[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1714-E1715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LATTIMER MINE DISASTER

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                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 10, 1997

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, on September 10, 1897, near Hazleton, PA, 
a seminal event in American labor history occurred. In one of the 
earliest efforts by workers to organize to seek better working 
conditions and higher wages, 19 men died and at least 36 others were 
wounded in what is now known as the Lattimer Mine Massacre. These men 
forever changed the face of the American labor movement.
  It is difficult to imagine today the working conditions of the miners 
of 1897. Not only were workers paid low wages for extremely long hours 
under dangerous and sometimes deadly working conditions, but the coal 
companies maintained control over virtually every aspect of the miners' 
lives. They lived in company-owned houses, were forced to buy from 
company-owned stores, and were treated by company doctors.
  The coal mined in northeastern Pennsylvania was the energy source for 
the industrial revolution in America. Jobs in the coal mining industry 
gave the newly arrived immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe of 
the late 1800's a chance to make better lives for themselves and their 
children. Immigrants from Italy, Hungary, Poland, and other countries 
faced enormous prejudices and difficulties in assimilating into 
American culture and becoming accepted by the native-born population.
  On September 10, 1897, 400 men began what was to be a peaceful march 
and demonstration to fight to obtain better wages, better working 
conditions, and the ability to organize.
  A posse of armed citizens led by the local sheriff attacked the 
miners in a massacre that left at least 19 men dead and countless 
others injured.
  The Lattimer Mine Massacre and the subsequent trial, which ended in 
an acquittal of the massacre leader mine superintendent Gomer Jones, 
brought national attention to workers rights and the plight of the men 
who toiled under abysmal conditions in our Nation's coal mines. The 
massacre led to a strengthening of the United Mine Workers of America 
as the voice for anthracite miners and was the first step in helping to 
empower miners and break down the walls of anti-immigrant sentiment 
which these men faced.
  Mr. Speaker, in 100 years the labor movement has come a long way. The 
right of workers to organize and bargain collectively is no longer 
questioned. Regulations now help ensure the safety of mines and other 
workplaces.
  Mr. Speaker, on the 100th anniversary of this terrible tragedy in 
American labor history I would like to remember the spirit of the 
miners that is summed up in the following statement from the monument 
memorializing the massacre:
  ``It was not a battle because they were not aggressive, nor were they 
on the defensive, because they had no weapons of any kind and were 
simply shot down like so many worthless objects; each of the licensed 
life takers trying to outdo the others in butchery.''
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to include a copy of a story from the 
Hazleton Standard Speaker from September 10, 1995 which recognized the 
98th Anniversary of this event. This article provides a background on 
what transpired 100 years ago today.

           Ninety-Eight Years Ago, Guns Rang Out in Lattimer

                             (By Ed Conrad)

       Today marks the 98th anniversary of the Lattimer Massacre, 
     one of the most gruesome days in the annals of American 
     labor.
       On Sept. 10, 1897, a group of striking anthracite miners at 
     the A.D. Pardee & Co. colliery near Harwood were marching 
     toward Lattimer Mines in an effort to persuade miners at the 
     Pardee mining operation there to join their cause and walk 
     off their jobs.
       Luzerne County Sheriff James Martin and members of his 
     posse, brandishing firearms reported supplied by mining 
     operators, formed a roadblock near the village in an attempt 
     to prevent the unarmed marchers from gaining access to the 
     colliery.
       Martin was ordering the miners to turn back when, suddenly, 
     the sheriff fell to the ground, either by accident or when 
     pushed by one of the strikers.
       Almost immediately, a shot was fired--by whom has never 
     been precisely determined--and members of the posses began 
     firing their weapons at the marchers and a bloodbath ensured.
       Nineteen striking miners were shot and killed, with six 
     more succumbing to their gunshot wounds within two weeks.
       The total of 25 men killed and many others injured made it 
     one of the worst incidents of labor violence in the nation's 
     history.
       It was due to the growing unrest by striking miners in the 
     Hazleton area that Martin had been asked to intervene and try 
     and keep the peace.
       The trouble in the Hazleton area mining area had begun a 
     few weeks earlier at the Honeybrook Colliery, near McAdoo.
       Twenty boys who held jobs as mule drivers refused to obey 
     an order from Gomer Jones, division superintendent of the 
     Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal Co., to stable their animals. 
     The boys refused to do so unless they received extra pay.
       Consequently, Jones fired the boys and triggered a strike 
     that would leave an indelible mark on labor relations in 
     Pennsylvania's coal fields.
       Although, strikes were relatively common in northeastern 
     Pennsylvania's coal fields, this one was worse than most as 
     the miners' resentment against the coal operators continued 
     to escalate.
       Martin was notified of the situation and came to Hazleton 
     where he deputized 87 men, some of them prominent persons. 
     They reportedly were instructed to use whatever means 
     necessary to quell any and all disturbances.
       Martin, a former mine foreman, also solicited the 
     assistance of sheriffs from both Carbon and Schuylkill 
     counties.
       Jointly, the three county sheriffs issued a proclamation 
     banning mob parades and demonstrations.
       In open defiance, striking miners began marching from 
     colliery to colliery. Workers in Harwood were told to leave 
     their jobs and join the effort.
       It is not generally known but an ugly incident had occurred 
     earlier on the infamous day of the Lattimer Massacre.
       The same group of marchers, who hours later would be mowed 
     down in Lattimer, had arrived in the vicinity of Hazle Mines 
     where they attempted to get some of the miners there to join 
     their strike.
       However, the sheriff and his deputies stepped in and a 
     brawl erupted, but no member of the posse fired his gun.
       In the melee, several of the strikers were injured and two 
     of them arrested.
       Nevertheless, organizers of the march felt they had 
     accomplished something because quite a few miners at Hazle 
     Mines, apparently fearing for their well-being, left their 
     jobs and fled from the vicinity of the colliery.
       It was at this point that word spread among the marchers 
     that they would leave Hazle Mines and head for the A.D. 
     Pardee mining operation near Lattimer.
       As they approached Lattimer, there were approximately 150 
     marchers who were carrying a pair of American flags.

[[Page E1715]]

       Then came the confrontation--and the bloodshed.
       Martin had given conflicting statements to two different 
     newspapers about what had triggered the gunfire.
       ``I halted the marching column and read the proclamation 
     but they refused to pay attention and started to resume their 
     march,'' he had told a reporter from the Philadelphia North 
     American.
       ``I called the leader to stop but he ignored my order and I 
     attempted to arrest him. I hated to give the command to shoot 
     and was awful sorry that I was compelled to do so, but I was 
     there to do my duty.''
       Later that same day, apparently on the advice of his 
     attorney, Martin told a reporter from another newspaper that 
     he had not ordered the deputies to open fire.
       News of the massacre enraged residents of the entire 
     Hazleton area and violence was feared.
       In order to prevent a serious uprising, five regiments of 
     the state National Guard were ordered into the Hazleton area 
     by Gov. Daniel H. Hastings.
       Charles McGlynn, a charter member of the original three-man 
     Lattimer Massacre Memorial Committee and currently chairman 
     of that committee, has conducted extensive research on the 
     incident and identified the 19 men who were killed at the 
     scene.

     

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