 14, 2007). "Terror on Wall Street". DamnInteresting.com. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  19. ^ Edmonton Bulletin (Edmonton, Canada), May 14, 1923, p. 1 (arrest of Noah Lerner)
  20. ^ a b c d Avrich, Paul (1991). Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background. Princeton University Press. p. 213, 227. ISBN 978-0-691-02604-6.
  21. ^ Avrich, Paul, Anarchist Voices: Interview of Charles Poggi, p. 133: Among other interesting admissions, Buda acknowledged that Niccola Sacco was in fact present ("Sacco c'era") at the South Braintree payroll robbery and murder for which he was eventually executed.
  22. ^ Newby, Richard (2011). Kill Now, Talk Forever: Debating Sacco and Vanzetti. AuthorHouse. p. 590. ISBN 978-0-7596-0792-7.
  23. ^ Avrich, Paul, Anarchist Voices: Interview of Charles Poggi, p. 133: "Buda was a real militant, capable of anything. In 1933 I drove to New York with Buda's nephew, Frank Maffi...Frank said, 'Let's drive downtown and see my uncle's bomb', and he took me to Wall Street, where the big explosion took place in September 1920, just before Buda sailed for Italy. You could still see the holes in the Morgan building across the street."
  24. ^ Dell'Arti, Giorgio (January 26, 2002). "La Storia di Mario Buda" (PDF) (in Italian). Io Donna. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 27, 2007. Retrieved July 15, 2008.
  25. ^ "The 1920 Wall St bombing: A terrorist attack on New York". Slate Magazine. September 16, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  26. ^ Stern, Seth (February 23, 2011). "Book review: 'The Death Instinct' by Jed Rubenfeld". Washington Post. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
  27. ^ chapter 11, section 9, second and third paragraphs
  28. ^ "The Bombing of Wall Street". American Experience. PBS.
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