The Ludlow Massacre of 1913-14 (American Workers)
Grade 7-10–Laughlin describes one of the lesser-known struggles in U.S. labor history when mining employees in Colorado went out on a strike that lasted 14 months. Their demands primarily included the right to organize and be recognized by management. The struggle saw the deaths of over 200 men, women, and children, many of them occurring when state militia attacked the tent cities where the strikers were living after being put out of the company-owned homes. Background information on mining, Colorado and American history, and labor issues is included in the appropriate context, along with pivotal figures Mother Jones, the national labor activist; the Rockefeller family, who owned the mines; John Lawson, organizer and leader of the United Mine Workers; and President Woodrow Wilson. The writing is dry, and much of the detail, while researched and documented, appears to be filler. Black-and-white and color photographs and illustrations are well chosen, although the sole map fails to do its job. And although the last chapter is entitled Consequences, the book does not convey any major historical impact of this event. Its use will mostly be limited to supplement material on more pivotal events such as the Pullman Strike, which occurred several decades earlier.–Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, ILCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.