1920 Alabama coal strike
Encyclopedia
The 1920 Alabama coal strike was a statewide strike of the United Mine Workers of America against coal mine operators. The strike was marked by racial violence, and ended in significant defeat for the union.
to begin on September 7, and as many as 15,000 of the 27,000 coal miners in the state stopped work. UMW vice-president Van Bittner was sent to the state to oversee the effort.
One main union demand was for union recognition, and one fundamental obstacle to union recognition was the fact that the UMW was racially integrated. Popular opinion was turned against the strikers almost immediately, particularly the disapproving black middle class, who saw racial solidarity and cooperation with capitalists as their only route to economic self-defense.
Major operators in Alabama's coalfields were also still using convict labor under abominable conditions with no salary cost whatsoever, the convict leasing
system, described by some as "Slavery by Another Name
". Mines of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
had phased out convict leasing five years after its acquisition by U.S. Steel
, but the mines controlled by Sloss Furnaces
and Pratt Consolidated continued the practice until 1926.
), where strikers killed the general manager of the Corona Coal Company, Leon Adler, along with a company guard. But African Americans bore the brunt of the violence: among many such threatening incidents, black miner Henry Junius was found in a shallow grave outside of Roebuck a few weeks into the strike. At least thirteen houses of strikebreakers were dynamited between September and December. Also in December state troopers terrorized the small black business district in Pratt City with random machine gun fire.
The Alabama State Militia and the state police had been called out by the governor, Thomas Kilby
, known as the "business governor". Once on site, state troop commanders typically placed themselves at the service of the coal companies. By February thousands of workers had been evicted from their company houses and left homeless.
Towards the end of February the enormous expense of conducting the strike with no progress led the union to seek a resolution. None other than Governor Kilby was accepted as arbitrator. Kilby's settlement flatly refused union recognition and any wage increases, and he refused to reinstate striking miners. Part of Kilby's March 9th decision read,
The national UMW chose to adhere to Kilby's decision. The union closed its state offices, , and the strike prevented any union advances in the state for another ten years. At least 16 people were killed in the strike, more than half of them black, with an uncounted number of wounded.
was summoned out of his home by soldiers of Company M of the Alabama Guard.
After hearing seven shots fired in quick succession, Northcutt's son-in-law William (Willie) Baird rushed out to find Northcutt, dead on the ground, with Private James Morris standing over him. Baird shot Morris in self-defense, then fled into the woods. After three days Baird turned himself over to Walker County officials. On January 5, nine guardsmen of Company M entered the jail, subdued the sheriff on duty, lynched Baird, and riddled his body with bullets.
The guardsmen were eventually acquitted. Former Alabama governor Braxton Bragg Comer would claim that the lynching of Baird "had some element of self-defense in it".
Conditions
The strike was officially authorized by UMW president John L. LewisJohn L. Lewis
John Llewellyn Lewis was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1920 to 1960...
to begin on September 7, and as many as 15,000 of the 27,000 coal miners in the state stopped work. UMW vice-president Van Bittner was sent to the state to oversee the effort.
One main union demand was for union recognition, and one fundamental obstacle to union recognition was the fact that the UMW was racially integrated. Popular opinion was turned against the strikers almost immediately, particularly the disapproving black middle class, who saw racial solidarity and cooperation with capitalists as their only route to economic self-defense.
Major operators in Alabama's coalfields were also still using convict labor under abominable conditions with no salary cost whatsoever, the convict leasing
Convict lease
Convict leasing was a system of penal labor practiced in the Southern United States, beginning with the emancipation of slaves at the end of the American Civil War in 1865, peaking around 1880, and ending in the last state, Alabama, in 1928....
system, described by some as "Slavery by Another Name
Slavery by Another Name
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by American writer Douglas A...
". Mines of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company , also known as TCI and the Tennessee Company, was a major American steel manufacturer with interests in coal and iron ore mining and railroad operations. Originally based entirely within Tennessee, it relocated most of its business to Alabama in the...
had phased out convict leasing five years after its acquisition by U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...
, but the mines controlled by Sloss Furnaces
Sloss Furnaces
Sloss Furnaces is a National Historic Landmark in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States. It operated as a pig iron-producing blast furnace from 1882 to 1971. After closing it became one of the first industrial sites in the U.S. to be preserved for public use...
and Pratt Consolidated continued the practice until 1926.
The strike
The strike's first major confrontation happened on September 16, in Patton Junction, Alabama (in Walker CountyWalker County, Alabama
Walker County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama.Its name is in honor of John Williams Walker, a member of the United States Senate. As of 2010 the population was 67,023...
), where strikers killed the general manager of the Corona Coal Company, Leon Adler, along with a company guard. But African Americans bore the brunt of the violence: among many such threatening incidents, black miner Henry Junius was found in a shallow grave outside of Roebuck a few weeks into the strike. At least thirteen houses of strikebreakers were dynamited between September and December. Also in December state troopers terrorized the small black business district in Pratt City with random machine gun fire.
The Alabama State Militia and the state police had been called out by the governor, Thomas Kilby
Thomas Kilby
Thomas Erby Kilby, Sr. was an American Democratic politician.He was a mayor of Anniston, Alabama from 1905 to 1909, Alabama State Senator from 1911 to 1915, eighth Lieutenant Governor of Alabama from 1915 to 1919 and 36th Governor of Alabama from 1919 to 1923.In 1920, Kilby arbitrated the...
, known as the "business governor". Once on site, state troop commanders typically placed themselves at the service of the coal companies. By February thousands of workers had been evicted from their company houses and left homeless.
Towards the end of February the enormous expense of conducting the strike with no progress led the union to seek a resolution. None other than Governor Kilby was accepted as arbitrator. Kilby's settlement flatly refused union recognition and any wage increases, and he refused to reinstate striking miners. Part of Kilby's March 9th decision read,
- It is rather difficult to understand how such a large number of men could be induced so deliberately to disregard such an obligation of honor. The only explanation, perhaps, lies in the fact that from 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the miners are Negroes. The southern Negro is easily misled, especially when given a permanent and official place in an organization in which both races are members.
The national UMW chose to adhere to Kilby's decision. The union closed its state offices, , and the strike prevented any union advances in the state for another ten years. At least 16 people were killed in the strike, more than half of them black, with an uncounted number of wounded.
Willie Baird
On December 22, 1920, local union official and itinerant Nazarine minister Adrian Northcutt of Nauvoo, AlabamaNauvoo, Alabama
Nauvoo is a town in Walker and Winston counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town is 284. Camp McDowell, an Episcopalian church camp, is located nearby.-History:...
was summoned out of his home by soldiers of Company M of the Alabama Guard.
After hearing seven shots fired in quick succession, Northcutt's son-in-law William (Willie) Baird rushed out to find Northcutt, dead on the ground, with Private James Morris standing over him. Baird shot Morris in self-defense, then fled into the woods. After three days Baird turned himself over to Walker County officials. On January 5, nine guardsmen of Company M entered the jail, subdued the sheriff on duty, lynched Baird, and riddled his body with bullets.
The guardsmen were eventually acquitted. Former Alabama governor Braxton Bragg Comer would claim that the lynching of Baird "had some element of self-defense in it".