Morewood Massacre | |||
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Date | February 10 – May 26, 1891 [1] | ||
Location | |||
Goals | Higher wages Eight-hour day | ||
Methods | Strikes, protests, demonstrations | ||
Resulted in | Unsuccessful | ||
Parties | |||
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Lead figures | |||
Captain Loar Contents | |||
Number | |||
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Casualties and losses | |||
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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.
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]
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.
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.
Scottdale is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, 32 miles (51 km) southeast of Pittsburgh.
Unity Township is a township in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 21,724 at the 2020 census, a decline of approximately 4% compared to the 2010 census.
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 Neoclassical Frick Mansion in Manhattan, 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.
West Overton is located approximately 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Pittsburgh, in East Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is on PA 819 between the towns of Mount Pleasant and Scottdale. Its latitude is 40.117N and its longitude is -79.564W.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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