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Scranton general strike

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The Scranton General Strike took place in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was a part of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.[1][2][3][4] According to the standard history of labor unrest in Scranton, two events stand out in Scranton's labor history:

the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the 1902 Anthracite Strike....[In 1877] Lives Were lost and prominent men of the city were charged with murder. Though victory was not on the side of the workingman, their plight and hardships at the hand of capitalism could no longer be denied by the rest of the nation.[5]

The strike led to violence and the death of three to six people. Railway workers were joined in strike by coal miners, iron mill workers, and laborers.[6] The next year Scranton elected Terrence Powderly, a leader of the Knights of Labor, as mayor.[7] The riots marked the beginning of decades of labor unrest in Scranton, culminating in the strike of 1902.[5]

Origins of the Strike

Burning of Pennsylvania Railroad and Union Depot, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 21–22 July 1877

Pennsylvania was among the states most affected by the Great Railway Strike of 1877, with major conflicts taking place in a number of cities, including Philadelphia and Reading. The last strike to occur was the one that took place in Scranton. As elsewhere, tensions were high in the anthracite coal region due to falling wages and high unemployment. One observer stated “the great trouble here in Scranton is our population, an excess of miners for the work to be done.”[8] The strike was foreshadowed by the decreasing of the miners’ wages and by the large national railway strike.[9]

On July 23rd, the members of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in Scranton proposed that their wages be restored back to what they were before a recent 10% reduction had been imposed. However, the Great Scranton Railroad Strike of 1877 began on July 24, 1877 at 12:00 P.M. when 1,000 employees of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, which was actually a steel company, peacefully walked out of work stating that they could not continue working for the same wages they were receiving. This company had no affiliation with the railroad workers. The railroad workers learned the decision that their wages would not be increased and they also struck at 6:00 P.M. on July 24th.[3] The railroad workers knew their importance to the other industries on the area and knew that it would affect other workers. One man stated, “If the coal trains shall cease to carry the coal to market, the mining of coal must cease.”[10] The men also peacefully struck and the trains were left in place as they went home for the night. The strikers allowed some passenger trains reach their destinations along the tracks. They did not however, allow mail to enter the city. The workers believed that by them striking, the railroads would be closed and would therefore stop the shipment of coal. The strikers met that night at Father Matthew Hall and agreed to “Be in favor of maintaining the peace and quiet of the city in every emergency.”[10]

By July 25th, every industry in the city except for the Pennsylvania Coal Company was stopped, and the strike involved over 30,000 workers in Scranton and its vicinity, while the city’s population was roughly 40,000.[3] On the morning of July 26th, Mayor Robert H. McKune proposed a group of armed “Special Police” to help maintain order in the city. This “Special Police” was necessary, he claimed, as there was no militia to be called in to help with this strike since they were stationed all over the state dealing with railway strike-related struggles occurring in Altoona, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh. This group was later renamed to the “Scranton Citizens’ Corps”, and included 116 members.[11][12]

By August 27 there were rumors that the strike was weakening. In the mines, volunteers took over the pumps to prevent mines from flooding. There were only minor acts of violence, though the Citizens’ Corps continued preparing their ammunition and guns for a possible confrontation.

July 30th was a quiet day. At 11:00 A.M. the men from the railway brotherhoods met with the mayor to discuss the strike. It was resolved that the men would vote on returning back to work at their old wages. By 4:10 P.M. the first train was back on the tracks. Telegraphs from the city went to New York and Binghamton stating, “all was going to be right again”. The men received some of their minor demands, but not a wage increase, which they too knew was most likely not going to happen.[10]

Shooting

Attack upon the Mayor of Scranton, PA

On August 1st, the peace came to an end. Workers converged on an open space between a hill and the city’s iron mills at 8:00 a.m. During the meeting, it was rumored that the manager of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, William Walker Scranton, would reduce wages to $0.35 per day. Mr. Scranton later denied this, yet it was all that was needed to spur this group of workers into an angry protest.[10] Men yelled, “Go for the shops!,” and the crowd moved on the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company. In response, Scranton led an assembly of the Citizens’ Corps.

Parts of the gathering of workers turned into a mob that threatened the mayor’s life. After the first shots from the Citizens Corps, the workers dispersed. Three men from the crowd were shot and killed and one was severely wounded and died a few days later. The total number of wounded was never disclosed because men did not want it to be known that they were associated with the day's events. Afterwards, troops were requested from the governor’s office, which relieved the Citizens’ Corps and imposed martial law on the city.[10][12]

According to historian Michael A. Bellesiles, who presents the above quote from W.W. Scranton, "management consistently refused to negotiate in any way with their workers and relied entirely on military force to settle the contest." He asserts that W.W. Scranton hoped for a confrontation, writing to a friend, "I trust when the troops come,--if they ever get here,--that we may have a conflict, in which the mob shall be completely worsted. In no other way will the thing end with any security for property in the future."[13]

Between three and six people were ultimately killed in the clash and as many as 50 injured.[13][14][15][16][17]

Consequences

Following this episode, Judge Hart from Washington County was brought in to deal with the court case. All 52 men of the group led by the mayor were tried for murder.[dubious – discuss] The men were acquitted and were found not guilty by a jury.[18] The strikers did not return to work until mid-October as winter was nearing and they soon needed the money to help provide for their families in the colder months. On October 19th, Governor Hartranft told President Hayes that the troops could be withdrawn.[10] The Scranton Citizens’ Corps would eventually evolve into the Thirteenth Regiment of the Pennsylvania National Guard.[12]

A historical marker commemorating the event was placed in Scranton in 2008 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.[19] The inscription reads:

A riot occurred here on August 1, 1877, in which armed citizens fired upon strikers, killing four. Many were injured, including Scranton's mayor. As in numerous US cities, this labor unrest was a result of the US depression of 1873 and a nationwide railroad strike in 1877.

See also

References

  1. ^ David Luhrssen (2015). Secret Societies and Clubs in American History. ABC-CLIO. p. 86. In the first labor action during his tenure as a Knight, A general strike that paralyzed Scranton and ended in gunfire and death (1877)...
  2. ^ Nella Van Dyke, Holly J. McCammon. Strategic Alliances: Coalition Building and Social Movements. U of Minnesota Press. p. 31. ...the former [i.e., Scranton] saw more general strike action than did Cleveland.
  3. ^ a b c "A General Strike At Scranton". The New York Times. July 25, 1877. p. 2.
  4. ^ Crosby, David (2009). Scranton Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. p. 30. ISBN 0738565180. Here a general strike in 1877 has halted operations on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in Scranton
  5. ^ a b Margo L. Azzarelli; Marnie Azzarelli (2016). Labor Unrest in Scranton. Arcadia Publishing. p. 7.
  6. ^ Bruce, Robert V. (1959). 1877: Year of Violence. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. pp. 295–298.
  7. ^ Phelan, Craig (2000). Grand Master Workman: Terence Powderly and the Knights of Labor. Praeger. p. 20. ISBN 978-0313309489.
  8. ^ "Distress of the Miners". The New York Times. August 6, 1877. p. 4.
  9. ^ Blatz, Perry K. (1999). Keystone of Democracy: A History of Pennsylvania Workers. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. pp. 96–97.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Logan, Samuel Crothers (1887). A City's Danger and Defense. Or, Issues and Results of the Strikes of 1877, Containing the Origin and History of the Scranton City Guard. Philadelphia: J.B. Rogers Print.
  11. ^ Foner, Philip Sheldon (1977). The Great Labor Uprising of 1877. New York: Monad. ISBN 9780873488280.
  12. ^ a b c Schroeder, Steven Patrick (2006). The Elementary School of the Pennsylvania National Guard, 1877-1917. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh. pp. 56–57.
  13. ^ a b Bellesiles, Michael A. (2010). 1877: America's Year of Living Violently. New York: New Press. p. 169.
  14. ^ Aurend, Harold (1991). "Early Mine Workers' Organizations In The Anthracite Region". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, Vol. 58, No. 4.
  15. ^ "Hyde Park History". Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  16. ^ Cutter, William, ed. (1913). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 4. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 1841. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  17. ^ Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. "Coal Miners' and Laborers' Strike (HM1A61)". Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  18. ^ "The Scranton Libel Suits". The New York Times. September 12, 1877.
  19. ^ "Coal Miners' and Laborers' Strike". Historical Marker Project. Retrieved 16 May 2016.

Further reading

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