Morewood massacre

The Morewood massacre was an armed labor-union conflict in Morewood, Pennsylvania, in Westmoreland County, west of the present-day borough Mount Pleasant in 1891.

Morewood Massacre
Miners and their families getting evicted from company housing during the strike.
DateFebruary 10 – May 26, 1891[1]
Location
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
GoalsHigher wages
Eight-hour day
MethodsStrikes, protests, demonstrations
Resulted inUnsuccessful
Parties to the civil conflict
United Mine Workers
Coal miners
Frick Coke Company
Pinkerton detectives[2]
Penn. National Guard
Lead figures
Captain Loar
Henry Clay Frick (Owner)
Andrew Carnegie (Owner)
Number
16,000
Casualties and losses
9

Casualties and causes
Workers attack the coke ovens to stop work at the mines during the strike

Nine coke workers were shot and killed during a strike for higher wages and an eight-hour work day.[3][4][5]

The United Mine Workers union, formed only the previous year, organized the strike against the local coke works owned by industrialist Henry Clay Frick. After a work stoppage beginning on February 10,[6] weeks of increasing unrest, and evictions of mining families from company-controlled property, a crowd of about a thousand strikers accompanied by a brass band marched on the company store.[7] Deputized members of the 10th regiment of the National Guard under the command of Captain Loar fired several volleys [8] into the crowd, killing six strikers outright and fatally wounding three more.[7] Thousands attended their funeral.

A Pennsylvania state historical marker describing the Morewood event was erected in 2000 on Route 981 (Morewood Road) near the Route 119 overpass.[9]

  • Marker commemorating the Morewood massacre
  • Names of strikers killed in Morewood labor unrest

See also

References
  1. Vivian, Cassandra (June 2017). Coal Mine and Coke Oven Reclamation and Preservation Project Phase II: Early Coal Mines of Henry Clay Frick (PDF). Westmoreland Fayette Historical Society.
  2. Vivian, Cassandra (June 2017). Coal Mine and Coke Oven Reclamation and Preservation Project Phase II: Early Coal Mines of Henry Clay Frick (PDF). Westmoreland Fayette Historical Society.
  3. Washlaski, Raymond A.; Ryan P. Washlaski; Peter E. Starry Jr (2006-11-12). "Massacre at Morewood Mine & Coke Works, (Coal Miners Strike of 1891)". Virtual Museum of Coal Mining in Western Pennsylvania. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  4. "Morewood Massacre". ExplorePAhistory.com. WITF, Inc. (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) and Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  5. Napsha, Joe. "Lecture explores deadly 1891 coal miner strike outside Mt. Pleasant". Trib Live. Tribune-Review. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  6. Vivian, Cassandra (June 2017). Coal Mine and Coke Oven Reclamation and Preservation Project Phase II: Early Coal Mines of Henry Clay Frick (PDF). Westmoreland Fayette Historical Society.
  7. "Massacre at Morewood Mine & Coke Works, Morewood, East Huntingdon Twp.,Westmoreland Co., PA, USA". 2008-10-19. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  8. Official Documents, Comprising the Department and Other Reports Made to the Governor, Senate and House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, Volume 4. State of Pennsylvania. 1892. p. D - 8.
  9. http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2CB

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