Italian Hall disaster
Encyclopedia
The Italian Hall Disaster (sometimes referred to as the 1913 Massacre) is a tragedy
that occurred on December 24, 1913 in Calumet
, Michigan
. Seventy-three men, women, and children, mostly striking mine
workers and their families, were crushed to death in a stampede when someone falsely yelled "fire"
at a crowded Christmas party.
("C&H") was formed from the consolidation of the Calumet and Hecla mining companies in 1871. C&H was the single largest copper
mining company in Michigan's copper country
, which includes Copper Island
. One of the longest strike
s in the copper country took place in 1913, and included all the C&H mines. The Western Federation of Miners
first established a local in the area in 1908 but it wasn't until 1913 that the WFM had a large enough membership to effectively strike. At the time, there were perhaps 15,000 men working in the mines and the WFM claimed 9,000 of them as members. The membership voted in favor of demanding union recognition from management, and asking "for a conference with the employers to adjust wages, hours, and working conditions in the copper district of Michigan." The membership also voted to "declare a strike" if management refused to "grant a conference or concessions." After the vote was held, the WFM sent letters to the mines demanding the conference; the mine managers refused the request and the strike was called on July 23, 1913. The strike would not end until April, 1914; the miners and the mines were still at a standoff at Christmas, 1913, in a strike that was then five months old.
many of the striking miners and their families had gathered for a Christmas
party sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners
. It is estimated that there were over five hundred people at the party, which was held on the second floor of Calumet's Italian Hall. A steep stairway was the only way to the second floor, although there was a poorly-marked fire escape
on one side of the building and ladders down the back of the building which could only be reached by climbing through the windows.
The tragedy began when someone yelled "Fire!"; there was none. However, people panicked and rushed for the stairs. In the ensuing melee, seventy-three people (including fifty-nine children) were killed. To date there has been much debate about who cried "fire" and why. The most common theory is that "fire" was called out by an anti-union ally of mine management in order to disrupt the party.
There were several investigations into the disaster. In the coroner's inquest, witnesses who did not speak English were forced to answer questions in English, and most witnesses were not asked follow-up questions. It appears that many persons called to testify had not seen what happened. After three days, the coroner issued a ruling that did not give a cause of death. Early in 1914, a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives came to the Copper Country to investigate the strike, and took sworn testimony from witnesses for a full day on March 7, 1914. Twenty witnesses testified under oath and were offered interpreters. Eight witnesses swore that the man who first raised the cry of "fire" was wearing a Citizens Alliance button on his coat.
A common story regarding the fire states that the doors at the bottom of the Italian Hall's stairs opened inward. According to the story, when the fleeing party goers reached the bottom of the stairs, they pressed up against the doors which only opened inward, causing many people to be crushed. All photos of the doors suggest a double set of doors with both sets opening outward. The book Death's Door: the Truth Behind Michigan's Largest Mass Murder pointed out that the doors were not mentioned as a contributing factor at the December 1913 coroner's inquest, the 1914 subcommittee hearing, or in any of the newspaper stories of the time. That book also included blueprints of the building drawn by an architect, showing the locations and configurations of the doors, the staircase, and the landings. A recent book by Alison K. Hoagland, Mine Towns -- and declared to be a Michigan Notable Book 2010 -- alleges that there were two sets of doors opening onto a vestibule, and that the outer doors opened outward; and there may have been a set of inner bifold doors. In support of this, Hoagland notes, among other things, that "A newspaper article at the time of its dedication mentioned safety doors such as 'the ample main stairway', two fire escapes, and 'All doors open outward.'" She notes that the club had previously been cited—for the predecessor building—for having doors that opened inward. Further, she opines that the foreshortened stereopticon
photo was "impossible" and misleading; and further notes that according to the "pro Company" Daily Mining Gazette they opened out. The issue of the Italian Hall being built in 1908 with "outward swinging doors," was also published previously in Death's Door which was also named a Michigan Notable book by the Library of Michigan in 2007.
The Alliance's offer was not unconditional. Rather, it insisted that Charles Moyer
, president of the Western Federation of Miners
, publicly exonerate the Alliance of all fault in the tragedy. Moyer refused. Rather than provide such an exoneration, Moyer announced that the Alliance was responsible for the catastrophe, claiming that an Alliance agent yelled the word “fire”. Members of The Alliance subsequently assaulted Moyer in nearby Hancock
, then shot and kidnapped him. They placed him on a train with instructions to leave the state and never return. After getting medical attention in Chicago (and holding a press conference where he displayed his gunshot wound) he returned to Michigan to continue the work of the WFM.
The Italian Hall has since been demolished, and only the archway remains from that day, although a state historical marker was erected in 1987. The marker incorrectly states that the tragedy was partially caused by inward opening doors. The Michigan Department of History Arts and Libraries has indicated that it will replace the marker to correct that error.
Ella Reeve Bloor
was present at the disaster, and puts forth her own version in her autobiography. Her telling is problematic. She claims she was near the stage when the panic occurred but no witnesses ever testified to her presence. Critics have noted that Bloor's version of events in Calumet in 1913 are untrustworthy. For example, she claimed that Big Annie Clemenc led the funeral procession for the victims carrying a "red flag," even though all other accounts say that it was an American flag.
The event was memorialized by Woody Guthrie
in the song "1913 Massacre
", which claims that the doors were held shut on the outside by thugs.
The disaster has generated a fair amount of scholarly debate. Historian Arthur Thurner's Rebels on the Range: The Michigan Copper Miners' Strike of 1913-1914 raises the possibility that there actually might have been a fire in another part of the hall, perhaps in the chimney of the building. Perhaps the strongest argument against an actual fire is that none of the investigations found any witnesses who would claim there was a fire. The fire log of the Red Jacket Fire Department (the local fire department that responded to the fire call) also specifically states, "no fire." Death's Door: The Truth Behind Michigan's Largest Mass Murder, by Steve Lehto, concludes that the culprit was most likely an ally of mine management. Lehto does not identify the specific person who yelled "fire" but does exhaustively examine news reports, transcripts of interviews with the survivors, the coroner's reports, and other documentation in an attempt to answer the question of whether this was a calculated act by the mine management or a tragic error. In a later book, Lehto identifies who he believes to have been the man who cried "fire," going so far as to give the man's name, occupation, and evidence to support the claim.
Tragedy (event)
A tragedy is an event in which one or more losses, usually of human life, occurs that is viewed as mournful. Such an event is said to be tragic....
that occurred on December 24, 1913 in Calumet
Calumet, Michigan
Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. Seventy-three men, women, and children, mostly striking mine
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
workers and their families, were crushed to death in a stampede when someone falsely yelled "fire"
Shouting fire in a crowded theater
"Shouting fire in a crowded theatre" is a popular metaphor and frequent paraphrasing of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s opinion in the United States Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States in 1919...
at a crowded Christmas party.
Background
The Calumet and Hecla Mining CompanyCalumet and Hecla Mining Company
The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company was a major copper-mining company based in the Michigan Copper Country. In the 19th century, the company paid out more than $72 million in shareholder dividends, more than any other mining company in the United States during that period.-History:In 1864, Edwin J...
("C&H") was formed from the consolidation of the Calumet and Hecla mining companies in 1871. C&H was the single largest copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
mining company in Michigan's copper country
Copper Country
The Copper Country is an area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States, including all of Keweenaw County, Michigan and most of Houghton, Baraga and Ontonagon counties. The area is so named as copper mining was prevalent there from 1845 until the late 1960s, with one mine ...
, which includes Copper Island
Copper Island
Copper Island is a local name given to the northern part of the Keweenaw Peninsula , separated from the rest of the Keweenaw Peninsula by Portage Lake and the Keweenaw Waterway.- Geography :The area was "isolated" by dredging in 1859 and construction in the...
. One of the longest strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
s in the copper country took place in 1913, and included all the C&H mines. The Western Federation of Miners
Western Federation of Miners
The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
first established a local in the area in 1908 but it wasn't until 1913 that the WFM had a large enough membership to effectively strike. At the time, there were perhaps 15,000 men working in the mines and the WFM claimed 9,000 of them as members. The membership voted in favor of demanding union recognition from management, and asking "for a conference with the employers to adjust wages, hours, and working conditions in the copper district of Michigan." The membership also voted to "declare a strike" if management refused to "grant a conference or concessions." After the vote was held, the WFM sent letters to the mines demanding the conference; the mine managers refused the request and the strike was called on July 23, 1913. The strike would not end until April, 1914; the miners and the mines were still at a standoff at Christmas, 1913, in a strike that was then five months old.
Disaster
On Christmas EveChristmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
many of the striking miners and their families had gathered for a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
party sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Western Federation of Miners
Western Federation of Miners
The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
. It is estimated that there were over five hundred people at the party, which was held on the second floor of Calumet's Italian Hall. A steep stairway was the only way to the second floor, although there was a poorly-marked fire escape
Fire escape
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible...
on one side of the building and ladders down the back of the building which could only be reached by climbing through the windows.
The tragedy began when someone yelled "Fire!"; there was none. However, people panicked and rushed for the stairs. In the ensuing melee, seventy-three people (including fifty-nine children) were killed. To date there has been much debate about who cried "fire" and why. The most common theory is that "fire" was called out by an anti-union ally of mine management in order to disrupt the party.
There were several investigations into the disaster. In the coroner's inquest, witnesses who did not speak English were forced to answer questions in English, and most witnesses were not asked follow-up questions. It appears that many persons called to testify had not seen what happened. After three days, the coroner issued a ruling that did not give a cause of death. Early in 1914, a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives came to the Copper Country to investigate the strike, and took sworn testimony from witnesses for a full day on March 7, 1914. Twenty witnesses testified under oath and were offered interpreters. Eight witnesses swore that the man who first raised the cry of "fire" was wearing a Citizens Alliance button on his coat.
A common story regarding the fire states that the doors at the bottom of the Italian Hall's stairs opened inward. According to the story, when the fleeing party goers reached the bottom of the stairs, they pressed up against the doors which only opened inward, causing many people to be crushed. All photos of the doors suggest a double set of doors with both sets opening outward. The book Death's Door: the Truth Behind Michigan's Largest Mass Murder pointed out that the doors were not mentioned as a contributing factor at the December 1913 coroner's inquest, the 1914 subcommittee hearing, or in any of the newspaper stories of the time. That book also included blueprints of the building drawn by an architect, showing the locations and configurations of the doors, the staircase, and the landings. A recent book by Alison K. Hoagland, Mine Towns -- and declared to be a Michigan Notable Book 2010 -- alleges that there were two sets of doors opening onto a vestibule, and that the outer doors opened outward; and there may have been a set of inner bifold doors. In support of this, Hoagland notes, among other things, that "A newspaper article at the time of its dedication mentioned safety doors such as 'the ample main stairway', two fire escapes, and 'All doors open outward.'" She notes that the club had previously been cited—for the predecessor building—for having doors that opened inward. Further, she opines that the foreshortened stereopticon
Stereopticon
A stereopticon is a slide projector or "magic lantern", which has two lenses, usually one above the other.These devices date back to the mid 19th century, and were a popular form of entertainment and education before the advent of moving pictures...
photo was "impossible" and misleading; and further notes that according to the "pro Company" Daily Mining Gazette they opened out. The issue of the Italian Hall being built in 1908 with "outward swinging doors," was also published previously in Death's Door which was also named a Michigan Notable book by the Library of Michigan in 2007.
Aftermath
After the first wave of grief had passed following the tragedy, while there was bitterness against the company, it was considerably greater against an organization known as the Citizens Alliance (the "Alliance"). The Alliance was funded by mine management and actively opposed the union and the strike. Knowing what poor condition the strikers were in, the Alliance took steps that purported to help the families. It offered money to the union, telling union leaders to spend it as they wished.The Alliance's offer was not unconditional. Rather, it insisted that Charles Moyer
Charles Moyer
Charles Moyer was an American labor leader and president of the Western Federation of Miners from 1902 to 1926. He led the union through the Colorado Labor Wars, was kidnapped and accused of murdering an ex-governor of the state of Idaho, and shot in the back during a bitter copper mine strike...
, president of the Western Federation of Miners
Western Federation of Miners
The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
, publicly exonerate the Alliance of all fault in the tragedy. Moyer refused. Rather than provide such an exoneration, Moyer announced that the Alliance was responsible for the catastrophe, claiming that an Alliance agent yelled the word “fire”. Members of The Alliance subsequently assaulted Moyer in nearby Hancock
Hancock, Michigan
Hancock is a city in Houghton County; the northernmost in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, or, depending on terminology, Copper Island. The population was 4,634 at the 2010 census...
, then shot and kidnapped him. They placed him on a train with instructions to leave the state and never return. After getting medical attention in Chicago (and holding a press conference where he displayed his gunshot wound) he returned to Michigan to continue the work of the WFM.
The Italian Hall has since been demolished, and only the archway remains from that day, although a state historical marker was erected in 1987. The marker incorrectly states that the tragedy was partially caused by inward opening doors. The Michigan Department of History Arts and Libraries has indicated that it will replace the marker to correct that error.
Ella Reeve Bloor
Ella Reeve Bloor
Ella Reeve "Mother" Bloor was an American labor organizer and long-time activist in the socialist and communist movements.-Early years:...
was present at the disaster, and puts forth her own version in her autobiography. Her telling is problematic. She claims she was near the stage when the panic occurred but no witnesses ever testified to her presence. Critics have noted that Bloor's version of events in Calumet in 1913 are untrustworthy. For example, she claimed that Big Annie Clemenc led the funeral procession for the victims carrying a "red flag," even though all other accounts say that it was an American flag.
The event was memorialized by Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
in the song "1913 Massacre
1913 Massacre
"1913 Massacre" is a topical ballad written by Woody Guthrie, and recorded and released in 1941 for Moses Asch's Folkways label. The song originally appeared on Struggle: Documentary No. 1, an album of labor songs, it was eventually re-released in 1999 on Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 4...
", which claims that the doors were held shut on the outside by thugs.
The disaster has generated a fair amount of scholarly debate. Historian Arthur Thurner's Rebels on the Range: The Michigan Copper Miners' Strike of 1913-1914 raises the possibility that there actually might have been a fire in another part of the hall, perhaps in the chimney of the building. Perhaps the strongest argument against an actual fire is that none of the investigations found any witnesses who would claim there was a fire. The fire log of the Red Jacket Fire Department (the local fire department that responded to the fire call) also specifically states, "no fire." Death's Door: The Truth Behind Michigan's Largest Mass Murder, by Steve Lehto, concludes that the culprit was most likely an ally of mine management. Lehto does not identify the specific person who yelled "fire" but does exhaustively examine news reports, transcripts of interviews with the survivors, the coroner's reports, and other documentation in an attempt to answer the question of whether this was a calculated act by the mine management or a tragic error. In a later book, Lehto identifies who he believes to have been the man who cried "fire," going so far as to give the man's name, occupation, and evidence to support the claim.
See also
- Barnsley Public Hall DisasterBarnsley Public Hall DisasterThe Barnsley Public Hall disaster was a stampede that took place on Saturday 11 January 1908, in a public hall in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which resulted in the deaths of sixteen children. A number of children were entering the Public Hall to see a show when a staircase became...
- Royal Surrey GardensRoyal Surrey GardensRoyal Surrey Gardens were pleasure gardens in Kennington, London in the Victorian period, slightly east of The Oval. The gardens occupied about to the east side of Kennington Road, including a lake of about . It was the site of Surrey Zoological Gardens and Surrey Music Hall.The gardens were the...
- Shouting fire in a crowded theaterShouting fire in a crowded theater"Shouting fire in a crowded theatre" is a popular metaphor and frequent paraphrasing of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.'s opinion in the United States Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States in 1919...
Further reading
- US Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hh:2:./temp/~ammem_mTVA::@@@mdb=mcc,gottscho,detr,nfor,wpa,aap,cwar,bbpix,cowellbib,calbkbib,consrvbib,bdsbib,dag,fsaall,gmd,pan,vv,presp,varstg,suffrg,nawbib,horyd,wtc,toddbib,mgw,ncr,ngp,musdibib,hlaw,papr,lhbumbib,rbpebib,lbcoll,alad,hh,aaodyssey,magbell,bbcards,dcm,raelbib,runyon,dukesm,lomaxbib,mtj,gottlieb,aep,qlt,coolbib,fpnas,aasm,scsm,denn,relpet,amss,aaeo,mffbib,afc911bib,mjm,mnwp,rbcmillerbib,molden,ww2map,mfdipbib,afcnyebib,klpmap,hawp,omhbib,rbaapcbib,mal,ncpsbib,ncpm,lhbprbib,ftvbib,afcreed,aipn,cwband,flwpabib,wpapos,cmns,psbib,pin,coplandbib,cola,tccc,curt,mharendt,lhbcbbib,eaa,haybib,mesnbib,fine,cwnyhs,svybib,mmorse,afcwwgbib,mymhiwebib,uncall,afcwip,mtaft,manz,llstbib,fawbib,berl,fmuever,cdn,upboverbib,mussm,cic,afcpearl,awh,awhbib,sgp,wright,lhbtnbib,afcesnbib,hurstonbib,mreynoldsbib,spaldingbib,sgprotoItalian Hall Documents, Library of Congress Holdings]. Retrieved April 15, 2008