Rewriting Narratives of Labor Violence: A Transnational Perspective of the Lattimer Massacre

Diabolical Consumerism: Mass Psychology and Social Production between the Gilded and the Golden Ages

“…1-7;Susman 1984, p. 78;Shackel and Roller 2012;Roller 2013). At the same time, they have been left behind in a postindustrial landscape that has rendered their economic landscape obsolete.…”

“…The memory of the Lattimer Massacre operates, as Benjamin would situate it, as a dialectical image, a moment of arrested time that destabilizes or brings into relief the categories of the present (Buck-Morss 1989). Our examination of the 1897 event explores the dynamic materiality invested in class identities, tensions, and solidarities among the residents of the anthracite region in the late nineteenth century (Shackel and Roller 2012;Roller 2013). Within this temporal modality, the project interrogates social violence on a synchronic scale, through the particular experiences of a community at a particular moment in time.…”

“…In 2009, archaeologists from the University of Maryland began an investigation of the memory, historic and present, surrounding the 1897 event known as the Lattimer Massacre. In this tragic event, 19 immigrant coal miners were shot by a company-sponsored posse while striking for better working and living conditions in the anthracite region of Northeast Pennsylvania (Shackel et al 2011;Shackel and Roller 2012;Roller 2013). Today, anxieties of racialized tension echo the past amongst the descendent community of those early immigrant groups, this time in response to contemporary migrants from Latin America (Roller 2013).…”

“…Ultimately, the march ended in tragedy near the entrance to the town of Lattimer. The armed posse opened fire on the strikers while holding the second American flag, killing 19 and injuring more than 40 more (Pinkowski 1950;Novak 1996;Shackel and Roller 2012;Roller 2013).…”

“…In this tragic event, 19 immigrant coal miners were shot by a company-sponsored posse while striking for better working and living conditions in the anthracite region of Northeast Pennsylvania (Shackel et al 2011;Shackel and Roller 2012;Roller 2013). Today, anxieties of racialized tension echo the past amongst the descendent community of those early immigrant groups, this time in response to contemporary migrants from Latin America (Roller 2013). In assaying these issues, the project turned to an archaeological investigation of immigrant shanty towns of the region, confronting issues of structural violence and its responses throughout the twentieth century.…”