United Mine Workers of America

The “Chronicle and Comment” section of The Churchman contains several articles. An article titled “President Refuses Pardon to Negro” discusses the case of John W. Burley. “The Anthracite Mining Dispute” discusses the decision concerning the check-weight men and wages. Other articles include “Strikes at Chicago and Fall River,” “The Necessity for State Police,” “Secretary Hay and the Sultan,” and “The War in the East.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-13

Creator(s)

Unknown

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary encloses a letter from J. R. McCormick referencing Mr. Towne, the editor and proprietor of a Scranton, Pennsylvania, newspaper, who is now using the Tribune Republic in support of Roosevelt. The secretary asks William Flinn if he will return the letter after reading it, along with some suggestions as to what response should be made to McCormick. He also asks for Flinn’s advice in the case of William H. H. Llewellyn, “a disappointed office seeker” who tried and failed to become the Roosevelt delegate from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Llewellyn is now supporting a delegate from the United Mine Workers, even though Flinn appointed Mr. Tompkins and Tompkins is already the candidate for the Progressive Republicans of Wilkes-Barre. Finally, the secretary asks Flinn to read a letter sent to Roosevelt from Harry H. Daugherty before returning it with his suggestions on “what ought to be done” in the matter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-03-23

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

President Roosevelt informs Thomas L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America, that he is creating an advisory board related to the properties and best uses of structural materials and fuels in the United States. Roosevelt believes that this topic is very important, and appoints Lewis to serve on the board.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-30

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells John Mitchell, head of the United Mine Workers of America, that he has invited the governors of the United States to a conference on the conservation of natural resources. Roosevelt has received a very positive response from the governors and other politicians, and extends a similar invitation to Mitchell in recognition of his experience working with the mining industry.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-03-04

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt has received two telegrams on the matter of an ongoing dispute about wages between coal mine operators and miners, the texts of which he includes for John H. Winder to see. Roosevelt tells Winder that he does not have the authority to create the commission that Winder suggested, as it would take an act of Congress, and is not prepared to say what action he is personally able to take.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-31

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt thanks Louis N. Hammerling for his letter and asks him to express Roosevelt’s appreciation to the United Mine Workers of America, prominent in particular counties of Pennsylvania, for their vote.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt has several matters he would like to discuss with John Mitchell and will consider Mr. Clark for the position.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-03-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Posters featuring labor leader John Mitchell advocating support of certain candidates in the upcoming election have been sent to various offices of the United Mine Workers of America. Mitchell asserts that these posters, along with a telegram that attributed to him, have been circulated without his authorization. Mitchell’s goal is to elect people to positions of power who will support labor causes, and he wants to avoid partisanship. He names several candidates that he is endorsing for Congress, and urges people to vote based on their principles and policies, rather than simply based on political party.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-21

Creator(s)

Mitchell, John, 1870-1919

Secretary of Commerce and Labor Straus thanks William Loeb for forwarding a letter from John Mitchell of the United Mine Workers of America affirming Mitchell will continue to serve as a trustee of the Foundation for the Promotion of Industrial Peace.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-11-22

Creator(s)

Straus, Oscar S. (Oscar Solomon), 1850-1926

Senator Penrose writes to President Roosevelt that he had a “satisfactory” talk in Philadelphia with the President of United Mine Workers, John Mitchell. Mitchell’s organization is friendly to Roosevelt, has not been “disturbed over the Gompers assault,” and Penrose feels that the United Mine Workers are in a “pretty fair frame of mind.” Penrose notes that he plans to see Mitchell again to better understand the situation with Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon’s district and other districts throughout the country. Penrose also tells Roosevelt that he is in accord with Senator Philander C. Knox, who will be seeing Roosevelt in a few days, and who would like to discuss Roosevelt’s speech in Harrisburg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-19

Creator(s)

Penrose, Boies, 1860-1921

John Mitchell, vice president of the United Mine Workers of America, has drawn President Roosevelt’s attention to the fact that West Virginian miners and other labor workers were opposed to the action of Reese Blizzard, United States attorney for the northern district of West Virginia. Roosevelt informed Mitchell that if specific information could be filed against Blizzard, Mitchell should bring it to his attention. Since Blizzard’s reappointment will be considered in early December, Mitchell has requested that along with a committee of West Virginia businessmen that will be meeting with Roosevelt, John Nugent and Clark Johnson, members of United Mine Workers of America, be received as well.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-15

Creator(s)

Mitchell, John, 1870-1919

George L. Duval recounts a history of the growth and consolidation of industries and the resulting rise of labor unions. He recounts the role President Roosevelt played in the anthracite coal strike, and suggests that the commission then appointed could be the model for a permanent national arbitration committee to oversee labor struggles in the future. The relevance to this kind of help in Chile is noted.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-11

Creator(s)

Duval, George L., 1855-1931

Attorneys Thomas B. and Leslie M. Merchant writes to request from President Roosevelt a copy of a letter which John Mitchell, President of the United Mine Workers of America, sent to Roosevelt. They need the letter for a trial they are litigating on behalf of Alexander D. Wales. The attorneys ask Roosevelt to forward the letter as quickly as possible to avoid subpoena.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-17

Creator(s)

Merchant, Thomas B., 1857-1928; Merchant, Leslie M., 1860-1915

M. F. Purcell of District 22 United Mine Workers of America appeals to President Roosevelt to intervene in Colorado.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-17

Creator(s)

Purcell, M. F.

Louis B. Livingston examines why President Theodore Roosevelt chose retired general John McAllister Schofield to command the troops needed to seize coal mines during the anthracite coal strike of 1902. Livingston chronicles Schofield’s military service, and he details his command of troops during five labor disputes during the late nineteenth century. Livingston contends that Roosevelt was drawn to Schofield’s exemplary record, his support of Army reforms, and the restraint he showed during previous strikes. Livingston suggests that Roosevelt’s threat to seize the mines moved the parties, the mine owners and the United Mine Workers, to accept arbitration. Livingston also explores other aspects of the strike negotiations such as Roosevelt’s poor relationship with General Nelson Appleton Miles and the degree to which Roosevelt kept his plans to seize the mines if necessary a secret. 

Four illustrations and a photograph supplement the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2013

President Roosevelt addresses a crowd of delegates of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America and United Mine Workers of America at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905

Creator(s)

Kelley, E. W.

Language

English

Cardinal James Gibbons delivers an address to the delegates of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America and the United Mine Workers of America.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905

Creator(s)

Kelley, E. W.

Labor leader John Mitchell addresses delegates of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America and United Mine Workers of America at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905

Creator(s)

Kelley, E. W.

Language

English

“Gen Loeb” lies on the ground beside a small hill that President Roosevelt stands on. There is a lowered flag that has “positively no admittance.” He hands a sword to a member of the “United Mine Workers Association.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-16

Creator(s)

Bush, Charles Green, 1842-1909

A court summons for several leading members of the United Coal Workers of America to come before the Circuit Court of the Northern District of West Virginia in response to a claim made by the Hitchman Coal & Coke Company.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-24

Creator(s)

Circuit Court of the United States for the Northern District of West Virginia