Lattimer massacre

Lattimer massacre
DateSeptember 10, 1897
Location
Lattimer, Pennsylvania, U.S.

40°59′41″N 75°57′38″W / 40.9948°N 75.9606°W / 40.9948; -75.9606
GoalsWage increase
MethodsStrikes, protest, demonstrations
Parties
Sheriff's posse
Lead figures

Michael Cheslock

James F. Martin

Number
300–400
c. 100
Casualties and losses
  • Deaths: at least 19[1][2]
  • Injuries: dozens
Arrests: 74

The Lattimer massacre was the killing of at least 19 unarmed striking immigrant anthracite miners by a Luzerne County sheriff's posse at the Lattimer mine near Hazleton, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1897.[1][page needed][2][page needed] The miners were mostly of Polish, Slovak, Lithuanian and German ethnicities. Scores more miners were wounded in the attack by the posse.[3][page needed] The massacre was a turning point in the history of the United Mine Workers (UMW).[4]

  1. ^ a b Anderson, John W. Transitions: From Eastern Europe to Anthracite Community to College Classroom. Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, 2005; ISBN 0-595-33732-5
  2. ^ a b Miller, Randall M. and Pencak, William. Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth. State College, Penn.: Penn State Press, 2003; ISBN 0-271-02214-0
  3. ^ Estimates of the number of wounded are inexact. They range from a low of 17 wounded (Duwe, Grant. Mass Murder in the United States: A History. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2007; ISBN 0-7864-3150-4) to as many as 49 injured (DeLeon, Clark. Pennsylvania Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff. 3rd rev. ed. Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot, 2008; ISBN 0-7627-4588-6). Other estimates include 30 wounded (Lewis, Ronald L. Welsh Americans: A History of Assimilation in the Coalfields. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 2008; ISBN 0-8078-3220-0), 32 wounded (Anderson, Transitions: From Eastern Europe to Anthracite Community to College Classroom, 2005; Berger, Stefan; Croll, Andy; and Laporte, Norman. Towards A Comparative History of Coalfield Societies. Aldershot, Hampshire, UK: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2005; ISBN 0-7546-3777-8; Campion, Joan. Smokestacks and Black Diamonds: A History of Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Easton, Penn.: Canal History and Technology Press, 1997; ISBN 0-930973-19-4), 35 wounded (Foner, Philip S. First Facts of American Labor: A Comprehensive Collection of Labor Firsts in the United States. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1984; ISBN 0-8419-0742-0; Miller and Pencak, Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth, 2003; Derks, Scott. Working Americans, 1880–2006: Volume VII: Social Movements. Amenia, NY: Grey House Publishing, 2006; ISBN 1-59237-101-9), 38 wounded (Weir, Robert E. and Hanlan, James P. Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor, Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood Press, 2004; ISBN 0-313-32863-3), 39 wounded (Long, Priscilla. Where the Sun Never Shines: A History of America's Bloody Coal Industry. Minneapolis: Paragon House, 1989; ISBN 1-55778-224-5; Novak, Michael. The Guns of Lattimer. Reprint ed. New York: Transaction Publishers, 1996; ISBN 1-56000-764-8), and 40 wounded (Beers, Paul B. The Pennsylvania Sampler: A Biography of the Keystone State and Its People. Mechanicsburg, Penn.: Stackpole Books, 1970).[page needed]
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Blatz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).