This article offers a modified framework for examining the period, 1919-21. In his narrative and analysis the coal miners appear as activists rather than as pawns in a leadership struggle. In the 1920's the miners in District 2 conducted a two front war against the operators and their political allies as well as against John L. In these works he depicts a battle between a working-class conscious rank and file, particularly in Cambria County, and the national office of the United Mine Workers, Their decade long battle resulted in a victory for Lewis and his supporters, but in the process of struggle the miners forged a progressive program which called for the unionization of unorganized miners, the creation of a progressive political party and the fostering of a more democratic union. This story forms part of the subject matter for Singer's dissertation and article. This national picture had its counterpart in District 2 and Indiana County where similar struggles for union power and social change occurred. He describes the factious leaders and rebellious members of the United Mine Workers whose activities led to both programs for the social reconstruction of the United States and almost continuous strikes from 1920-23. This article draws on that scholarship and attempts to contribute new elements to the story by looking at a neglected geographical area and underused archival sources.ĭavid Montgomery in The fall of the house of labor: The Workplace, The State and American labor activism, 1865-1925 links the aftermath of World War I, including the coal strike of 1919, to the events of the first half of the 1920s. In a few cases historians have produced studies of western Pennsylvania coal miners. Lewis as president of the United Mine Workers and the battles for union power between Lewis and his chief rivals. In dealing with the period immediately following World War I most authors emphasize the coal strikes of 19, the rise and consolidation of John L. Most of the published scholarship has focused on the national scene to the neglect of district and local level developments. The history of US coal miners has received limited attention from scholars. Marcus, Eileen Mountjoy, and Beth O'Leary
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