December 30, 1882

Hot Springs Assembly 2419 of the Knights of Labor (KOL) was officially formed. One of the seven founders was Dan Fraser Tomson, who became the leading figure in the Arkansas KOL over the next decade, organizing many local assemblies and holding the office of State Master Workman from 1888 to 1890. Members of the Hot Springs Assembly apparently helped organize the state’s second local assembly, Freedom Assembly 2447 (also of Hot Springs), which consisted entirely of African Americans. The largest American labor organization of its era, the KOL recruited workers across boundaries of gender, race, and skill. The organization led strikes in Arkansas among railroad workers, coal miners, and African-American farmhands.