Talk:Coal miners' strike of 1873

some questions

What union organization of coal miners struck on January 1, 1873? The databox cites the "National Federation of Miners and Mine Laborers" but that wasn't even formed until 1885. The page United Mine Workers was changed to mention this page but the UMN wasn't formed until 1890. (To make matters worse, that newly created link back to this page from United Mine Workers? It uses this page as a citation! I'll fix that separately.)

What company was struck? The most recent version of this page doesn't say but the original version says "Mahoning Coal Company." A search for "'Mahoning Coal Company' 1873 strike" comes up with no reliable sources and no contemporary sources.

It's funny that this book-length history of the Mahoning Valley covers the right place and time period (up to 1890), discusses other strikes, mentions the Mahoning Coal Company, etc., but is silent about any 1873 strike, labor strife, work stoppage, sudden influx of immigrant strikebreakers on trains, demographic change, etc. Page 606 in particular discusses Church Hill and says "From i860 to about 1890 Church Hill thus prospered..." without a word about any killings or labor drama of any kind.

It's funny that this event is similar to a better-documented coal strike and influx of strikebreakers that happened a year later on April 1 1874 in the Hocking Valley around Nelsonville, several counties to the southwest of Mahoning Valley.

The last sentence of the current version is hoax-y. That list of references, all but one of them unavailable offline, and nothing available online to support these fact, that's hoax-y. With good humor let me say, I'd love to be proven wrong. --Lockley (talk) 03:43, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

it looked suspicious to me. However cite #1 is legit: "Disastrous Strikes Among Ohio Coal Miners," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C, February 8, 1873" online it reads Disastrous Strikes ohio Coal Miners? It is estimated that nearly 7,400 coal miners are now on a strike in the neighborhood of Youngstown, Ohio, and the Tuscarawas Valley. Many strikers have large families, who are suffering tor the necessaries of life. A number of the iron workmen have been compelled to suspend operations for want of coal, thus swelling the army of unemployed laborers. Three hundred colored miners have been brought from Virginia to work in the Bowers coal mine, and the experiment has proved so successful that other mining companies are contemplating the importation of colored laborers. There seem no probability of an early settlement of the question between the striking miners and their employers, and business is almost at a standstill.... Rjensen (talk) 05:24, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

This was a local strike that occurred in the early years of union organizing among coal miners. Several articles mention the Miners' Union.

What seems likely is that Alonzo Fassette, owner of the pro labor (see page 349 Youngstown newspaper The Miner and Manufacturer) initiated a general walkout of miners in attempts to build a "Miners' Union." — Preceding unsigned comment added by WarrenRicheyKid (talk • contribs) 12:07, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

I'll withdraw my suspicions and thank you, WarrenRicheyKid, for your contributions. This takes some getting used to and I hope your experience so far is not too discouraging. The article still needs a little work, and I'll pitch in, first by restoring that useful Powderly reference. --Lockley (talk) 20:25, 20 January 2017 (UTC)

I'm not sure that the Panic of 1873 was an underlying cause of the miners' strike that began in January. The Panic of 1873 began in September. WarrenRicheyKid (talk) 13:33, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

References