In September 1900, the Pennsylvania National Guard occupied Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.
Hundreds of soldiers descended on the Schuylkill County mining town after a confrontation on September 21, 1900 left one striking miner dead of gunshot wounds – shot during a clash between local law enforcement and workers who had walked off the job under the banner of the United Mine Workers of America.
Within days, the Guard had set up camps on the Coal Region town’s outskirts, taken up positions throughout the streets, and begun the routine of patrols and public demonstrations of force that would define life in Shenandoah through October 1900.
The photographs here come from an official Pennsylvania National Guard publication, dated 1900. They document that occupation in striking detail – rank after rank of soldiers with artillery and even early machine guns.
The UMWA won minor concessions before the strike ended, but the underlying tensions held. Two years later, they would produce one of the largest labor strikes in American history.
These images offer a fascinating visual record of this historic moment – a dress rehearsal for the Coal Strike of 1902.
Read more about the Coal Strike of 1900
Striking mineworkers parade in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania | September 1900
Breaker boy out on strike | 1900
“Mother Jones” at Shenandoah, Pennsylvania | September 1900
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