Scranton general strike

The Scranton General Strike took place in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was a part of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

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

Origins of the strike

Pennsylvania was among the states most affected by the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, with major conflicts taking place in a number of cities, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Reading.^[8] 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.”^[9] The strike was foreshadowed by the decreasing of the miners’ wages and by the large national railway strike.^[10]

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. The strike began on July 24 at 12:00 P.M. when 1,000 employees of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company (actually a steel company) peacefully walked-out, claiming they could not continue working at reduced wages. The company had no affiliation with the railroad workers. The railroad workers learned of the decision that their wages would not be increased and they also struck at 6:00 P.M. that same day.^[3] The railroad workers knew their strike would affect workers in a range of industries in the area, that relied on the railroad to transport goods. As one man stated, “If the coal trains shall cease to carry the coal to market, the mining of coal must cease.”^[11] The men peacefully struck and the trains were left in place as they departed for the night. The strikers allowed some passenger trains to reach their destinations. They did not however, allow mail to enter the city. 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.”^[11]

Mayor McKune issued a proclamation on the 24th, urging "all good citizens to use their best efforts to preserve peace and uphold the law," and to "abstain from all excited discussion of the prominent question of the day." He concluded:

Every taxpayer will realize that any destruction of property will have to be paid for by the city, and would by so much increase the burden of taxation. In one day Pittsburgh has put upon herself a load that her taxpayers will struggle under for years. I again earnestly urge upon men of all clases in our city the necessity of sober, careful thought and the criminal folly of any precipitate action.^[12]^: 198

By July 25th, every industry in the city except for the Pennsylvania Coal Company was halted, and the strike had grown to include over 30,000 workers in Scranton and its vicinity, while the city’s population was roughly 40,000.^[3]

Citizens' Corps

On the morning of July 26th, Mayor Robert H. McKune proposed a group of armed special police to help maintain order in the city. At the time the local militia were stationed across the state in response to railway strike-related struggles occurring in Altoona, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh. The police group was later renamed the “Scranton Citizens’ Corps”, and included 116 members.^[13]^[14]

Mayor McKune met on the 27th with the Brotherhood of Trainmen. Following a meeting of the railway strikers, the firemen and brakemen agreed to return to work at their previous wages. Shortly thereafter, the millworkers returned to work, with assurances from W W Scranton.^[7] The miners however, denounced the concession and resolved to continue the strike.^[15]

The Citizens' Corp assembled in the Forest & Stream Sportsman's Club and elected officers, including Ezra H. Ripple as their captain.^[7] Ripple then obtained the approval of the commander of the Pennsylvania National Guard, General Osbourne, to procure arms for the company, which, within three days, amounted to 350 guns as well as ammunition.

Rumors spread that the strike was weakening. Volunteers and others not connected with the miners association took over the pumps, now abandoned by the miners, in order to prevent flooding. There were minor acts of violence, though the Citizens’ Corps continued preparing for a possible confrontation, drilled by those members who were Civil War veterans. The group assumed the company store owned by W. W. Scranton as their headquarters.

July 30th was a quiet day. Telegraphs from the city went to New York and Binghamton stating, “all was going to be right again”.^[11]

Shooting

On August 1st, the peace came to an end. As many as 5,000 strikers converged on an open space between a hill and the city’s iron mills at 8:00 a.m.^[15] 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 the rumor sufficed to spur an angry protest. Men yelled, “Go for the shops!,” and the crowd moved on the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company.^[11]^{Note 1}

In response, Scranton led an assembly of his own employees and the Citizens’ Corps.^[7] The Mayor confronted the crowd and urged them to halt, but was struck by a man, knocked down, and badly injured.^[15] He was then escorted away from the area by a priest, Father Dunn. They met with Scranton's assembly, which became assailed by missiles and clubs. An order was given to fire, and the crowd was quickly dispersed, leaving four dead or dying.^[16]^[17]^[18]^{Note 2} Estimates of the wounded vary from 16 to as many as 54.^[10]^[14]^[19]^: 304^[15]

According to historian Michael A. Bellesiles, "management consistently refused to negotiate in any way with their workers and relied entirely on military force to settle the contest."^[17] 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."^[17]

Aftermath

The day after the shooting, as many as 3,000 federal troops of the Pennsylvania National Guard First Division arrived from Pittsburgh under the command of Major General Robert Brinton, and imposed martial law.^[11]^[14] The strike eventually ended uneventfully with no agreement.^[20] On October 19th, Governor Hartranft, who had arrived in the city on August 2nd with 800 men, advised President Rutherford B. Hayes that the troops could be withdrawn.^[11]

Criminal charges

On August 8th, 22 members of the Citizens' Corps including W. W. Scranton, were brought up on charges of Murder in the First Degree, including some who may not have been present at the time of the killings.^[11]^{Note 3} Each was subsequently released August 10th on $3000 bail.^[11]^: 138 The charge of murder was later amended to manslaughter by grand jury indictment.

The trial was convened November 26th under Judge Harding. In his closing remarks for the defense, Stanley Woodward concluded:

We therefore hold that there was a riot, and that these men here charged were in the full heroic performance of their duties as citizens when this unfortunate event occurred. But the blood of these victims must be upon their own heads.^[11]^: 147

That same day the jury found all 22 defendants not guilty.^[7]^[21] Some of the prominent strikers were also arrested, but none received punishment.^[15]

Libel suits

Aaron Augustus Chase, along with William Stanton, were defendants in a libel suit related to the strike and ensuing riots. Stanton, it was alleged, had written an "incendiary" piece, "calculated to incite the killing of Mr. Scranton."^[22] Chase was found guilty and sentenced to a $200 fine and 30 days imprisonment. Stanton was acquitted.^[23]

Legacy

According to Azzarelli, two events stand out in Scranton's labor history: the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the 1902 Anthracite Strike.^[7]

A historical marker commemorating the event was placed in Scranton in 2008 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.^[24] 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.

Following the events of 1877, the governor authorized the Citizens’ Corps to be reorganized into a permanent 55 man militia, which, with further approval by the adjutant general, became a four company battalion.^[2]^: 31^[14]. This was further reorganized in 1878 by the legislature into the Thirteenth Regiment, Third Brigade, Pennsylvania National Guard, which went on to see action in at least three other major strikes.^[2]^: 32

Notes

^ "The storm which had been gathering for more than two hours burst at once, with a violence that threatened the sweeping of the whole city with destruction. A shout was raised: 'Go for the shops' and 'clean out the black-legs' [those who had returned to work during the strike]; and immediately the crowd began to move...It was at once revealed, through the telescopes of the watchers all along the avenue, that these crowds were armed with clubs, which were shaken in the fury of violence. It was afterwards learned that a store down the valley had been robbed by men on their way to this meeting, showing that, at least some of them had come prepared for mischief."^[11]^: 83
^ Stephen Phillips would later die six days later from injuries sustained in the confrontation. Charles Dunleavy, Patrick Lane, and Patrick Logan were killed at the scene of the confrontation.^[7]^[25]
^ "Seven of these men had nothing to do with the firing upon the mob, and some of them were squares away when the firing took place."^[11]^: 127

References

^ 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)...
^ ^a ^b ^c 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c "A General Strike At Scranton". The New York Times. July 25, 1877. p. 2.
^ 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
^ Bruce, Robert V. (1959). 1877: Year of Violence. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill. pp. 295–298.
^ Phelan, Craig (2000). Grand Master Workman: Terence Powderly and the Knights of Labor. Praeger. p. 20. ISBN 978-0313309489.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Margo L. Azzarelli; Marnie Azzarelli (2016). Labor Unrest in Scranton. Arcadia Publishing. p. 7.
^ Lloyd, John P. (2009). "The Strike Wave of 1877". The Encyclopedia of Strikes in American History: Routledge.
^ "Distress of the Miners". The New York Times. August 6, 1877. p. 4.
^ ^a ^b Blatz, Perry K. (1999). Keystone of Democracy: A History of Pennsylvania Workers. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. pp. 96–97.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k 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.
^ McCabe, James Dabney; Edward Winslow Martin (1877). The History of the Great Riots: The Strikes and Riots on the Various Railroads of the United States and in the Mining Regions Together with a Full History of the Molly Maguires.
^ Foner, Philip Sheldon (1977). The Great Labor Uprising of 1877. New York: Monad. ISBN 9780873488280.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Schroeder, Steven Patrick (2006). The Elementary School of the Pennsylvania National Guard, 1877-1917. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh. pp. 56–57.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Hyde Park History". Retrieved 2015-09-11.
^ Gallagher, Rev. Johan P. (1964). Scranton: Industry and Politics, 1835-1885. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University. pp. 243–244.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bellesiles, Michael A. (2010). 1877: America's Year of Living Violently. New York: New Press. p. 169.
^ 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.
^ Aurend, Harold (1991). "Early Mine Workers' Organizations In The Anthracite Region". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, Vol. 58, No. 4.
^ Federal Writer's Project, Pennsylvania: A Guide to the Keystone State, 1940.
^ Hitchcock, History of Scranton and Its People, 1914; "The Coal Panic," New York Times, February 26, 1871.
^ "The Scranton Libel Suits, Relics of the Railroad Riots-Scranton's Fight Against his Defamers". The New York Times. 8 September 1879. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
^ "The Scranton Libel Suits". The New York Times. September 12, 1877.
^ "Coal Miners' and Laborers' Strike". Historical Marker Project. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
^ Craft, David (1891). History of Scranton, Penn: With Full Outline of the Natural Advantages, Accounts of the Indian Tribes, Early Settlements, Connecticut's Claim to the Wyoming Valley, the Trenton Decree, Down to the Present Time. H. W. Crew. p. 584. ISBN 978-1295632718.