Jonathan Schwartz suggests, “a generalized "Scandinavian" identity for the Swedish and Finnish immigrants, at least in the eyes of the New England community”. These ethnic divisions were important pieces of working-class identities, and became more important as quarry workers become more involved in labor activism against the Rockport Granite Company, which first opened on February 10, 1865, and dissolved on December 31, 1933. From March to June 1899, for example, a group of Finnish quarrymen, who were the newest immigrant groups brought in to work in the quarries, went on strike. Originally, Finns were brought to Pigeon Cove and the Rockport Granite quarries to break strikes in the early 1890s, but eventually became one of the most militant groups to fight for worker's rights. The 1899 strike was supported by the National Granite Cutters Union and the Quarry Workers Union, allegedly due to contract violations. This strike was particularly heated, with violence and arrests throughout the conflict. The Boston Globe provided many reports of the Finns being particularly strong labor activists, refusing to cut deals and threatening those who tried to go to work during the strikes. The Rockport Granite Company attempted to bring in Italian laborers from Boston to act as strikebreakers in the spring of 1899. These temporary workers were housed in shanties near Blood Ledge quarry at Bay View, about half a mile from the quarry. The Finnish workers had heard about the Italians and attempted to communicate that they were on strike and hoped that the Italians would join their cause. According to The New York Times, the Italian workers had been brought to the quarry “under false pretenses” and about half of them abandoned work. Those who remained felt threatened and the Rockport Granite Company requested police protection for them. On May 10, 1899, a number of Finnish strikers were arrested for their labor activism. On April 20, 1899, a group of two hundred Finns rallied and worked its way to the quarry shanties, armed with clubs and stones, eventually converging on the Italian workers who had taken refuge in the boiler house, even going so far as to pull the shutters off the building. Eventually, the strikers dispersed when one member was shot in the foot. The Italian worker groups were quite frightened of the Finnish strikers, and many of them ended up heading back to Boston after this incident. On June 8, 1899,