Battle of Homestead Foundation - Charles McCollester Collection

The photograph is of 5 police officers and a spectating civilian setting up a machine gun in front of a car on a residential street. The force was to be potentially used against strikers during the Ambridge strike of 1933 in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The 1933 Ambridge strike occurred in early October 1933 when workers at Ambridge's National Electric Plant voted to strike for recognition of their union, the Steel and Metal Workers Industrial Union, SMWIU, and wage increase. Subsequently, workers at Central Tube Co., Sprang-Chalfant, Wycoff Drawn Steel, H.H. Robertson, and A.M. Byers all joined the strike. All locations were met with a heavy police presence. In an attempt to break picket lines, a violent altercation ensued on October 5th, 1933. The altercation resulted in the death of a spectator, and over 100 injuries.