Morewood massacre

Last updated
Morewood Massacre
Eviction of mine workers during the Morewood strike 1891.png
Miners and their families getting evicted from company housing during the strike.
DateFebruary 10 – May 26, 1891 [1]
Location
GoalsHigher wages
Eight-hour day
Methods Strikes, protests, demonstrations
Resulted inUnsuccessful
Parties
United Mine Workers
Coal miners
Lead figures
Number
16,000
Casualties and losses
9

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

Workers attack the coke ovens to stop work at the mines during the strike Workers attack Frick coal mine 1891.png
Workers attack the coke ovens to stop work at the mines during the strike

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]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania</span> County in Pennsylvania, United States

Westmoreland County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 364,663. The county seat is Greensburg and the most populous community is Hempfield Township. It is named after Westmorland, a historic county of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calumet-Norvelt, Pennsylvania</span> Unincorporated community in Pennsylvania, United States

Calumet-Norvelt was a census-designated place (CDP) in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community was divided into the two separate communities of Calumet and Norvelt for the 2010 census. Although the US Census treats Calumet and Norvelt as a single community, they are in reality two very different communities, each reflecting a different chapter in how the Great Depression affected rural Pennsylvanians. Calumet was a typical "patch town", built by a single company to house its miners as cheaply as possible. The closing of the Calumet mine during the Great Depression caused enormous hardship in an era when unemployment compensation and welfare payments were non-existent. On the other hand, Norvelt was created during the depression by the US federal government as a model community, intended to increase the standard of living of laid-off coal miners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Mount Pleasant is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It stands 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. As of the 2020 census, the borough's population was 4,245.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottdale, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, United States

Scottdale is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, 32 miles (51 km) southeast of Pittsburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Clay Frick</span> American industrialist

Henry Clay Frick was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company and played a major role in the formation of the giant U.S. Steel manufacturing concern. He had extensive real estate holdings in Pittsburgh and throughout the state of Pennsylvania. He later built the historic Neoclassical Frick Mansion, and upon his death donated his extensive collection of old master paintings and fine furniture to create the celebrated Frick Collection and art museum. However, as a founding member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, he was also in large part responsible for the alterations to the South Fork Dam that caused its failure, leading to the catastrophic Johnstown Flood. His vehement opposition to unions also caused violent conflict, most notably in the Homestead Strike.

The Connellsville Coalfield is located in Fayette County and Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, between the city of Latrobe and the small borough of Smithfield. It is sometimes known as the Connellsville Coke Field. This is because the section of the Pittsburgh coal seam here was famous as one of the finest metallurgical coals in the world. It is locally known as the Connellsville coal seam, but is a portion of the Pittsburgh seam.

The Westmoreland County coal strike of 1910–1911, or the Westmoreland coal miners' strike, was a strike by coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers of America. The strike is also known as the Slovak Strike because about 70 percent of the miners were Slovak immigrants. It began in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on March 9, 1910, and ended on July 1, 1911. At its height, the strike encompassed 65 mines and 15,000 coal miners. Sixteen people were killed during the strike, nearly all of them striking miners or members of their families. The strike ended in defeat for the union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darr Mine disaster</span> 1907 mining accident in Pennsylvania

The Darr Mine disaster at Van Meter, Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, near Smithton, killed 239 men and boys on December 19, 1907. It ranks as the worst coal mining disaster in Pennsylvanian history. Many victims were of immigrants from central Europe, including Rusyns, Hungarians, Austrians, Germans, Poles and Italians.

Calumet is a census-designated place in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Although the United States Census Bureau included it as a census-designated place with the nearby community of Norvelt for the 2000 census, they are in reality two very different communities, each reflecting a different chapter in how the Great Depression affected rural Pennsylvanians. As of the 2010 census, Calumet-Norvelt was divided into two separate CDPs officially. Calumet was a typical "patch town," another name for a coal town, built by a single company to house coal miners as cheaply as possible. The closing of the Calumet mine during the Great Depression caused enormous hardship in an era when unemployment compensation and welfare payments were nonexistent. On the other hand, Norvelt was created during the depression by the US federal government as a model community, intended to increase the standard of living of laid-off coal miners.

Standard Shaft is located in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a community located near Mount Pleasant.

United is located in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a community located near Norvelt.

Broadford or Broad Ford is an unincorporated community in Connellsville Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. Broadford is on the Youghiogheny River downstream from Connellsville. Galley Run, a tributary to the Youghiogheny River, joins here.

Marguerite is an unincorporated community and coal town in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was also known as Klondike.

Morewood is an unincorporated community and coal town in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. In early April, 1891, it was the site of the Morewood massacre, which left nine striking workers of the United Mine Workers shot to death.

Tarrs is an unincorporated community and coal town that is located in East Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradenville, Pennsylvania</span> Census-designated place in Pennsylvania, United States

Bradenville is a census-designated place and coal town in Derry Township in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community is located within two miles of the city of Latrobe and is three miles from the borough of Derry.

Mammoth is a census-designated place that is located in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County in the state of Pennsylvania, United States, with its own post office and postal zip code: 15664.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mammoth Mine disaster</span>

The Mammoth Mine disaster or Frick Mine explosion occurred on January 27, 1891 just after 9:00 AM in the Mammoth No. 1 mine in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Newspapers reported that firedamp was ignited by a miner's oil lamp, resulting in the deaths of 109 men and boys. Most of the miners were not killed by the force of the explosion, but rather were suffocated by the effects of afterdamp.

References

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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)
  4. "Morewood Massacre". ExplorePAhistory.com. WITF, Inc. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) and Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission . Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  5. Napsha, Joe. "Lecture explores deadly 1891 coal miner strike outside Mt. Pleasant". Trib Live. Tribune-Review. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  6. 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.
  7. 1 2 "Massacre at Morewood Mine & Coke Works, Morewood, East Huntingdon Twp.,Westmoreland Co., PA, USA". 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  8. 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.
  9. http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2CB [ bare URL ]

40°08′54″N79°33′47″W / 40.148323°N 79.563137°W / 40.148323; -79.563137