On Labor Day 1902, UMWA president John Mitchell stood before 50,000 people in Philadelphia and made the case for the striking miners of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. This photograph captures that moment. His words still resonate. Read the story.
"I'm willin' for the sake of the poor creatures who never have enough to eat that my man shall strike." A Philadelphia Inquirer reporter named Esther Nixon traveled to Shenandoah, PA during the 1900 Coal Strike to interview working class mining families about the intense labor battle between the United Mine Workers and the coal operators. Read the full story.
Bayonets in the streets | The National Guard occupies Shenandoah during the 1900 Coal Strike After a fatal shooting during the 1900 Coal Strike, the Governor sent hundreds of National Guard troops into Shenandoah. This Philadelphia Inquirer illustration shows them massed in the streets — and the striking miners said it amounted to being threatened back to work at bayonet point. Read more.
When the Coal Strike of 1902 turned violent, Pennsylvania sent armed troops into its mining towns. This photograph from Leslie's Illustrated captures the 8th National Guard patrolling the streets of Shenandoah, a Coal Region flashpoint, caught on camera by a local photographer. Read more.
"The Christian men to whom God has given control..." Reading Railroad president George Baer meant his reply to a Wilkes-Barre photographer to be private. Within weeks it had been telegraphed across the country and handed the striking miners of 1902 the perfect villain. Read both letters in full.
After a striking miner was shot dead on September 21, 1900, Pennsylvania sent the National Guard into Shenandoah, PA - artillery, machine guns, and all. These photographs from an official Guard publication document the occupation of the mining town. Read the full story and see the images.
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 August 1905, mineworkers in Wilkes-Barre took to the streets under the banner of the United Mine Workers of America as union leader John Mitchell came to town. This photograph captures their parade through the city’s east end, marching down Maxwell Street toward the Jersey Central tracks, a show of strength just a few years after the hard-fought 1902 Coal Strike. Read the full story.
Check out a rare early-20th-century snapshot of the Kehley Run Colliery UMWA band in Shenandoah, where future Big Band legends Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey first learn to play. This remarkable union band photo captures a fascinating moment in labor and musical history. Read the full story