Tag: miners
Indiana Coal Miners Went on Strike to Protect the Mine Mules
In 1902, a group of Indiana coal miners walked off the job for an unusual reason: the mules were not being treated properly. The animals…
Doctors Said Coal Miners’ Lungs Were Black and Their Wages Too Low to Live On
At the turn of the 20th century, coal mining was not merely dangerous work. For many miners, it was a job that slowly destroyed the…
Wedding Dance Custom Ends in Brawl and Bride Gets Black Eye
The wedding celebration began with music, dancing, and an old social custom. It ended with broken heads, a riot call, seven arrests, and a bride…
20 Ohio Miners Found Dead Behind Makeshift Wall in Gas-Filled Mine
The handwritten message found deep inside the smoke-blackened mine offered rescuers one last reason to hope: “Twenty men are in this room.” For days back…
9 Men Hurt in Pittston Mining Incident
A mine cage was supposed to carry workers safely down into the darkness and back again, but when something went wrong, it could become a…
70 Bodies Found After Finleyville Coal Mine Blast
In April 1913, the hills around Finleyville, Pennsylvania, shook with the force of a mine explosion so violent it shattered windows hundreds of yards away….
Troopers Use Riot Clubs in McKees Rocks Strike
In the summer of 1909, the strike at the Pressed Steel Car Company in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, had become a scene of hunger, fear, and…
Twelve Men Killed in Johnstown Mine Blast
In the coal regions of western Pennsylvania, danger was never far beneath the surface. Men went underground each day into narrow passages where darkness, gas,…
