By Alison Moyer

January 26, 2018 - Author and New York Times Senior Editor Mark Balik gave the 8th annual Msgr. John J. Curran Lecture as part of Anthracite Mining Heritage Month. The free public lecture took place on January 18 at King's College Burke Auditorium in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It was co-sponsored by the McGowan Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at King’s and the Anthracite Heritage Foundation.

Balik discussed the origin of the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Catholic Irish immigrants in the late 19th century.

“The Mollies were among two million Irish who fled from Ireland during the Great Potato Famine, another million died from starvation,” said Balik.

In Ireland, the society had already created a name for itself by using violence to protest evictions from tenant landlords and their agents’ untraditional usage of land.

When the Mollies committed their assassinations, they either dressed as women or wore straw outfits. Their faces were painted black and white to conceal their identities.

“They were dressing themselves up in these strange outfits just as the Mummers did. The Mummers were a group of actors who went door-to-door performing plays around holidays. The play always had two characters battle each other and one of them would die. The doctor would save the fallen character. One of the actors would ask money from the household to pay the doctor. Once the performers gathered enough money, they would put on a grand party to bring the community together for a night,” said Balik.

Similarly, the Mollies went door-to-door to collect money to feed the starving during the Great Potato Famine. The landlords only made matters worse when they evicted farmers who could not make their payments with the lack of crop. To protect their fellow countrymen, the Mollies attacked these landlords.

“The Mummers and Mollies were two sides of the same coin. They both felt they were acting on behalf of their communities. Thus, it is speculated that the name ‘Molly Maguires’ was inspired by the female character’s name found in the Mummers’ play,” remarked Balik.

Many of the fleeing Mollies found themselves settling in Northeastern Pennsylvania where work was plentiful due to a booming coal mining industry. However, mine workers faced dangerous working conditions and low wages.

“Most of the coal miners were paid in company scrips. This scrip could only be used in that company’s store. If the company did not have a certain medicine, the worker seldom had an another way of obtaining that medicine,” explained Balik.

The Catholic Irishmen had little choice but to work for the coal mining companies. They often received discrimination on the grounds of their Irish heritage and religion from other potential employers.

The Mollies began to unionize frustrated mine workers. Once the Civil War broke out, they went more public with their mining-related grievances.

“The heads of the coal mining companies began to receive coffin notices, which threatened death. Allegedly, the Mollies sent these notices,” added Balik.

The Mollies’ first murder among a total of 24 was an Irish state militia worker. All those murdered held similar positions or were coal mining company heads. Anyone whose loyalty to fellow Irishmen was suspected was killed. The killings took place around holidays, just as the Mummers’ plays were performed on holidays.

The government brought in state militia to counter the growing rebellious union. There was already a labor shortage in the mines due to the war draft; it could not afford to lose more workers. The state militia was reluctant to start a battle with the miners who had their own weaponry. As a result, negotiations between the government and mine workers soon began.

“An Irish detective was hired to infiltrate the Mollies. He used an alias and worked with the coal miners and gained their trust. With nearly his testimony alone, twenty of the Molly Maguires were sentenced to death, ten of them were hanged. Civil law was suspended, as the army was running the trial,” said Balik.

The Molly Maguires ultimately showed that the mine workers were not going to settle for injustice in their working conditions and wages. Reverend John J. Curran held a similar, but nonviolent, attitude towards the poor coal mining environment.

“Fr. Curran backed the mining rebels during the Anthracite Strike of 1902. Over a hundred thousand miners went on strike. He became known as the Labor Priest,” said Bob Wolensky, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin and opening-speaker of the lecture.

Anthracite Mining Heritage Month began as a week around eight to nine years ago. It has grown into a month-long dedication to the culture and history of the Northeastern Pennsylvania coal region.

“It is extremely important to talk about Pennsylvania’s coal mining history. The history of the area helped shape Wilkes-Barre and other areas of Pennsylvania. Wilkes-Barre has some of the richest labor history in the United States, and I think it is relevant to remember and honor that history,” added Tristin Milazzo, a King’s junior and attendee of the lecture.

King’s has its own history with the coal mining industry. It originally aimed to educate the sons of coal miners and men returning from the war.

“While we may not have the coal mining industry now, it is still important to appreciate and understand those who worked so hard to create a better way of life for future generations despite the struggles. That is ultimately the purpose for the reality of King’s College,” explained Michael Boris, a King’s senior and attendee of the lecture.

The regional observance of Anthracite Mining Heritage Month will continue through to the end of the month. A list of the remaining events can be found at ahfdn.org. 

Mark Balik