The copper strike of 1913-14 started in July and lasted nine months. It was one of
Michigan's most bitter labor actions. The introduction of the one-man drill triggered the
strike. Miners feared cutbacks on the number of jobs and working alone. Strikers also
demanded recognition of the Western Federation of Miners as their bargaining agent, a
reduction from a 10-hour to an 8-hour work day, and $3.50 per day wages. The mining
companies refused to recognize the union or to return to the two-man drill, but did, in the
end, cut hours and increase wages. Miners who returned to work found themselves
alongside men who had been hired as strikebreakers. In the following years,
many experienced miners left the Copper Country for the auto factories of Detroit, mining
jobs inthe western U. S. or military service with the outbreak of World War I in 1917.
The strike was a bitter struggle. Michigan state militia, on horseback, was deployed
against the strikers. Strike leaders, lead by "Big" Annie Clemenic, rallied the strikers by
hosting a Christmas party at the Italian hall.
While the miners' families were celebrating Christmas Eve at Italian Hall in
Calumet someone yelled, "Fire!" In panic, the crowd rushed to get out of the
second-floor hall. They could not open the door to the outside, and 73 people--mostly
children--died in the crush.There was no fire. Many miners believed that the mine
companies had sent the person who caused the panic, although this could never proved it seems the most likely explaination.
Eye witnesses saw company agents in the area but could not identify them. The crime remains unsolved.
In recent times the hall fell on disrepair. Local Unions, including the North West Upper
Peninsula Labor Council, and a variety of volunteers, purchased the site and the
surrounding land. They restored it and preserved it as a monument to Michigan's workers.
These individuals kept the incident and the site from fading into the mists of history.
Those who forget their past are doomed to repeat it!
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