- Sun-Times Media
- The Newberry Library’s freedom of speech award is named for former governor John Peter Altgeld, who granted clemency to anarchists rounded up after the Haymarket bombing.
The Newberry Library will stage its annual salute to society’s trouble-making element this Saturday in Bughouse Square, a traditional gathering place for unruly rabble.
Altgeld was elected governor in 1892, and in ’93 he granted clemency to the three surviving defendants on the grounds that their trial had been a travesty. Hailed by history, Altgeld’s action wasn’t welcomed at the time by Chicago’s loftier elements, and he was defeated for reelection in ’96.
