Morewood massacre
| Morewood Massacre | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Miners and their families getting evicted from company housing during the strike. | |||
| Date | February 10 – May 26, 1891[1] | ||
| Location | |||
| Goals | Higher wages Eight-hour day | ||
| Methods | Strikes, protests, demonstrations | ||
| Resulted in | Unsuccessful | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Lead figures | |||
Captain Loar | |||
| Number | |||
| |||
| Casualties and losses | |||
| |||
The Morewood massacre was an armed labor-union conflict in Morewood, Pennsylvania, in Westmoreland County, west of the present-day borough Mount Pleasant in 1891.
Casualties and causes[edit]
Nine coke workers were shot and killed during a strike for higher wages and an eight-hour work day.[3][4][5]
The United Mine Workers union, formed only the previous year, organized the strike against the local coke works owned by industrialist Henry Clay Frick. After a work stoppage beginning on February 10,[6] weeks of increasing unrest, and evictions of mining families from company-controlled property, a crowd of about a thousand strikers accompanied by a brass band marched on the company store.[7] Deputized members of the 10th regiment of the National Guard under the command of Captain Loar fired several volleys [8] into the crowd, killing six strikers outright and fatally wounding three more.[7] Thousands attended their funeral.
A Pennsylvania state historical marker describing the Morewood event was erected in 2000 on Route 981 (Morewood Road) near the Route 119 overpass.[9]
Gallery[edit]
-
Marker commemorating the Morewood massacre -
Names of strikers killed in Morewood labor unrest
See also[edit]
- Homestead strike of 1892
- Johnstown Flood of 1889
- Mammoth Mine disaster – January 27, 1891 gas explosion at Frick's coal mine in Mount Pleasant
- Murder of workers in labor disputes in the United States
References[edit]
- ^ Vivian, Cassandra (June 2017). Coal Mine and Coke Oven Reclamation and Preservation Project Phase II: Early Coal Mines of Henry Clay Frick (PDF). Westmoreland Fayette Historical Society.
- ^ Vivian, Cassandra (June 2017). Coal Mine and Coke Oven Reclamation and Preservation Project Phase II: Early Coal Mines of Henry Clay Frick (PDF). Westmoreland Fayette Historical Society.
- ^ Washlaski, Raymond A.; Ryan P. Washlaski; Peter E. Starry Jr (2006-11-12). "Massacre at Morewood Mine & Coke Works, (Coal Miners Strike of 1891)". Virtual Museum of Coal Mining in Western Pennsylvania.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ "Morewood Massacre". ExplorePAhistory.com. WITF, Inc. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) and Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
- ^ Napsha, Joe. "Lecture explores deadly 1891 coal miner strike outside Mt. Pleasant". Trib Live. Tribune-Review. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
- ^ Vivian, Cassandra (June 2017). Coal Mine and Coke Oven Reclamation and Preservation Project Phase II: Early Coal Mines of Henry Clay Frick (PDF). Westmoreland Fayette Historical Society.
- ^ a b "Massacre at Morewood Mine & Coke Works, Morewood, East Huntingdon Twp.,Westmoreland Co., PA, USA". 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
- ^ Official Documents, Comprising the Department and Other Reports Made to the Governor, Senate and House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, Volume 4. State of Pennsylvania. 1892. p. D - 8.
- ^ http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2CB [bare URL]
External links[edit]
- Simonich, Milan. 118 killed in 1891 Frick massacre and mine explosion to get markers. Pittsburgh Post Gazette. 24 September 2000.
- Pulay, Emoke. The Shots Fired at Morewood. Mt. Pleasant Area Heritage Preservation Committee (Pa.). 1996. 140 pages.
