“The frenzy and what came of it.” After the fires burned out and the strikes were crushed, this 1877 illustration captured what remained. A worker sits in the wreckage, a reminder of the violence and destruction following America’s first great labor uprising. Read the Full Story.
In June 1859, the coal miners of Wiconisco Township put down their tools over eight cents a car. It's the earliest documented strike from these collieries — and it didn't end well for the men who walked out. Read the story.
Two stuffed figures swayed above a street in Wilkes-Barre, PA street in the summer of 1902. The message to every "scab" in Luzerne County was unmistakable. A photograph from the Coal Strike captures how close the tension was to boiling over. Read the story.
A crowd gathers as voices rise. A mineworker is pulled away in handcuffs by armed law enforcement as anger spills into the street. This 1875 illustration captures a Coal Region on edge in the aftermath of a crushing strike, where labor, law, and violence collided in the streets. Read the Full Story.
Two thousand miners filled the streets of Mahanoy City in September 1900, marching together in one of the largest labor actions the Coal Region had ever seen. Their strike would ripple far beyond that moment, helping set the stage for the dramatic gains won just two years later. Read the Full Story.
In 1902, journalist Lincoln Steffens profiled John Mitchell, the quiet, disciplined leader of the United Mine Workers of America, during the Great Coal Strike. Mitchell rejected demagoguery, insisting labor’s power rested on contracts, restraint, and honor - an approach that reshaped union leadership in the Coal Region and beyond. Read the full story.
In the winter of 1875, the Long Strike pushed Coal Region families to the breaking point. Harper’s Weekly captured the moment in a stark illustration titled “The Last Loaf,” showing women and children gathered around a small outdoor oven, baking the only bread they had left while a silent breaker loomed behind them. It’s a raw look at how desperate life became as wages collapsed and the Workingmen’s Benevolent Association fought its final, losing battle. Read the full story.
The 1902 Coal Strike ended on October 23, 1902, with thousands of miners returning to work across Northeastern Pennsylvania. The resolution, driven by President Theodore Roosevelt’s intervention, secured wage increases and shorter hours, reshaping American labor relations while bolstering the United Mine Workers of America. Read the full story.
In October 1902, as the Coal Strike came to an end, crowds gathered outside a coal yard in New York City’s Lower East Side, eager to secure fuel before winter. This photograph from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly captures the urgency as anthracite coal shipments from Pennsylvania resumed, bringing relief to the city’s residents. Read the full story.
A 1942 photo captures a coal miner’s joy as he collects his paycheck in West Pittston, PA during World War II. Learn how miners balanced booming wartime demand with labor strikes, Federal seizure of mines, and a landmark UMWA settlement in 1943. Read the full story.