It was the heart of where members debated the issues surrounding their trade. It was a place to get information, cast votes, and make plans.

Gun smoke mingled with steam rising from smokestacks of British ships docked along the levee. Rifle shots replaced the usual sounds of the port. The rattling of carts and longshoremen singing shanteys…

On the evening of November 18, 1850, 121 screwmen put down their jackscrews and emerged from the dark, cramped hulls that they had been toiling in since early that morning. They made their way down…