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Hellraisers Journal, Sunday June 2, 1918
Ludlow, Colorado -United Mine Workers Remembers the Martyrs
From The Fur Workers of June 1, 1918:
MONUMENT AT LUDLOW
Ludlow, Col.,-A magnificent monument was dedicated here May 30, by the United Mine Workers in honor of the 33 men, women and children who were killed by a detachment of the Colorado state militia on April 20, 1914. The militia were gunmen imported into the state by the Colorado Fuel and Iron company, a Rockefeller subsidiary.
The miners and their families had been evicted from their homes by the coal company and were living in tents when they were fired upon by the thugs, who afterwards burned the tents. The United Mine Workers later purchased the site of the tent colony and erected the monument.
At the base of the monument is the figure of a worker, upstanding and resolute, while beside him is the figure of a woman clutching a babe. On the monument is this inscription:
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.
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[Emphasis and photographs added.]
From The Rocky Mountain News of May 31, 1918:
ROCKEFELLER, JR., ATTENDS LUDLOW SHAFT’S UNVEILING
—–
Stands With Head Uncovered in Throng of
Greek, Polish and Slavic Miners as Monument
Is Dedicated to Victims of Disaster.
—–TRINIDAD, Colo., May 30.-John D.Rockefeller, Jr., who has been inspecting the southern Colorado coal fields, stood with head uncovered in a crowd of 3,000 Greek, Polish and Slavic miners at Ludlow this afternoon as a large silken American flag was drawn across the face of the huge granite shaft erected by the miners of the country to the memory of those persons who lost their lives in the labor troubles of four years ago. Accompanying Mr. Rockefeller at the unveiling of the monument were Mrs. Rockefeller and Mr. and Mrs. Mckenzie King, who are in the party which is making the inspection trip.
Memorial Is Shown.
Altho Mr. Rockefeller was not scheduled to attend the unveiling, he obtained a private motor car and in company with the other members of his party drove to Ludlow to be present at the event. Unheralded and unannounced, Mr. Rockefeller arrived at the ceremonies and sent his card by a messenger to the presiding officer. Aside from this he took no part in the exercises and there were but few persons in the large crowd who even knew of his presence until after his departure.
As the silken flag was loosened and fell to the base of the monument, the string having been released by Mrs. Mary Patrucci [Petrucci], mother of three children who lost their lives during the labor troubles, there were many in the crowd who for the first time looked upon the memorial, which had been purchased by means of popular subscription on the part of the miners thruout the country.
Review History of Trouble.
The shaft, a large marble structure, stands on the ground where the greatest number of fatalities during the trouble occurred. It is in the heart of the once famous Ludlow tent colony, where the bodies of eleven children and two women were found after the destruction of the camp by fire April 20, 1914. It stands twenty feet high and immediately in front of the large shaft itself are the life-sized figures of a miner, a woman and a child.
The monument is the product of one of the best known sculptors of the country and was purchased at a cost of approximately $12,000. This sum was raised by subscriptions ranging in size from 5 cents to $1.
The national officers before the unveiling reviewed the history of the labor troubles at Ludlow and congratulated the people on having erected such a fitting memorial to the dead.
They told them that the sacrifice had not been in vain and held up before the crowd the ideals and purposes for which the United Mine Workers stood. They struck a note of patriotism in stating they were behind President Wilson in winning the war.
The national officers present all made memorial addresses, and there were also speeches in Italian, Greek and the Slavonic languages by local officers.
The Rockefeller party, after attending the unveiling, left Trinidad for Rouse, where it will spend the night. The members will go on to Walsenburg tomorrow morning, where they will inspect the Colorado Fuel & Iron company’s properties in Huerfano county.
They are due in Pueblo at noon Saturday. They probable will spend three days in Pueblo, leaving for Denver about Wednesday. Because of a previous engagement, Mr. Rockefeller could not talk at patriotic ceremonies at Trinidad tonight.
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From The Masses of July 1914:
“Caught Red-Handed” by John Sloan
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SOURCES
The Fur Worker
“Official Organ of the
International Fur Workers’ Union
of the United States and Canada”
(New York, New York)
-June 1, 1918, page 4
https://www.genealogybank.com/
The Rocky Mountain News
(Denver, Colorado)
-May 31, 1918, pages 1+7
(Also source for image within article.)
https://www.genealogybank.com/
IMAGES
Ludlow Monument, UMWJ -p6, May 16, 1918
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=iwxOAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&pg=GBS.PT45
Ludlow Monument, Inscription
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Monument
The Masses, JDR Jr Caught Red-Handed, John Sloan, July 1914
http://dlib.nyu.edu/themasses/books/masses040
See also:
National Historic Landmark Nomination
Ludlow Tent Colony Site
U. S. Department of Interior, National Park Service
Designated a National Historic Landmark
-Jan 16, 2009
https://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/co/LudlowTentColonySite.pdf
Ludlow Monument, Names of Martyrs
-from back of monument.
https://www.du.edu/ludlow/working.html
WE NEVER FORGET
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They’ll Never Keep Us Down – Hazel Dickens
Lyrics by Hazel Dickens:
https://riseupsinging.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/hazel-dickens/
We’ve been shot, we’ve been jailed, Lord, it’s a sin
Women and children stood right by the men
We’ve got a union contract that keeps the worker free
They’ll never shoot that union out of me
They’ll never shoot that union out of me
They’ll never shoot that union out of me
Got a contract in our hand signed by the blood of honest men
They’ll never shoot that union out of me