Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
First Advisor
Dr. Kirstin Lawson, [email protected]
Second Advisor
Dr. Michael Thompson, [email protected]
Third Advisor
Dr. Matthew Tarpey, [email protected]
Keywords
Midwest, Labor, Industrialization
Abstract
In 1890 the United Mine Workers of America was established as a national union for coal miners in the United States. One of the prominent founding principles of the UMWA was to not discriminate against coal miners wanting to join and participate in the union regardless of their race, or ethnicity. Throughout the first decade of its existence, the UMWA was tested several times by the actions of coal mine operators using Black coal miners as strikebreakers, and in some scenarios, the UMWA failed to uphold their own declarations of nondiscrimination. Twice, in 1893 and 1899 the coal miners of Southeast Kansas went on strike and were faced with a decision on how to face the importation of Black coal miners by their employers as an attempt to kill the strike. In both cases, the UMWA of Southeast Kansas chose inclusion of their Black coal mining brothers, rather than exclusion based on their race. In both cases, the mine operators were unsuccessful in breaking the strike using imported labor, or forcing the coal miners to act out in a way which warranted state or federal authorities to force the end of the coal strike. The banding together of coal miners as one working class people, regardless of race, saw the coal miners of Southeast Kansas lead two strikes that enhanced their standards of living and the practices of their employers when it came to the coal miners’ compensation. As a result of the principles of the union, race did not divide the coal miners of the region, who were instead united by their class and positions socially.
Recommended Citation
McDowell, Brent, "No Color Line in the Coal Mine: The Role of Black Coal Miners in the UMWA Strikes of 1893 and 1899 in Southeast Kansas" (2026). Electronic Theses & Dissertations. 839.
https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/etd/839
