Hendrick B. Wright was a lawyer in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania when the Avondale Mine Disaster claimed the lives of 110 men and boys in a nearby mining village.

Wright previously served as a Democratic representative from his district in Congress, often voiced support for the working class mineworkers of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

In the wake of the disaster, Wright penned an essay for a Schuylkill County newspaper, the Anthracite Monitor, that was later published as a book length series of article about organized labor in the United States.

Wright opined on the public reaction to the Avondale disaster and support for mineworkers who toiled in dangerous conditions to fuel the growth of the US in the wake of the Civil War:

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The miners of the coal field have commenced reform in earnest. The public attention has been centered upon their action. Public opinion is with them in their effort, and it is so because they are in the right.

The late terrible calamity at Avondale, where a hundred lives were sacrificed – and three hundred widows and orphans left desolate and alone, has sent a thrill throughout the country. It caused a convulsive shudder.

A dark, portentous cloud reached every home and hamlet in its vicinity. The public mind has become excited. Men who before were indifferent, begin now to think, and realize the peril which attends the employment of the laborers of the mines.

These disasters come home close to their doors; and if they will close their eyes, their ears cannot escape the wail of those made desolate. So prominent a branch of the industry of the country cannot be overlooked. Too many people have a direct interest in the mines and the men who are in deadly peril in making them productive.

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In the wake of the disaster, support for early miners’ unions, like the Workingmen’s Benevolent Association, swelled. However, in the years that followed, unions were crushed by the might and money of the mining and railroading companies.

It wasn’t until the United Mine Workers of America organized effectively in the 1890s and 1900s that unions took root in the anthracite region.

Hendrick B. Wright returned to Congress representing Luzerne County from 1877 to 1881. He died shortly after leaving office in 1881 and is buried in Wilkes-Barre.

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