LUDLOW
The decade of the
1910s saw great social unrest and movements for workers’ rights throughout the
world. Class rebellion erupted in Mexico in 1910, war in Europe began in 1914,
and the Russian Revolution exploded in 1917. The coal miners of southern
Colorado struck during 1913 after unsuccessful efforts to join the United Mine
Workers of America. Striking miners and their families were turned out of their
company-owned homes to live in tent colonies. The Ludlow tent colony was set
ablaze by Colorado National Guardsmen on April, 20, 1914. Listed on the Ludlow
Massacre monument are the names of 18 victims, aged 3 months to 45 years.
Carl Sandburg reported on politics and social issues for the Chicago Day Book newspaper from 1913 until it ceased publication in 1917. The Day Book was an experimental one-cent “adless daily newspaper” for working-class readers published by Edward Willis Scripps. Sandburg’s friend Donald MacGregor, Day Book city editor, reported for the newspaper between 1911 and 1914. MacGregor recounted the April 20, 1914, Ludlow Massacre and his own involvement leading 300 miners in a gunfight against the Colorado National Guard northeast of Ludlow on April 29, 1914.
Carl Sandburg reported on politics and social issues for the Chicago Day Book newspaper from 1913 until it ceased publication in 1917. The Day Book was an experimental one-cent “adless daily newspaper” for working-class readers published by Edward Willis Scripps. Sandburg’s friend Donald MacGregor, Day Book city editor, reported for the newspaper between 1911 and 1914. MacGregor recounted the April 20, 1914, Ludlow Massacre and his own involvement leading 300 miners in a gunfight against the Colorado National Guard northeast of Ludlow on April 29, 1914.
Ruins Ludlow Colony—Trinidad, Col., 1914. American Red Cross representatives assess the damage following the fire. Bain News Service photograph, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ggbain-15859).
Mother Jones, 1915. Labor leader Mary Harris “Mother” Jones joined the miners in Trinidad where she was jailed for repeatedly disregarding deportation ordered by the Colorado National Guard. Bain News Service photograph, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ggbain-18170).
Commentary about U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan and his silence on the violent events in southern Colorado. Bryan resigned in June 1915 in opposition to Pres. Woodrow Wilson’s harsh responses to the German sinking of the Lusitania. Militant, “Once over,” The International Socialist Review 17 (1916): 548.