The Battle of Fort Frick and the Anarchist Assassin
Podcast: Business HistoryPublished On: Wed Sep 09 2026
Description: Concluding our story of Andrew Carnegie's effort to break the unions at his Homestead steel factory, we look at how the plant boss Henry Clay Frick enlisted a private army of Pinkerton detectives to confront the steel workers. Gunfire erupts and there are deaths on both sides. The so-called battle of "Fort Frick" seems to go the way of the unions - until a young anarchist comes to town hoping to piggyback on the unrest to further his goal of sparking a revolution. He finds a way into Frick's office... and he comes armed with a pistol and a knife. Write to us at businesshistory@pushkin.fmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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