Save the Victor Miner's Union Hall

Here's a recent article from Colorado's Woodland Park Courier Gold Rush. It's a worthy effort to preserve a piece of working class history.

Miners Union Hall Revival

by Pat Hall

Bullet holes and history, the Miners' Union Hall in Victor harbors a story of glory and defeat. In its heyday the union hall was a gathering place for the city's miners, a time of peace between labor and management.

"You could almost see this as a symbol of the success of miners and miners' organizations, at least for the West, if not for the country and, to some extent, miners all over the world," said Katherine Sturdevant, a professor of history at Pikes Peak Community College who is leading a campaign to restore the crumbling hall.

Flyer from the Western Federation of Miners

"Is Colorado In America?"

An architectural gem built in 1901-1902, the hall on 4th Street in Victor was a source of pride for the miners as well as the city. Today the building shows little sign of its former majesty yet retains its hold on the imagination, the optimistic people like Sturdevant. Never mind that the cornices at the top of the building have disappeared. "We're hoping that, if someone has pieces of it, they may turn up," she said. "There's a lot to the exterior that would be brought back to this beautiful old building."

The story of Sturdevant's ancestors mirrors the history of the hall. Her great-grandfather, John Harper, followed the gold rush of 1894 to Victor where he joined the Western Federation of Miners. As a result, Harper was part of the union's first successful strike in the district.

"That gave the miners a position; it wasn't the kind of strike that was the uglier side of this industrial war. It was a success because they were able to negotiate," said Sturdevant, who is named for her great-grandmother Katherine Harper. "From 1894 through 1903 there was a balance of power when the miners could have their own homes," she said.

At one time, Harper managed the Gold Coin Mine and enjoyed the respect of the miners as well as the owners. The family lived on Lawrence Street in Victor.

From peacetime to the uglier side, the labor wars in the districtstarted with the strike of 1904-05 when the miners quit work in support of other unions, the smelters' in Pueblo, for instance.

"For the owners and other business people in Victor and Cripple Creek, that support was an opportunity to weaken the power of the unions," Sturdevant said.

The strike exploded when a bomb went off at the Independence Depot in Victor, killing 13 scabs (strike-breaking miners) and wounding several others. The Western Federation of Miners was blamed for the attack. "It has never been proven who set the bomb," Sturdevant said. "It could have been the union or somebody who wanted the union to look bad."

When the bomb went off all hell broke loose when mine owners staged a riot on 4th Street, threatening to expel the miners. About this time, Gov. James Peabody, who was sympathetic to the owners, sent in the state's militia and arrested the miners.

"The militia fired on the union hall; the bullet holes are still there," Sturdevant said. "The hall has been the symbol of the miners' hard work and success but then it was being fired on as a symbol of labor's organizing power which the owners didn't want."

The militia wreaked havoc on the hall, destroying the vital historical records. "My great-grandparents had to sell the house and leave after the strike," Sturdevant said.

"The building is a symbol of the destruction suffered by the miners, the abandonment of the building as the failure of the strike. That's why I think it could be a nationally- and internationally-known center."

Barbara McMillan, part-time Victor resident, owns the building but is prepared to sell the hall to the nonprofit organization, the Victor Heritage Society, for $37,000.

As a member of the society, Sturdevant has applied to the Colorado Historical Society for a $545,000 grant for stabilization and acquisition. The grant would require a 25 percent match, $136,000, from the society. "That's why we have a fundraising campaign," Sturdevant said. "Suppose we don't get the grant; then we're going to apply for other grants. Each one might only give a little but we still need the money. This is only phase I. Any amount would help."

Checks made out to the Victor Miners' Union Hall are tax-deductible. The checks can be mailed to Wells Fargo Bank, 5360 N. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs, Colorado 80918: Attn: Deborah Clark-Cooper.

Copyright (c) 2008 - Colorado Community Newspapers Online

New Documentary : West Frankfort Mine Disaster

Independent producer/reporter Chris Yoars has just completed a 16 minute piece on the West Frankfort Mine Disaster.

You may listen to the documentary by clicking here.

Life magazine image: Rescue workers watch silently as a
corpse comes up the shaft that had to be carried two
miles underground through debris - December, 1951.

Here's the description:

"This documentary tells the story of the 1951 West Frankfort Mine disaster in which 119 men were killed in an explosion on the last shift before the Christmas holiday. On the evening of December 21st, 1951, citizens of West Frankfort, Illinois were shocked when the word 'explosion' echoed through the streets of their humble mining community. Just hours before West Frankfort’s Orient #2 mine was to close for the Christmas holiday, an underground blast killed 119 mineworkers during the second shift.

Over the next few days the blackened and charred bodies of miners were carried up from the depths of the mine and moved to the West Frankfort Jr. High School gym floor for identification.

The explosion garnered national attention and resulted in the passage of the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act of 1952. The West Frankfort disaster is the worst of its kind since 1940, leaving 111 widows and 176 fatherless children in its wake. Those who died at the Orient #2 Mine are still remembered by the town of West Frankfort."

Thanks to Chris for sharing this impressive doc.

Where Do You Live?

While some have oversimplified the Illinois Mine War as a factional dispute between two unions, Peabody Coal Company was an integral player in the conflict. The evidence shows that John L. Lewis and the United Mine Workers worked closely with Peabody during the struggle.

Here's a little background on the early years of the Peabody Coal Company. It was founded by Francis S. Peabody in 1883 and was eventually incorporated in Illinois in 1890. By 1920 Peabody Coal Company was among the largest in the world.

Peabody acquired 848 acres near suburban Oak Brook, IL and had a 39-room Tudor Revival mansion constructed. However Peabody died in 1922, only a year after its completion. At that time the coal baron had amassed a personal fortune of over $35 million and business assets of over $75 million. In 1922, a coal miner might receive from $12 to $23 a week for his toil. Of course much of that was often returned to the coal operator for housing or to purchase goods in the company store.

Today one can visit the Mayslake estate and tour the Peabody mansion.

Peabody Mansion

While the Yale-educated Peabody certainly had a knack for business, apparently he never learned to share.

company houses, downstate Illinois

Democracy In District 12

The formation of the Progressive Miners of America was not a knee-jerk response to to a perceived injustice. On the contrary, Illinois District 12 wrestled with John L. Lewis and the United Mine Workers International for years prior to the the PMA split.


Upon assuming office in 1920, John L. Lewis pushed to centralize the union power under the international. As the strongest district, Illinois District 12 struggled to maintain autonomy against Lewis' designs. In 1929, Lewis and the International were even served an injunction prohibiting interference in District 12 affairs.

Democracy wasn't restored District 12 members until 1959 with the passage of the Landrum-Griffin Act. Perhaps coincidentally, Lewis resigned in January, 1960.

Thanks to Lisa Andrews of UMWA District 12 for supplementing my research on this issue.

Resisting Occupation

Taylorville, IL was occupied by the state militia under martial law from September, 1932 through March, 1933. While the stated purposed was to quell violence, repeated bombings and murders occurred during that occupation.

To the PMA and its supporters, the role of the state militia was quite clear; support Peabody Coal and the United Mine Workers and break the strike. Although state government claimed to be non-partisan in the dispute between the unions, its disruption of PMA picket lines and protection of imported strike breakers clearly demonstrated which side state government supported.

While the bloody intervention of state or federal troops on behalf of business interests is an all-too-common story in U.S. labor history, formal opposition to such action by local government is far from ordinary.

After more than a month of oppressive occupation, the Illinois State Journal noted:

"October 17, 1932 - The local city council, at a special meeting tonight, took action to curb through legal channels activities of Illinois National Guard units stationed in the Christian county mining area.

The resolution was presented following the reading of a 4,000-word opinion written by City Attorney Leal W. Reese which cited legal restrictions placed upon the soldiers and declared that men have a right to resist to the extreme attempts made to arrest them illegally.

The opinion declared that military men on duty to quell civil disturbances 'cannot do anything which other peace officers cannot do that they cannot arrest without warrants nor hold prisoners without preferring immediate charges.' The opinion further declared the military authorities have no right to molest peaceable persons on the street nor in public places. It held also that any person thus 'illegally arrested, abused, or assaulted has the right to resist the arrest with force." (emphasis added)

You may recall an earlier entry on the bombing of Mr. Reese's home. His actions to restore civil liberties in Taylorville help explain why he became a target in the mine war.

1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike

1930's labor unrest was hardly limited to central and southern Illinois. It was a national phenomenon.

Here is a Pathe newsreel from the excellent Internet Archive on the 1934 San Francisco Maritime Strike.

The newsreel shows another all too common example the use of the state militia to protect the interests of the business class.

The wave of strikes heightened the crisis of the Great Depression and drew attention to the plight of workers. The social programs of Roosevelt's New Deal came in part to quell those expressions of union militancy and prevent more drastic changes from occurring.

There is little doubt that without that pressure from the labor movement, the New Deal would have provided far less for the average citizen.

Why March?

The mass marches and demonstrations which characterized much of the PMA's early public action came from an Illinois miner tradition established decades earlier. Historian Rosemary Feurer distinguishes these marches from demonstrations in the U.S. today:

"In the U.S. I think we’ve devolved to the march as symbol only. The march as like a witness.

And what happened in Illinois in the 1930's, the march was first about shutting down the mines, truly shutting down the mines by putting your body in front of a car that was coming directly at you if necessary. The miners did that because it was their lifeblood and they were part of this tradition of recognizing that when you march or when you picket you really have to be willing to shut down production."

How Did Lewis Prevail?

James Gray Pope is Professor of Law & Sidney Reitman Scholar at Rutgers University. Prof. Pope has written extensively on depression era labor law and history including the article,
The Western Pennsylvania Coal Strike of 1933, Part II: Lawmaking From Above and the Demise of Democracy in the United Mine Workers.


In this article, Pope dissects John L. Lewis' strategy to thwart pro-democracy unionists and enhance his own power:

"Lacking support among the miners, Lewis formed alliances with coal operators. In Illinois, the contracts that had been 'ratified' by fiat in 1932 was due to expire in March 1933. Although the PMA had majority support in many mines, (and probably in the state as a whole), Lewis sat down with the Illinois Coal Operators Association and negotiated a two-year extension until April 1935. Calling this agreement an 'emergency measure,' Lewis refused to submit it to the miners for ratification. The operators then decline to deal with the PMA on the ground that they were under contract to the UMW. Thus, PMA members were presented with the choice of accepting representation by the UMW or striking. In most areas, local government responded by prohibiting assemblies and picketing by both unions, a superficially neutral policy that hampered PMA protests and protected UMW contracts." (p. 257)

And while Section 7 (a) of the newly enacted National Industrial Recovery Act should have protected the rights of Illinois miners to join the union of their choice, jurisdiction over the PMA's dispute was bounced between the courts and the regional board of the National Bituminous Coal Labor Board. In PMA President Claude Pearcy's words, the stalemate left the PMA with "no legal rights except to occupy the status of a lemon to be squeezed by Johnson and his so-called labor boards." (p. 259) (General Hugh S. Johnson was the administrator of the National Recovery Administration.)

The complete article is available from Labor History, Volume 44

What Is Community-Based Unionism?

Studying the mine war, it can be easy to focus on the the sensational violence and yet overlook the important principles which were contested. Certainly with the theft of the wage referendum ballots, the democratic rights of the rank-and-file had been usurped. But the formation of the Progressive Miners of America also heralded a model of unionism that was structurally different than its predecessor.

This alternative unionism or community-based unionism is discussed in Staughton Lynd's book, "We Are All Leaders", The Alternative Unionsim of the Early 1930's. In the introduction, Lynd writes, "By whatever name, this alternative unionism was democratic, deeply rooted in mutual aid among workers in different crafts and work sites, and politically independent. The key to the value system of alternative unionism was its egalitarianism." (p. 3) Contrasted to bureaucratic unionism in which power is wielded from the top and tactics and decision-making are handled by national leaders, alternative unionism is characterized by a horizontal formation of rank-and-file workers who actively participate in most aspects of the union. Further, adherents to alternative unionism tend to view their constituency across a broad class spectrum while bureaucratic unionism tends to function more narrowly within the immediate concerns of its membership and contracts.

In the 1930's, this division was heightened considerably due to John L. Lewis' paternalistic leadership of the UMWA. Arguably, the PMA was attempting to uphold and formalize a nascent form of community unionism which grew within the Illinois coal fields for decades. With Lewis' ascendancy to the UMWA presidency in 1920 came a relentless push to centralize union authority under his auspices.

The Way Life Was

Earl Hutchison was a small boy during the mine war. He and his family lived in Tovey and Virden Illinois during the conflict. In his 2006 book, Growing Up On The Illinois Prairie During The Great Depression And The Coal Mine Wars: A Portrayal Of The Way Life Was, Dr. Hutchison recounts his experiences as a young boy living under the cloud of economic calamity and a violent labor war.

In this excerpt, Hutchison attempts to understand why as a six-year-old, he shot out the windows of the local mine owner as well as the perpetual violence that gripped the region:

“Perhaps part of my actions here and elsewhere stem from what I call 'resident' or 'landed' memories. The essence of a man or a woman, I believe, stems not only from their heritage and their actions but from the land they live on. The milieu they live in. If the land or the milieu has a history of turbulence and violence, that influence may be paramount: The consciousness it exerts on those living on that land, an endosymbiosis, cannot be dismissed as inconsequential.”

While Hutchison’s tome is a valuable oral history of the times, the publisher Edwin Mellen Press specializes in academic research works which will prevent this book from being affordable for many. (It's priced at $109.95) However, Hutchison and the publisher are to be commended for preserving a history that is too often ignored. And while the book may be out of personal reach, the local public or university library may very well be able to acquire a copy.

“Coal Field Hell Raiser”

The Progressive Miners of America distinguished itself in a number of ways. Perhaps the most important was the role that women played in organizing and leadership. As a community-based union, the PMA viewed its struggle as that of the community and not limited to the male members of the organization. As pointed out in an earlier post, PMA women organized themselves and became active organizers and leaders in the struggle. Sometimes they were willing to take risks that their male counterparts were unwilling to assume.

Much of that early activism was led by the first President of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Progressive Miners of America, Agnes Burnes Wieck.

The East St. Louis Journal noted:

“In the old days, women of the mine areas were a hazard to the success of any strike. The men knew that a complaining woman at home could drive the most militant union man back to the pits without victory.

Now the women, organized under the auxiliary, glory in the privations they suffer. They would not let the men go back if they wanted to go, unless the return was a distinct victory. That, says Mrs. Wieck, is why there never can be a compromise between the Progressives and the U.M.W.A. in Illinois.

The second factor is that as an organization the women have taken an important role in the actual hostilities. The have picketed and the have marched in demonstrations. The have held meetings in the face of orders forbidding meetings. Where they might have starved singly, they have learned through organization to raise money for food, clothing, and strike expenses.”

Charles M. Swart, “Agnes Burnes Weick (sic) – Coal Fields Hell Raiser,” East St. Louis Journal, Illinois Magazine, 22 October 1933, 1.


To learn more about her life and contributions, read Woman from Spillertown, A Memoir of Agnes Burnes Wieck, by her son David Thoreau Wieck

"Verdict in Springfield"

Here's an online article which was originally published in Time magazine on December 27, 1937. The article was written on the federal conviction of 36 members of the Progressive Miners "of conspiring to blow up trains and thus interfere with 1) the mails and 2) interstate commerce."

While the verdicts dealt a near-fatal blow to the union, trial testimony also pointed to collusion between the coal operators and the United Mine Workers. That testimony was never refuted in the trial. Here's an excerpt from the Illinois State Journal's trial coverage, December 11, 1937.

“W.R. Swafford, Harrisburg, ...testified Friday he was instructed by an official of the Peabody Coal Co. to simulate a gun battle during miners’ riot in Harrisburg in October of 1933 to raise sympathy and get the militia out.

Swafford, ... said he acted under orders of W. C. Craggs,... at that time superintendent of the company’s No. 43 mine near Harrisburg.

... According to previous testimony presented in the trial, ...a mass meeting of miners was held in Harrisburg, a march was made on the mine, a gun battle followed, and troops were called out to restore order.

Swafford, ... said Craggs gave him a sawed-off shot gun and a rifle and four boxes of shells and told him to go out on the mine property to guard the mine’s fan house. ‘If anyone starts shooting,’ Swafford quoted Craggs as instructing him, ‘do all the shooting you can so we can raise sympathy and get the militia in here.’

...He also testified he saw a company-owned truck, covered with sheet iron leave the property about 10 p.m., and asserted he saw three machine guns, rifles, shotguns, ammunition, and a couple of boxes of dynamite in a mine office...

He asserted that earlier in 1933, from June 30 to July 5, he said about two hundred others were requested to stay in the mine to arouse sympathy and get the militia called out. Pressed by Prosecutor Welly K. Hopkins to tell who gave him those orders, the witness replied it was general talk at the time. ‘Didn’t you really stay in the mine because it was heavily picketed?’ Hopkins asked. ‘No,’ he replied, ‘I went home one night and was not molested. The company wanted us to look like we were picketed in.’”

On This Day, 75 Years Ago...

On Februrary 25, 1933 the New York Times reported multiple injuries at the Capitol mine in Springfield, IL. Several miles away, State Senator W.E.C Clifford of Champaign, IL convened a State Senate hearing on site to "investigate the conditions at the Peerless mine of the Peabody Coal Company."

The Progressives had been picketing the Peerless mine, but relocated to the Capitol mine and Woodside mine where approximately 1000 Progressives confronted members of the UMWA. Deputies rushed to each mine. At least one picket was shot and four others injured. The paper reported that two sheriff's deputies were also "beaten down, but whether by picket or working miners was not learned."

While it's true that many incidents occurred in less populated areas downstate, this New York Times piece shows that it wasn't unusual for mine war violence to occur within a stone's throw of the state capitol.

"We were not ladies. We were women."

The Women's Auxiliary of the Progressive Miners of America provided crucial support for the union during conflicts and strikes. Beyond its support function, it provided the impetus and backbone for much of the early militancy and commitment to organizing which characterized the early years of the union.

Irene Allard was a founding member of the Women's Auxiliary of the Progressive Miners of America. She was also married to Gerry Allard, the first editor of the PMA's newspaper, The Progressive Miner. In a 1974 interview conducted by Barbara Herndon and Nick Cherniavsky, Irene discussed the formation of the Women's Auxiliary.

Prior to the mine war, Irene was a member of the the Ladies Auxiliary of the United Mine Workers:

"We went to a meeting in Clinton, Indiana. A miners meeting...And on the stage was these women with their white uniforms. And they were the ladies auxiliary of Clinton Indiana or wherever. And Hazel (Ansboury) and I were so impressed with this thing that on the way home we decided we're going to organize a ladies auxiliary in West Frankfort. And we did. I don't remember how many women we had to start with but they were enthusiastic and we called ourselves ladies auxiliary because that's what the Indiana women called themselves."

"We had our group and we wore white uniforms – well all they were was house dresses, you know – Hoover aprons we used to call them – they tied in the back. And we had a little starch cap that we wore – 'Ladies Auxiliary' on it."

"And when the Progressive Miners was organized we retained the women but they changed the name to 'Women's Auxiliary' because we were not ladies we were women."


"Well I'm proud of it, that I had a part to play in that because uh, they were glorious. That's the only word I know for them. And I think without the women the men would not have gone as far as they did."

Telegram To Governor Horner

Here's a 1934 telegram from the Taylorville Women's Auxiliary of the Progressive Miners of America to Illinois Governor Horner. They were protesting the ceaseless violence in their community.


The Progressives frequently implored state, local and federal government to protect their right to assemble, speak and organize. Typically these pleas were ignored or resulted in government intervention on behalf of the United Mine Workers and the coal companies. And when the federal government chose to act, it indicted 41 members of the Progressive Miners in 1936. Subsequently 34 were sent to federal prison.

The source of this image is the State's Hard Times in Illinois. It's an interesting site, but the claim that "as time passed the Progressive Miners increasingly became influenced by communist interests" is unsubstantiated. In fact, both the Progressives and the United Mine Workers often engaged in paranoid red-baiting.

"They Were Just Trying To Make A Point."

Attorney Daniel Reese was a young boy when Taylorville, IL during the mine war. His father, Leal Reese was an attorney for the Progressive Miners of America. The Reese home suffered retaliatory bombings on several occasions during that time.

The level of violence had become so intense that it had even caught the attention of the New York Times. The July 24, 1933 edition reports, "Five bombs were exploded and a watchman was shot and wounded early today in a renewal of Christian County's coal mine controversy."

"Bombs were exploded at the homes of three officials of the Progressive Miners of America, labor union trying to wrest control from the older United Mine Workers of America."

Daniel Reese explains, "There were two separate bombings. They bombed the front porch. They blew the pillars off a little bit. Then another time they blew the back porch or the house here."

He adds, "I don't think they actually tried to hurt anybody. They were just trying to make a point I think."

And who were "they"?

"Well, that was the other side - the United Mine Workers. I don't think anyone was prosecuted for the bombing here. There were so many things going on like that, it was hard to prosecute everybody... Jurors kind of overlooked these things as a social problem, not a criminal problem...I think people were all glad when it ended eventually."

Mine War Project Highlighted in State Journal-Register

Thanks very much to State Journal-Register columnist, Dave Bakke who reviewed the mine war project yesterday. Thanks to that article, I've received numerous calls and emails from area residents who want to share their memories of that conflict. I'll have my hands full over the next few months recording their stories.

For those who haven't seen the print edition, the paper was able to run one photo with article. This is an image of the state militia outside a mine in Kincaid.


Here are two others taken from the same newsreel that didn't make the cut.

"Its early demise is a certainty."

Here is an excerpt from UMWA President, John L. Lewis' public statement issued September 4, 1932, just one day after the Progressive Miners of America was founded:

"The formation of the so-called Progressive Miners of America at the Gillespie meeting, will serve to materially clarify the situation in the mining districts of Illinois. The meeting at Gillespie was merely representative of local unions already in insubordination and in violation of the wage agreement with the Illinois Coal Operators Association. Such a meeting could only legislate for the comparatively small number of men engaged in a hopeless rebellion...


The organization of this so-called union will enable the malcontents and enemies of the United Mine Workers to become members of their own model union. It will also enable the loyal members of the United Mine Workers of America to fulfill their contractual obligations and provide for the wants of their families. The United Mine Workers of America, at an early date, will move to purge its membership rolls of all those individuals responsible for the formation of this dual organization. It will also move to punish those individuals guilty of misappropriation of the funds of the United Mine Workers of America through expenditures in behalf of the conspiracy to organize, aid and continue this dual organization.

The so-called Progressive Miners of America will indubitably suffer the same fates as a long list of its predecessor dual organizations, which, from time to time, have been organized by short-sighted men to displace the United Mine Workers of America. This so-called new union is without competent leadership, wage contracts, administrative funds or logical policies. It lacks even the confidence of its founders. Its early demise is a moral certainty. Those who elect to follow its fortunes will become merely dupes of a few designing men who lack capacity for leadership and who, in the end, will betray their deluded followers."