The Accidental Birth of a Movement.
Beadle’s former students, a dozen members of The Pearl Street Congregational Church Young Men’s Society volunteered to usher at Cassius Clay’s rally speech. A mix of poor and working-class boys, the Church group existed partly to teach the boys leadership skills and to find respectable employment for the youngsters. In 1860, many of the boys and recent graduates worked in Hartford’s textile industry. Biographical sketches of the most notable volunteers include several key “friends from work” who joined the Beadle boys when the Wide Awakes exploded into existence. One of these impetuous “friends” would prove to become an enemy in their midst. But James Chalker’s flaws were vital to the Wide Awakes, because they were the very first things America would know about the Wide Awakes.