On July 6, 1934, the talk on the streets of Minneapolis and St Paul was all about the day’s massive labor parade. Some twelve thousand trade unionists, activists in local unemployed councils, and Women’s Auxiliary labor supporters made up the vibrant throng, which was cheered on by six thousand people lining the eighteen-block parade route.

Eventually, much of the crowd filed into the packed Municipal Auditorium; thousands more milled about outside, listening to loudspeakers broadcasting militant speeches from the podium.

The language of class in 1934 was anything but resigned. Local bosses were denounced, as was an elite vigilante outfit, the Citizen’s Alliance. The message pervading the proceedings was one of anticapitalism: