In May 1929, some of the anthracite industry believed mining was about to make a comeback. They were wrong.
“Big Change Now At Hand” – The Coal Region in the late 1920s
“Something more than a river” – The West Branch in “Sons of Molly Maguire”
Author Mark Bulik eloquently describes the labor wars that consumed Schuylkill County in the 1870s.
Hazleton resident abducted by the Coal and Iron Police – 1872
A Coal and Iron Police agent arrested a Hazleton resident under murky circumstances in September 1872
Visiting John Siney’s grave in St. Clair
John Siney led one of the first successful unions in America, which briefly united mineworkers in the 1870s.
“147,000 ordered to strike” – The beginning of the 1902 anthracite coal strike
The leader of the United Mine Workers of America addressed the miners of the Coal Region on May 10, 1902.
May Day 1916 – When anthracite mineworkers earned the 8 hour workday
On May 1, 1916, miners in the Coal Region earned the 8 hour workday, successfully ending decades of advocacy and protest.
Coal Region Books: Theodore Roosevelt’s leadership during the 1902 Coal Strike
Doris Kearns Goodwin's book "Leadership in Turbulent Times" looks at Theodore Roosevelt and the 1902 coal strike.
A tribute to a Coal Region labor leader – John Siney
John Siney led the Workingmen's Benevolent Association in actions against coal operators in the 1860s and 1870s.
“Children of the mine” – The Coal Region’s breaker boys at work
"Children of the mine are they, born in the shadow of the culm heaps with the roar of the breakers ever in their ears, with mines beneath their feet."
A Coal Region editorial from 1900 speaks to income inequality a century later
A writer at the Lykens Register opined in September 1900 about rising inequality in the Coal Region.
