On this day in 1897, the Lattimer Massacre occurred near Hazelton, Pennsylvania when a Sheriff's posse fired into a crowd of unarmed, striking miners, killing 19. Miners, mostly Eastern European immigrants, had been protesting for better pay and union recognition.

A week prior, over 3,000 miners had gone on strike, demanding better pay and an end to the forced use of the company store. On the morning of September 10th, approximately 400 miners peacefully marched to a newly opened coal mine in Lattimer to support a new United Mine Workers (UMW) union there.

After refusing an order to disperse by a Luzerne County sheriff's posse, the posse fired into the crowd. Nineteen miners were killed and several dozen were wounded.

Despite the fact that sheriffs had been overhead joking about how many strikers they would kill that morning, as well as medical evidence that demonstrated miners were mostly shot in the back, the sheriff and seventy-three deputies were acquitted at trial, insisting that they were charged by the crowd.

The massacre was a turning point in the history of the United Mine Workers (UMW), who received more than 10,000 new members in the aftermath of the massacre.

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  • Goadstool
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