Outside Federal Hall after the attack
Surveying the damage
Police hold curious crowds back
September 16th 1920: Wall Street bombing
On this day in 1920, a terrorist attack killed 39 people on Wall Street, New York City. At noon, a horse-drawn buggy loaded with 100 pounds of dynamite and 500 pounds of iron slugs exploded across the street from the J.P. Morgan building. The powerful blast shattered windows all along the iconic street, and completely destroyed the interior of the Morgan headquarters; the damage inflicted totaled millions of dollars. In addition to the 39 fatalities, 300 people were injured by shrapnel and glass raining down during the lunch-time rush on Wall Street. The victims were mostly clerks, messengers, and secretaries who worked for Wall Street financial companies. The bombing brought chaos to New York, as authorities rejected the possibility of accidental cause, and struggled to find those responsible. One of the chiefs of J.P. Morgan accused Bolshevik communists of the bombing, and the public called on Congress and the White House for security measures against communist terrorism. To this day, the perpetrators of the bombing are unclear, though a warning note indicates that the act was planned by a group of anarchists. If this is the case, the bombers may have committed the attack on a symbol of American capitalism as revenge for the recent murder indictment of two prominent anarchists. Today, 95 years on, the stone of 23 Wall Street still bears shrapnel scars from one of the first terrorist attacks on New York City.
“Remember. We will not tolerate any longer. Free the political prisoners or it will be death for all of you. American Anarchist Fighters!“
- warning flyers found after the attack
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