A courtroom turned into a classroom last week, when people gathered at the Lackawanna County Courthouse to learn more about the causes and consequences of the 1902 Anthracite Coal Strike.
From May until October 120 years ago, the United Mine Workers of America went on strike, refusing to work the rich anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania in demand for better working conditions and a livable wage.
Speakers and members of the community met in the same courtroom where the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission, appointed by then-president Theodore Roosevelt, assembled several generations ago.
Dr. Robert Wolensky is a sociologist and historian from King’s College and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He said the 1902 strike was a seismic shift in the nation’s labor movement.
“It was the first strike that the federal government did not take the employer’s side," Wolensky said.
Wolensky also said that brutal crackdowns on protests were common. On many occasions, mine owners and employers utilized police to threaten, injure, and sometimes kill strikers.
The infamous Coal and Iron Police, a precursor to the Pennsylvania State Police force, began as a private employer-owned security detail.
Sept. 10 is the 125th anniversary of the Lattimer massacre, which took place in the town of the same name near Hazleton. In Lattimer, a Luzerne County sheriff’s posse killed 19 unarmed striking immigrant mine workers, wounding many more. Wolensky said this event likely pushed more workers to be in favor of the 1902 strike, which took place five years later.
Dr. Wolensky was joined by Dr. Melissa Meade, a visiting assistant professor of communication at Allegheny College.
The event was a part of the “Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story” project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities in partnership with the University of Scranton.
The next event in the series will cover the Wyoming Valley's garment industry. A film screening and discussion will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Ritz Theater & Performing Arts Center in Scranton. Registration is required.
