ROCKPORT

The labor movement in Rockport quarries

Rockport, especially the Pigeon Cove area, has historically been home to many immigrant communities, notably Finns, Swedes, Italians, and Portuguese. Scandinavian immigrants often worked in the quarries at what is now Halibut Point State Park. Mediterranean immigrants arrived in the Early Republic, and the first Finnish and Swedish immigrants in the 1870s. Finns and Swedes were often lumped together as one group—as historian Jonathan Schwartz suggests, "a generalized 'Scandinavian' identity for the Swedish and Finnish immigrants, at least in the eyes of the New England community". These ethnic divisions were important pieces of working-class identities, and became more important as quarry workers become more involved in labor activism against the Rockport Granite Company, which opened in 1865 and dissolved in 1933.

From March to June 1899, for example, a group of Finnish quarrymen, who were the newest immigrant groups brought in to work in the quarries, went on strike. Originally, Finns were brought to Pigeon Cove and the Rockport Granite quarries to break strikes in the early 1890s, but they eventually became one of the most militant groups to fight for workers' rights. The 1899 strike was supported by the National Granite Cutters Union and the Quarry Workers Union, allegedly due to contract violations. This strike was particularly heated, with violence and arrests throughout. The Boston Globe published many reports of the Finns being particularly strong labor activists, refusing to cut deals and threatening those who tried to go to work during the strikes.

The Rockport Granite Company attempted to bring in Italian laborers from Boston to act as strikebreakers in the spring of 1899. These temporary workers were housed in shanties near Blood Ledge quarry at Bay View, about half a mile from the quarry. The Finns heard about the Italians and attempted to communicate that they were on strike, hoping the Italians would join their cause. According to The New York Times, the Italians had been brought to the quarry "under false pretenses" and about half of them abandoned work. Those who remained felt threatened and the Rockport Granite Company requested police protection for them.

On May 10, 1899, several Finnish strikers were arrested for their activism. On April 20, 1899, a group of 200 Finns rallied and worked its way to the quarry shanties, armed with clubs and stones, eventually converging on the Italians, who had taken refuge in the boiler house, even going so far as to pull the shutters off the building. Eventually, the strikers dispersed when one member was shot in the foot. The Italians were quite afraid of the Finnish strikers, and many of them returned to Boston after this incident.

On June 8, 1899, a bombing, suspected by police to be the work of strikers or someone invested in the strike, destroyed one of the company buildings inhabited by a John Nelson and six other workers who refused to join the strike. The workers were not injured. Three Finns were arrested on suspicion of the crime. They later fled Rockport to avoid trial.

Eventually, the Finns and their fellow strikers won the right to a nine-hour work day and time-and-a-half for overtime work, and assurances that the company would not discriminate against any of the over 2,000 workers who participated in the strike. During the early 20th century, quarry workers struck for other rights with the support of their unions, notably in 1902, 1908, and 1916. The quarries closed during the Great Depression. Two explanations are possible for the closures—the introduction of new building materials such as poured concrete and quarry workers' continued movement for higher wages into the 1920s. Swedes and Finns worked in the quarries until they closed and left a mark on Rockport's culture.

Motif Number 1

A red fishing shack on Bradley Wharf in Rockport, known as "Motif Number 1", has for years been one of Cape Ann's most famous sites. It is the subject of hundreds of paintings and photographs, and is visited by aspiring artists and tourists from all over the world. The original structure was built in 1884 and destroyed in the Blizzard of 1978, but an exact replica was constructed that same year.

In 1933, the Rockport American Legion Post. No. 98 built a 27-foot (8.2 m) scale model of "Motif No.1" for the Legion Parade, which was held in Chicago, Illinois, site of the 1933 World's Fair. Designed by Aldro Hibbard and Anthony Thieme, with participation by the RAA, Board of Trade and townspeople "from high to low", the float was commissioned in June, completed by the end of September, and driven in daylight only, from Rockport to Chicago, in less than a week. On October 3, 1933, among 200 floats, it won first place in the float competition. Upon the float's return to Rockport, a crowd of over 4,000 lined the Great Hill (5 Corners) to welcome the float home.

Modern Rockport

Today Rockport is primarily a suburban residential and tourist town, but it is still home to a number of lobster fishermen and artists. Its rocky beaches and seaside parks are a favorite place for tourists from the Greater Boston Area and Rhode Island, among other places.