On Sept. 15, local historian Anita Danker will speak about the violent 1913 Hopedale strike at the Draper Corporation, a family business that prided itself on its benevolent approach towards its employees. 

Hopedale started as a utopian religious community and grew through Draper’s investment in town buildings, worker housing, and an extensive park system. The successful “Bread and Roses” strike in Lawrence only a year before gave the Draper workers hope, and they had a legitimate reason to walk off the job. But former Massachusetts governor Eben Draper, president of the company at the time, was determined to put the men down. He hired his own army of police to deal with the strikers, many of whom were immigrants from nearby Milford, and one of whom was killed in the process. 

Although Eben Draper eventually broke the strike, the price he paid was high: he died suddenly one year after his victory. The former governor may have won the day, but in the end the Draper strike may have broken him. 

This free presentation will be held on Sunday, Sept. 15, at 2 p.m. at the Little Red Shop Museum, considered the birthplace of the Draper Corporation. The Museum is located at 12 Hopedale Street in Hopedale, and doors will open at 1 p.m. 

This program is sponsored by the Hopedale Women’s History Project and the Little Red Shop Museum. 

Submitted by sponsors