ALPENA – During the 142nd annual Michigan History Conference, historian Dale Price explained how Northeast Michigan played a role in an international conspiracy which culminated with Leon Czolgosz assassinating President William McKinley.

Price began his keynote presentation entitled A Shot From Alpena: The Assassin of President McKinley during Saturday’s closing banquet by tying the zeitgeist of the early 20th century to today’s environment.

“It’s my hope as the lecture goes that you might hear echoes of our times right now,” Price said. “You’re going to hear things about economic dissatisfaction, you’re going to hear a whole lot about terrorism, you’re going to hear about immigration, economic inequality, and a political system that is not responsive or not responsive enough to the people it’s supposed to serve.”

Price began the story by describing the three partitions of Poland in the late 18th century. Russia, Prussia and Austria all gained territory and left the Polish people without a nation-state until the conclusion of World War I.

Beginning around 1850, Poles began a large wave of immigration to the United States for differing reasons. According to Price, economic oppression at home and economic opportunities in the U.S. as well as cultural and religious oppression at home were the main driving reasons.

In 1872 Paul Czolgosz immigrated to Detroit where within four months his family would join him in the U.S. Price reasoned that because of the short time-frame of his family coming over it was not due to economic reasons.

On May 5, 1873 the now infamous Leon Czolgosz was born in Detroit. Years later the family would move north to Roger City with no exact date being established. Price explained the lack of details was due to an 1855 fire and imperfections with translations.

The family next moved to Alpena where Leon’s father worked in the lumber and the shipping industry.

In 1885, at the age of 12, Leon’s mother passed away giving birth to a baby girl which Price says was a major turning point in his life. Moreover, his father would remarry a year and a half later to a women who Czolgosz would loathe the rest of his life.

Price described Czolgosz as well-read, quiet and introverted.

The next major turning point came after Czolgosz moved to Warrensville, Ohio. It was here he would witness the Newburgh Wire Mill Strike in 1893.

This event saw Czolgosz leave Catholicism and adopt the alias Fred Nieman. In 1894 he would join a Polish study group where he was introduced to the idea he would drift to over the coming years, anarchism.

Next the anarchy movement was put into the global perspective by describing the heads of state assassinated. Anarchist killed the leaders of France, Austria, Spain and Italy between the years 1894 and 1900.

“This was called the Propaganda of the Deeds,” Price said. “They were going for the top.”

The presentation then went back to Czolgosz who would quit his job in 1898 and never work again. According to Price, the reason Czolgosz gave was his health.

During this time he began to become more deeply associated with anarchism which saw another major turning point in his life. On May 6, 1901 he watched Emma Goldman give a speech on anarchism, which he would later give as inspiration for the assassination.

On Sept. 6, 1901 Czolgosz would travel to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y. with his .32 caliber Iver Johnson revolver.

With a napkin over the gun in his right hand, McKinley extended his left hand whereupon Czolgosz shot him twice before being apprehended.

McKinley would later die on Sept. 14, 1901 from the bullet wounds.

Since assassinating the president was not a federal crime, the state of New York tried Czolgosz in a case which lasted only two days.

“He basically had no defense, no alienist to speak for him, he admitted to it over and over and everybody witnessed him pulling the trigger,” Price said.

Price said Czolgosz tried to plead guilty but the plea was not accepted by the court.

Following the trail and his sentencing to death, Czolgosz on death row was unapologetic and still admitted his guilt.

“1800 volts go in and three minutes later he was dead,” Price said. “He was the 50th person to die on the electric chair in New York.”

Tyler Winowiecki can be reached via email at twinowiecki@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688. Follow Tyler on Twitter tw_alpenanews.