On This Date In Twin Cities History - December 2, 1917

On this date in 1917, fifty non-union street car drivers are injured and more than twenty streetcars are damaged when a mass meeting of the St. Paul and Minneapolis Trades and Labor assemblies held Rice Park turns violent.

The protest was the result of a dispute between the Twin City Rapid Transit Co. and its streetcar operators over wages.

Labor leaders had urged peaceful demonstrations, but an angry mob estimated at 5,000 people attacked St. Paul streetcars breaking windows and cutting wires. Property damage due to the riots ran into the thousands of dollars.