April 20, 1914

Today marks the anniversary of the Ludlow Massacre, one of the saddest examples of the lengths to which businesses will go, rather than recognize a union.

In the autumn of 1913, several thousand mine workers had chosen to join the United Mine Workers' of America (UMWA). In order to gain recognition they opted to strike. Upon striking, the coal companies evicted the workers from their company owned homes who were then forced to set up tent colonies to continue their strike. The coal companies hired one of the most notorious strike-breaking detective agencies to harass striking miners and union organizers. Eventually the coal companies also compelled the governor to call  in the National Guard to suppress the strike.

Then following months of various acts of violence committed by both sides, the environment was ripe with tension and the stage was set for one of the bloodiest assaults on organized labor in this country's history:

The National Guard, with their ranks swelled by gun thugs and mine guards, decided to evict the tent cities that sprang up around the mines, even though the camps had been established on private property leased by the union.

Ludlow was the largest of the tent cities, located 18 miles north of Trinidad. On the morning of April 20, the Greek Easter celebrated by many Greek immigrants in the Ludlow camp, the National Guard opened fire with machine guns. They fired across the railroad tracks into the tents. Anyone who moved through the camp was targeted. The miners fired back, and the battle raged for hours.

In the afternoon a passing freight train stopped on the tracks, allowing many of the miners and their families to escape to the east to an outcrop of hills called the "Black Hills."

Louis Tikas, the camp's main union organizer went to the National Guard to arrange a truce. Lieutenant Linderfelt assaulted him with the butt of his rifle, and the soldiers fired three shots into Tikas's back as he lay on the ground.

The miners were outgunned. As night approached, the militia descended on the tent camp and set fire to it, apparently oblivious to the fact that two women and eleven children had been hiding in the pit beneath one tent and did not escape with the other strikers. When their charred bodies were found the next day, their deaths became a rallying cry for the UMWA, who called the incident the "Ludlow Massacre." In addition to the fire victims, thirteen people were shot dead during that day.

Today, this monument stands as a reminder to future generations of the legacy of organized labor, and as a memorial to those that have paid the ultimate price for the sake of the workers and their honorable struggle to improve their lives.

The inscription reads:

In memory of the men, women and children who lost their lives in freedom's cause at Ludlow, Colorado April 20, 1914

Erected by the United Mine Workers of America

And on a plaque, the names of those who lost their lives at the hands of the Colorado Fuel and Iron:

• Louis Tikas. AGE 30 YRS.
• James Fyler. AGE 43 YRS.
• John Bartolotti. AGE 45 YRS.
• Charlie Costa. AGE 31 YRS.
• Fedelina Costas. AGE 27 YRS.
• Onafrio Costa. AGE 4 YRS.
• Frank Rubino. AGE 23 YRS.
• Patria Valdez. AGE 37 YRS.
• Eulala Valdez. AGE 8 YRS.
• Mary Valdez. AGE 7 YRS.
• Elvira Valdez. AGE 3 MO.
• Joe Petrucci. AGE 4½ YRS.
• Lucy Petrucci. AGE 2½ YRS.
• Frank Petrucci. AGE 4 MO.
• William Snyder Jr.. AGE 11 YRS.
• Rodgerlo Pedregone. AGE 6 YRS.
• Cloriva Pedregone. AGE 4 YRS.

To find out more: Three Strikes: The Fighting Spirit of Labor's Last Century by Howard Zinn, Dana Frank, and D.G. Kelley

Comments

[Pam]

That was probably one of the most interesting history lessons ever...I think I acutally learned about that this semester but I didnt remeber it when she told me...yours was waaaay better