Parade of Unemployed, 1909
May 31,1909, Parade of unemployed men in New York City, holding signs calling for the unemployed to rally together. A few of the signs read "The right to work shall be guaranteed to all citizens regardless of creed, color or sex" and "Fall in line make way for brotherhood establish justice". The Panic of 1907 was a financial crisis that occurred in the United States when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from its peak the previous year. It occurred during a time of economic recession, there were numerous runs on banks and trust companies, and, in the aftermath, created widespread unemployment. The panic was triggered by the failed attempt in October 1907 to corner the market on stock of the United Copper Company. When this bid failed, banks that had lent money to the cornering scheme suffered runs that later spread to affiliated banks and trusts, leading a week later to the downfall of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, New York City's third largest trust. The collapse of the Knickerbocker spread fear throughout the city's trusts as regional banks withdrew reserves from New York City banks. Panic extended across the nation as vast numbers of people withdrew deposits from their regional banks. At the time, the United States did not have a central bank to inject liquidity back into the market. The following year, Rhode Island Senator Nelson Aldrich established and chaired a commission to investigate the crisis and propose future solutions, leading to the creation of the Federal Reserve System.
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: 1909, 20th, america, american, bw, century, city, crisis, economic, equality, financial, historic, historical, history, jobless, male, man, manhattan, men, ny, nyc, parade, photo, photograph, rashly, signs, states, unemployed, unemployment, united, usa, work, york
