Existing comment:
Encampment of Coxey's Army (1894)
In the wake of the economic "Panic of 1893", social reformer Jacob Coxey and his "Army of the Commonwealth," consisting of approximately 500 unemployed workers, marched from Ohio to Washington, D.C., to demonstrate at the Capitol for unemployment relief. Following their march on Washington, Coxey and his Army were invited to stay at the George Washington House Hotel in Bladensburg by its proprietor. On May 14, 1894, the group's rank-and-file members camped in the hotel's backyard while Jacob Coxey, his wife, his infant son Legal Tender Coxey, and his assistant Carl Browne were given free rooms. Floodwaters forced Coxey's Army to flee Bladensburg on May 20, 1894. Jacob Coxey (1854-1951) ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1894, 1916, and 1942 and for president in 1932 and 1936. |