Today in Labor History April 18, 1906: The Great San Francisco earthquake struck. It killed over 3,000 people and destroyed 80% of the city, making 250,000 people homeless, or more than half of its population at the time. Chinatown was heavily damaged and many of the survivors from that community fled to Oakland, with only 400 remaining in San Francisco. The population of African Americans, in contrast, increased in the wake of the quake, as many came to San Francisco to support their friends’ and families’ recovery efforts. IWW bard, and composer of the classic hobo song, “Big Rock Candy Mountains,” was there at the time. In 1905, he sang at an Oakland rally for London’s mayoral bid. When the earthquake hit, Haywire Mac was drafted by a fire captain. He spent the next three days making coffee and sandwiches for the firemen, remaining close to engines because soldiers were shooting looters on sight.#workingclass #LaborHistory #sanfrancisco #earthquake #IWW #jacklondon #haywiremac #BlackMastodon