The 1922-23 Windber Coal Strike

Yesterday I drove a few hours west through howling wind and driving rain to the little town of Windber, Pennsylvania; a couple miles from Johnstown. The Pennsylvania Labor History Society and The Battle of Homestead Foundation were holding their “Annual Commemoration of the History of Working People” and despite the rough weather the basement hall at the Slovak Educational Club soon filled up with folks eager to hear a daylong program that included commemorating the United Mine Workers 1922-23 Windber strike for union recognition, discussions on “Women in Coal and Steel” and “John Brophy and Labor Education”. As folks sipped their hot coffee and munched on donuts, “Coal Miners’ Balladeer” Tom Breiding regaled them with labor songs.  
- Chris Garlock
NOTE: the last speaker talking about her student days of organizing and diapering her children on the university president’s desk  was not Bonnie Boyer but Amy Niehouse.

On this week’s Labor History in Two:  The year was 1937. That was the day workers sat down at the Hershey chocolate plant in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

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