Coal mining society
Below are several views of the world in which miners and their families lived.
"A Coal Miner and His Wife" and "A Dreaded Pennsylvania Officer"
Heckersville, Pennsylvania
The 1870's were a period of economic instability and of labor unrest
and violence. The Encyclopedia of American History (New York:
1965) states:
[The] "Molly Maguires," a secret organization of miners...promoted labor violence in
Eastern Pa., beg[inning] 1862. As a result of prosecution instituted by [the] Philadelphia &
Reading R.R. and evidence gathered by a Pinkerton detective, 24 Molly Maguires were convicted
(fall 1875)...10 [were] hanged for murder, [and] the others [were] sentenced to jail terms of
2-7 years (p. 551).
The author of the article in Leslie's demonstrated his bias
by writing that "[t]he danger in the occupation is not so much from
accident in the mine as from the wicked combinations of men in the secret
order of 'Molly Maguire.'"
The story of labor-management conflict in the coal fields is an important
aspect of American history in the Gilded Age and the twentieth century.
Images of the unrest among the miners:
Arresting miners
A Police station
|
indicates
an external link 