PRINTER'S NO. 1066
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
163
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY STREET, BROWNE, FONTANA, FARNESE, DINNIMAN,
GREENLEAF, YUDICHAK, SABATINA, KILLION AND RAFFERTY,
JUNE 29, 2017
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, JUNE 29, 2017
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing the 140th anniversary of the uprising of the miners
who became known as the "Molly Maguires."
WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was founded on the
principles of fairness and tolerance; and
WHEREAS, During this time, many communities of coal miners
settled in several counties of northeastern Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, These mines, 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 alleged members of the
Molly Maguires in Carbon, Columbia, Northumberland and
Schuylkill Counties were tried, convicted and sentenced to jail
or hanged; and
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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 these trials; and
WHEREAS, As a result of these 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
Donahue, Michael J. Doyle, Thomas Duffy, Edward Kelly, Hugh
McGehan, Thomas Munley and James Roarity were hanged in 1877;
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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 the
Commonwealth 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 140th 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
Pennsylvania history and its relevance to the rights of working
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men and women in the United States.
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