PRINTER'S NO. 989
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
144
Session of
2023
INTRODUCED BY STREET, FONTANA, DILLON, KEARNEY, TARTAGLIONE,
SANTARSIERO, ROBINSON, SCHWANK, HAYWOOD, COSTA, BREWSTER AND
CAPPELLETTI, JUNE 29, 2023
REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, JUNE 29, 2023
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing the 146th anniversary of the uprising of the miners
who became known as the "Molly Maguires."
WHEREAS, This Commonwealth was founded on the principles of
fairness and tolerance; and
WHEREAS, During the 19th century, many communities of coal
miners settled in several counties of northeastern Pennsylvania;
and
WHEREAS, The mines in northeastern Pennsylvania, like many
coal mines across the country, employed a high percentage of
immigrants from various countries, including Ireland, as
discrimination prevented them from acquiring less dangerous
work; and
WHEREAS, In response to a 20% cut in wages and horrendous
working conditions, the mine laborers decided to go on strike
and attempted to unionize; and
WHEREAS, From 1876 to 1878, several miners who were alleged
members of the Molly Maguires in Carbon, Columbia,
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Northumberland and Schuylkill Counties were tried, convicted and
sentenced to jail or hanged; and
WHEREAS, Agents and employees of the Philadelphia and Reading
Railroad, the Philadelphia and Reading Coal and Iron Company,
the Lehigh and Wilkes-Barre Coal and Iron Company and the Lehigh
Valley Railroad conducted the investigation, arrest and
prosecution of these individuals; and
WHEREAS, Special prosecuting attorneys who were on the
payrolls of railroad and mining companies were used, and jury
selection was conducted in a manner that ensured ethnic bigotry
and bias; and
WHEREAS, The trial judges were closely connected with the
railroad and mining companies that instigated the investigations
and trials; and
WHEREAS, Witnesses were intimidated to commit perjury against
the defendants, and entrapment was used to accumulate evidence;
and
WHEREAS, On a day which lives on in infamy known as the "Day
of the Rope," 20 Irishmen were ultimately hanged with little or
no evidence of their complicity in any crimes; and
WHEREAS, It has been shown that due process and
constitutional rights were lacking in the trials; and
WHEREAS, As a result of the trials, Barney Boyle, Kate Boyle,
Patrick Butler, John Campbell, Dennis Canning, Patrick Dolan,
Christopher Donnelly, Neil Dougherty, James Duffy, John Gibbons,
Bridget Hyland, Michael Lawler, Charles McAllister, Patrick
McKenna, Ned Monaghan, John Morris, Michael O'Brien, Patrick
O'Donnell, Francis O'Neil and John O'Neil were sentenced to
imprisonment; and
WHEREAS, James Boyle, Alexander Campbell, James Carroll, John
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Donahue, Michael J. Doyle, Thomas Duffy, Edward Kelly, Hugh
McGehan, Thomas Munley and James Roarity were hanged in 1877;
and
WHEREAS, Dennis Donnelly, Thomas Fisher, Patrick Hester, John
Kehoe, Peter McHugh and Patrick Tully were hanged in 1878; and
WHEREAS, Martin Bergin, James McDonnell, Peter McManus and
Charles Sharpe were hanged in 1879; and
WHEREAS, History does not question that coal miners were
treated menially and unfairly by coal mine owners, that miners
and owners struggled over the harsh working conditions and that
occasional crimes were committed by some members of the Molly
Maguires and by nonmembers against coal mine owners; and
WHEREAS, These events helped to pave the way for unions and,
more specifically, the United Mine Workers of America, to
galvanize and organize so that workers would benefit from safer
working conditions and more regulated pay and hours; and
WHEREAS, History also does not question the fundamental
unconstitutionality of the trials, since it is well documented
that a private corporation initiated the investigation through a
private, hired detective agency, a private police force arrested
the alleged offenders and coal company attorneys prosecuted
them; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Milton Shapp, former Governor of
Pennsylvania, pardoned the alleged leader of the Molly Maguires
in 1979 due to the rampant xenophobia and poor judicial
practices that irreparably tainted the trials; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize the 146th anniversary of
the uprising of the miners who became known as the "Molly
Maguires"; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize this important episode in
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the history of this Commonwealth and its relevance to the rights
of working men and women in the United States.
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