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Morewood massacre

Coordinates: 40°08′54″N 79°33′47″W / 40.148323°N 79.563137°W / 40.148323; -79.563137
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Morewood Massacre
Miners and their families getting evicted from company housing during the strike.
DateFebruary 10 – May 26, 1891[1]
Location
GoalsHigher wages
Eight-hour day
MethodsStrikes, protests, demonstrations
Resulted inUnsuccessful
Parties
United Mine Workers
Coal miners
Lead figures

Captain Loar
Henry Clay Frick (Owner)
Andrew Carnegie (Owner)

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

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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]

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See also

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References

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  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. ^ a b "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]
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40°08′54″N 79°33′47″W / 40.148323°N 79.563137°W / 40.148323; -79.563137