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In September 1913, 10,000-12,000 coal miners in southern Colorado, led by the United Mine Workers of America, went out on strike. The mostly Greek, Italian, Slav, and Mexican workers demanded:
The mine operators, led by the Rockefeller controlled Colorado Fuel & Iron Company, appealed to Colorado Governor Elias M. Ammons, who obliged by sending in the National Guard to keep the mines operating. After being evicted from company housing, miners and their families set up a tent colonies in the nearby hills and continued the strike.
On the morning of April 20, 1914 the National Guard opened machine gun and rifle fire on the tent colony in Ludlow and then set it on fire. The bodies of the two women and eleven children were found in a pit dug under a tent where they had been hiding - they had either suffocated or burned to death. Three strikers, including Louis Tikas - a leader of the colony, were taken prisoner and then killed by militiamen.
Fetherling, Dale. Mother Jones, the Miners' Angel: A Portrait. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University,, 1974.
Jones, Mary Harris. The Autobiography of Mother Jones. Reprint ed. New York: Arno & The New York Times, 1969.
Jones, Mary Harris. The Speeches and Writings of Mother Jones. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988.
Long, Priscilla. Where the Sun Never Shines: A History of America's Bloody Coal Industry. New York: Paragon House, 1989.
Ludlow, Being the Report of the Special Board of Officers Appointed by the Governor of Colorado to Investigate and Determine the Facts with Reference to the Armed Conflict Between the Colorado National Guard and Certain Persons Engaged in the Coal Mining Strike at Ludlow, Colorado April 30, 1914. [Denver: Press of the Williamson Haffner Company, 1914?].
McGovern, George S. and Leonard F. Guttridge. The Great Coalfield War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1972.
Militarism in Colorado: Report of the Committee Appointed at the Suggestion of the Governor of Colorado to Investigate the conduct of the Colorado Nation Guard During the Coal Strike of . [Denver]: Printed by Authority of the Colorado State Federation of Labor, 1914.
Papanikolas, Zeese. Buried Unsung: Louis Tikas and the Ludlow Massacre. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1982.
"Songs of the Ludlow Massacre." Reprint from the United Mine Workers Journal, April 15, 1955.
"Story of the Ludlow Massacre a Dark Chapter in History." United Mine Workers Journal, Vol. LX, No. 7 (April 1, 1949).
Women and Unions: Forging a Partnership. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press, 1993.
Yellen, Samuel. American Labor Struggles. New York: S.A. Russell, 1936.
Colorado Coal Field War Project -
The site includes a photo gallery, description of archaeological
finds, history of the Colorado coal wars, and bibliography.
Ludlow Massacre -
From the United Mine Workers of America, it includes a link to the
Ludlow Monument listing the names of the victims.
Ludlow Massacre -
Excerpt from Howard Zinn's "Declarations of Independence:
Cross-Examining American Ideology."
Ludlow Massacre by Howard Zinn -
Excerpt from "A People's History of the United States."
Ludlow Massacre and the Birth of Company Unions -
Article by Stephen Millies, that appeared in "Workers World" on
January 26, 1995.
The Ludlow Massacre -
Lyrics of the song by Woody Guthrie.
American Story -
Musical based on the Colorado coal wars by Laurel Vartabedian and
Bill Evans.
Autobiography of Mother Jones -
Online edition of the book includes both text and images.
Labor Quotes: Mother Jones -
Selection of quotes by Mother Jones. Many don't give full source
documentation.
Mother Jones: The "Miners' Angel" -
A brief biography by Mara Lou Hawse.
The Holt Labor Library provides these links for your convenience. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, the Holt Labor Library makes no guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of the information on these sites, and is not liable for any inaccuracy, error, or omission, regardless of cause.