On Sept. 10, 1913, Ana Clemenc, came to be known as “Big Annie,” when she gained national fame for being hauled off to jail during a protest at the Calumet mine.
Clemenc, married to a miner, supported the workers of the Western Federation of Miners, who went on strike for better wages and working conditions. She blocked a strikebreaker from entering a mine and refused to leave the street when asked by police.
“No, I’m not going. I have a right to stand here and quietly ask the scabs not to go to work,” Clemenc said.
She ended up being convicted of assault and was sentenced to pay a fine and spend time in jail. Her subsequent confrontations also received attentions from newspapers across the country, which referred to her as “Big Annie,” given her six-foot frame.
Source: Michigan Every Day
For another picture, see “Big Annie” Clemens carrying flag at strikers parade Calumet Ave. near C and H hospital. courtesy of the Michigan Tech University Archives.
For more information, see
Community in conflict : a working-class history of the 1913-14 Michigan Copper Strike and the Italian Hall Tragedy / Gary Kaunonen and Aaron Goings.
Big Annie makes a cameo in in the novel Red jacket : a Lute Bapcat mystery / Joseph Heywood. Guilford, Conn. : Lyons Press, c2012.