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Mc Mike

(9,107 posts)
58. My mom's grand dad immigrated here from Sicily and worked in PA mines.
Sat Nov 26, 2016, 12:20 PM
Nov 2016

He'd worked in sulfur mining in Sicily from age 7.

In Yatesboro, he was a spokesperson for the immigrant miners and met with John L. Lewis on their behalf, right before WWI.

There are 2 good mine organizing movies, The Molly Maguires about Irish Miners organizing in Shamokin county, PA in the late 1870's, and Matewan, a John Sayles movie about the war between WV mining townspeople and the Baldwin Phelps agents hired by the coal operators in Mingo County right after WWI.

The Maguires movie shows child laborers acting as breakers, busting up the big lumps of coal to make it more shippable and easier to burn.

The Matewan movie shows how the coal company imported Italian immigrants and Southern Blacks to work in the mines, to try and divide and conquer the workers and prevent union organizing.

Both good movies.

This is sick. octoberlib Nov 2016 #1
Fuck it Drahthaardogs Nov 2016 #26
Oh wow, your grandfather was on the frontlines doing all the hard work. octoberlib Nov 2016 #33
It WAS the unions Drahthaardogs Nov 2016 #35
What a sick, sick person! Trump is declaring war on the American evidenced by the people he is smirkymonkey Nov 2016 #2
Exactly!!! "it's like he is assembling the crew of a pirate ship".n/t RKP5637 Nov 2016 #3
Post removed Post removed Nov 2016 #4
... Grey Lemercier Nov 2016 #23
Of course, it wouldn't apply to white kids. baldguy Nov 2016 #5
Except it's their kids who are stuck at home, hopeless, jobless . . . MrModerate Nov 2016 #7
holy shit Afromania Nov 2016 #6
This country is regressing so far back it's unreal! ananda Nov 2016 #8
It's horrifying how quickly their rotten deeds can undo progress. Snarkoleptic Nov 2016 #11
Thank for posting about Shorpy eleny Nov 2016 #32
Seems the current batch of conservatives longs for the 1900-1910 era. Snarkoleptic Nov 2016 #34
Back to 1859 and the "land of cotton," I think you mean. - nt KingCharlemagne Nov 2016 #47
Pic of my grandpa in the Pennsylvania coal mines--post #36 below. tblue37 Nov 2016 #39
Black Lung Disease puts hair on your chest and makes frail little boys real men! Feeling the Bern Nov 2016 #41
you are wide awake Grey Lemercier Nov 2016 #24
6 children died in a school bus crash? That's nothing! neeksgeek Nov 2016 #9
But that's okay, because teenagers crave danger. Chemisse Nov 2016 #14
I blame Obama, er, Hillary :sarcasm: - nt KingCharlemagne Nov 2016 #48
Yes, Newt Gingrich liked that idea too. whathehell Nov 2016 #10
It was Gingrich who suggested The Velveteen Ocelot Nov 2016 #51
I know..Totally disgusting, whathehell Nov 2016 #52
DeVos and the Kochs, Daltons and other Plutocrats want to bring back serfdom. Dustlawyer Nov 2016 #12
Mackinac Center for Public Policy funded by DeVos, Kochs: Mc Mike Nov 2016 #13
Those tiny fingers can clean the barrel of the gun.. nt lostnfound Nov 2016 #15
Not that I'm defending this crazy shit, but child labor has always been legal for farm kids NickB79 Nov 2016 #16
This is true. But it shouldn't have been. kcr Nov 2016 #31
Does trump even know what these assholes stand for? Ilsa Nov 2016 #17
The voters in Michigan should've already know what was going to happen. SharonAnn Nov 2016 #20
I think most people in the US, sadly, are too Ilsa Nov 2016 #28
all this shit comes out of the mouths onethatcares Nov 2016 #18
Greed and heartlessness gollygee Nov 2016 #19
Let the Trump offspring lead the way into coal mining work. milestogo Nov 2016 #21
So those are the coal jobs Trump wants to bring back. keithbvadu2 Nov 2016 #22
See my post #36 below. Coal mining destroyed Grandpa's lungs. He went to the mines at age 13. nt tblue37 Nov 2016 #37
Wouldn't she want children going door to door, selling Amway? mascarax Nov 2016 #25
"valued as people. They are earning money" ck4829 Nov 2016 #27
Because to a Republican, people who don't earn money have no value at all as people. nt tblue37 Nov 2016 #38
Republicanism in a nutshell gollygee Nov 2016 #40
God could this get any worse? Initech Nov 2016 #29
Yes. A military draft. Yavin4 Nov 2016 #30
At age 13, my grandfather, who came from Sicily as an immigrant, tblue37 Nov 2016 #36
Amazing pix! Snarkoleptic Nov 2016 #44
From a book about child labor in the mines. nt tblue37 Nov 2016 #50
My mom's grand dad immigrated here from Sicily and worked in PA mines. Mc Mike Nov 2016 #58
I remember "The Molly McGuires." Saw it when it first came out. (I am old.) tblue37 Nov 2016 #59
This message was self-deleted by its author Mc Mike Nov 2016 #61
Well, no offense was meant by my last re to your post 59, but I deleted it anyhow. nt Mc Mike Dec 2016 #62
"Valued as people" TYPICAL of RW assholes to think that children and others are not valued Maru Kitteh Nov 2016 #42
Seems to me it's more like... Snarkoleptic Nov 2016 #45
Time for the Senate to shoot this nutbagger's nomination down. n/t duffyduff Nov 2016 #43
KnR Hekate Nov 2016 #46
Would Black Lung be considered a pre-existing condition? kskiska Nov 2016 #49
Medicare... KK9 Nov 2016 #55
minimum wage serfdom here we come. pansypoo53219 Nov 2016 #53
And when the kids get black lung disease and other occupational related disorders, smirkymonkey Nov 2016 #54
Of course the rich folks wouldn't want THEIR kids to prove their value as people tblue37 Nov 2016 #60
Coal mining is just like selling newspapers on the street NastyRiffraff Nov 2016 #56
My Dad owned a one man coal mine, yortsed snacilbuper Nov 2016 #57
Didn't we try that already? MineralMan Dec 2016 #63
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