Dates

• Majority of material found within 1800 - 2011

Extent

65 boxes Linear Feet (Anthracite coal, or hard coal, was first discovered and used by Native Americans and settlers in Northeastern Pennsylvania (Wyoming Valley) in the late 1790s. The anthracite coal fields are separated into three regions: the Wyoming field in the North surrounding Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, the Lehigh field surrounding the city of Hazleton, and the Schuylkill where Pottsville is located. The coal industry in these fields started slowly due few coal markets and poor transportation routes. But on February 11, 1808, Luzerne County Judge Jesse Fell successfully demonstrated the use of burning anthracite coal for domestic purposes at his tavern in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Gradually, however, anthracite coal gained a market for use as a home-heating source due to its high efficiency and clean burning qualities. Also, with the building of canals and improved water ways, transporting anthracite coal to markets in Philadelphia and New York City became cheaper. Initially, small independent operators controlled many of the mines in the emerging anthracite industry. Then with the surge of railroads, anthracite coal production sharply increased in the 1870s and powerful railroads consumed these small operators and gained control of all the regions. Early union efforts in the anthracite industry can be traced to John Bates who in 1848 established a local union in the Schuylkill field. With a membership 5,000 men, it called a strike in 1849 but was unsuccessful and by 1850 the union disbanded. For almost 20 years, there was little organization in the anthracite fields beyond small local organizational efforts. In 1868, these local groups formed the Workingmen’s Benevolent Association. With men in all three anthracite fields, the union claimed 30,000 members at its height under the leadership of John Siney. The Workingmen’s Benevolent Association was able to negotiate the first wage agreement in the anthracite industry with the Anthracite Board of Trade. However, by 1875 the union dissolved. From 1875 until the end of the 1890s, organized labor had virtually no representation in the anthracite fields. Efforts were made by the Knights of Labor to organize workers in the late 1870s to 1888. The Knights organized sixty local assemblies in 1877 but did not have much success in negotiating with the operators. In 1885, the rising tide of organization seen elsewhere in the country by the Knights also occurred in the anthracite fields. In 1887, the Knights called a strike with the Amalgamated Association of Miners and Mine Laborers, but this attempt failed to gain results for the mine workers and neither union would have a impact on the industry. Perry Blatz aptly describes three challenges faced by organized labor and mine workers in the anthracite fields: a diverse work force in terms of ethnicity, age, wages, and jobs; fierce opposition to unions by the powerful railroads who controlled the fields; and, despite efforts by militant workers, no successful strikes to use as a base of experience in future struggles. The combination of these conditions made the task of organizing by the United Mine Workers an uphill battle. Faced with these challenges, in 1894 the United mine Workers of America organized their first locals in the Schuylkill fields. Membership in the United Mine Workers remained relatively small until 1900 by which time Districts 1, 7, and 9 had been organized; District 1 was located in the Schuylkill field, District 7 in the Lehigh field, and District 9 in the Wyoming field. The growth in the union membership did allow for the first industry wide strike in 1900, which resulted in gains for the union and workers, a ten percent wage increase and even greater membership. In 1902, from May 12 to October 23, a long and bitter strike was carried on by over 140,000 anthracite mine workers led by John Mitchell. The miners struck for increased wages, reduction in hours, union recognition, and the appointment of a check-weighmen at each colliery. In battle against the powerful railroad companies who controlled the three anthracite fields, the union maintained enough solidarity to prompt intervention by President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt pressured the railroads to engage in arbitration under a presidential Anthracite Coal Strike Commission. After hearing a considerable amount of testimony from 558 witnesses and much investigation, on March 21, 1903 the commission made its ruling. The mine workers received a ten percent wage increase, a shorter work day from 10 to nine for company men (men paid by the hour, day, or week), and the right to employ a check-weighmen at each colliery. Additionally, the Commission established the Anthracite board of Conciliation. The award was to last for three years, but despite these gains, the union did not gain recognition. After the 1902 strike and its settlement by the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission, the UMWA’s districts struggled to maintain membership, which in turn made collective bargaining and the success of the Board of Conciliation limited. In 1906 and 1909, the union was unable to expand upon the gains made in 1903. As Perry Blatz remarks “the UMWA in anthracite was trapped in a kind of ‘twilight’ status, accepting the modicum of security the operators extended to it.” However, strength returned to the union after a strike in 1912 that resulted in another ten percent wage increase and the establishment of grievance committees at each mine. With success and renewed strength the union was able to maintain and organize a large percentage of workers in the 1910s and into the 1920s. Series List: Series 1 Records of UMWA Districts 1, 7 and 9; Subseries A Wage Rates and Agreements; Subseries B Publications; and Subseries C Photographs. For more information, see Manuscript Group 108: The Anthracite Board of Conciliation. )

Language of Materials

English