A Copper Opera: The Butte Miners’ Strike of 1917 is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 1998.
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and director: Bill Platt
** Narrator: Pat Williams
** Available on the PBS website
** Available on YouTube
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 27 minutes
Six persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (in alphabetical order):
** Jerry Calvert – a political scientist and an author – Montana State University
** David Emmons – a historian and an author – University of Montana
** Jim Harrington – Butte Historical Society
** Marilyn Maney – chairwoman, Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives
** Mark Ross – Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) – folksinger
** John Shea – a retired mine worker
Archive footage is used between the talking heads. Archive footage is used to support and supplement the statements made by the talking heads.
Archive footage is used while the narrator is talking.
The narrator Pat Williams (born 1937) is a former member of the US Congress. He was a member of the House of Representatives 1979-1997. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The film is divided into four chapters:
# 1. A Union Divided
# 2. A Flaming Torch
# 3. War Hysteria and Murder
# 4. Blacklists and Private Eyes
The topic of this film is a dramatic conflict which took place in Butte, Montana, in 1917.
On one side we have skilled and unskilled workers of different nationalities (mainly Irish and Finnish).
On the other side we have a private corporation (the Anaconda Copper Mining Company) which is supported by state and federal government.
This film covers the whole story. We learn what happens before, during, and after the strike of 1917.
On 8 June 1917, a disaster happens in the Speculator Mine. A total of 168 workers are killed. It is one of the worst industrial disasters in American history. After the disaster, the surviving workers come together to make the following demands:
** A fair salary
** Better safety in the mine
** Recognition of the trade union
The corporation does not consider the demands made by the workers. The corporation will not even meet with members of the trade union.
The workers are furious. They decide to go on strike. The corporation tries to end the strike by attacking the union. The corporation is supported by state and federal government.
On 18 July 1917, Frank Little, a union organizer, comes to town. He is quite well-known, because he is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.); a radical union, which was founded in 1905.
He wants to support the workers and their struggle. He wants the workers to join the I.W.W.
Frank Little speaks at some public meetings in Butte. Some workers like what he says. The leaders of the corporation do not like him. They are afraid the workers will be inspired by him. They want him silenced.
Shortly after midnight on 1 August 1917, six masked men enter the hotel where Frank Little stays. They enter his room and beat him up. They carry him downstairs and place him in a car which drives away.
Later he is tied to the rear fender of the car and dragged along the streets. The car drives to Milwaukee Bridge at the edge of town where he is hanged from a railroad trestle. A brief message is attached to his body:
“First and last warning.”
This is a warning to all workers in Butte:
Do not mess with us! Do not oppose the mining company! This is what will happen to you, if you try to do anything against us!
The identity of the six masked men is never confirmed. Do they work for the mining company? Did the company tell them to kill Frank Little? Or did they act on their own? There is no clear answer.
For the workers, Frank Little is a martyr. He was killed while fighting for justice.
For the workers, the timing of the strike is most unfortunate. World War One began in Europe in 1914. At first, the US did not join the war. But in 1917, the president and most members of Congress changed their minds.
In April 1917, the US declares war on Germany. Since the US is at war, copper is an important product. It is vital for the war effort.
If workers go on strike and prevent the production of copper, they are seen as opposed to the war. They are seen as unpatriotic, as traitors, as secret agents who work for the enemy.
New laws are adopted in Montana:
** Speaking out against the Anaconda Copper Mining Company becomes a crime.
** Speaking out against local and federal government becomes a crime.
In the conflict between workers and the corporation, state and federal government side with the corporation. The trade union is harassed and ultimately destroyed.
The workers lose the struggle for a fair salary and a safe working environment.
This incident in Butte, Montana, in 1917 is not unique. Similar events happen in other parts of the US at or around the same time. Here are some examples:
** Bisbee, Arizona, 12 July 1917
The Bisbee Deportation
** Everett, Washington state, 5 November 1916
The Everett Massacre
** Ludlow, Colorado, 20 April 1914
The Ludlow Massacre
** Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 10 September 1897
The Lattimer Massacre
What is going on here? What is the common denominator in these cases? Here is the answer:
Whenever socialism pops up somewhere, it is immediately knocked down by the establishment.
Whenever a radical trade union seems to have growing support from workers, it is harassed and infiltrated. The purpose is to disrupt and eventually crush the trade union.
This is not done in secret. It is done openly. The purpose is to scare not merely the workers who are involved but also other workers who are not involved. The purpose is to show them how bad things will happen to those who try to oppose the corporation.
The story of the conflict in Butte, Montana, in 1917 is sad and true. It deserves to be told, because it is sad and because it is true. In this film, it is done very well.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent)
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
** Aliens and Dissenters: Federal Suppression of Radicals, 1903-1933 by William Preston (1963) (1994)
** Montana's Agony: Years of War and Hysteria, 1917-1921 by Arnon Gutfeld (1979)
** The Gibraltar: Socialism and Labor in Butte, Montana, 1895-1920 by Jerry W. Calvert (1988)
** The Butte Irish: Class and Ethnicity in an American Mining Town, 1875-1925 by David M. Emmons (1989)
** Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917 by Michael Punke (2006) (2007)
** Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History: An Encyclopedia edited by Steven L. Danver (2010) (1,138 pages) (three volumes)
** Against Labor: How US Employers Organized to Defeat Union Activism by Rosemary Feurer and Chad Pearson (2017)
** A History of America in Ten Strikes by Erik Loomis (2018)
** Under the Iron Heel: The Wobblies and the Capitalist War on Radical Workers by Ahmed White (to be published in October 2022)
# 2. Video and film
** Frank Little: The Hobo Organizer (1995)
A documentary film shown on US television (PBS). Run time: 28 minutes. Available on the PBS website.
** An Injury to One (2003)
A documentary film about union organizer Frank Little who was abducted and murdered in Butte, Montana, in August 1917. Sadly, the quality of this film is rather low. See my review on this blog – posted in January 2019.
** The Corporation (2003)
A Canadian documentary film written by Joel Bakan and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. Run time: 145 minutes.
** Jailed for their Words: When Free Speech Died in Wartime America (2008)
A documentary film directed by Gita Saedi Kiely. It was shown on PBS in 2018. Run time: 57 minutes.
** Howard Zinn: A People’s History of the United States (2016)
A documentary film based on the book A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn (first published in 1980). Run time: 90 minutes.
# 3. A website
Mine Disasters in the United States
*****
This monument is dedicated to
the 168 workers who were killed
in the mining disaster of June 1917
*****
Frank Little
Union organizer
A member of the Industrial Workers of the World
(1879-1917)
*****
The tombstone of Frank Little
The inscription says:
Slain by capitalist interests
For organizing and inspiring
His fellow men
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment