The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were closed on Friday, July 5, as thousands of dockworkers took the day off to commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday and the violent 1934 strike that gave birth to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

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Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)



Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Jerry Brady reads a poem dedicated to Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, killed in the 1934 strike, as fellow longshore union members commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles and Long Beach longshore union members commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday with a procession down Vermont Avenue from Roosevelt Memorial Park to Los Angeles Harbor College for a day-long picnic on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)



Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Jerry Brady reads a poem dedicated to Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, killed in the 1934 strike, as fellow longshore union members commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

David Rivas cleans Dickie Parker’s grave marker as Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles and Long Beach longshore union members commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday with a procession down Vermont Avenue from Roosevelt Memorial Park to Los Angeles Harbor College for a day-long picnic on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at the graves of Dickie Parker and John Knudsen, who were killed in the 1934 strike, at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)



David Rivas cleans Dickie Parker’s grave marker as Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Los Angeles and Long Beach longshore union members commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday with a procession down Vermont Avenue from Roosevelt Memorial Park to Los Angeles Harbor College for a day-long picnic on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Angel Blanca, third from left, event organizer, poses with fellow ILWU leaders at the grave of Dickie Parker, killed during the 1934 strike, as Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

David Rivas cleans Dickie Parker’s grave marker as Los Angeles and Long Beach dockworkers and members of the ILWU commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)

Ray Familathe, president of ILWU Local 13, pauses at Dickie Parker’s grave, killed in the 1934 strike, as fellow longshore union members commemorate the 85th anniversary of Bloody Thursday at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)



The day opened with a gathering at Roosevelt Memorial Park in Gardena, where the first two casualties of the movement, Dickie Parker, 20, of San Pedro and John Knudsen, 43, of Wilmington, are buried.During a bloody confrontation, both were among those shot in a hail of bullets. Parker died at the scene, while Knudsen died some time later in a Long Beach hospital. Dozens of others were wounded in the fighting.

After the stop at the cemetery, the crowd marched to Los Angeles Harbor College, in Wilmington, for the annual Bloody Thursday picnic on the school’s athletic fields.