A.A. Graham to Governor Henry J. Allen
Creator: Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-
Date: December 11, 1919
Attorney A.A. Graham writes Governor Henry Allen with a model for the proposed industrial court that expands the authority of the Public Utilities Commission. The governor has called a special session of the Kansas Legislature to end labor strikes and resolve industrial disputes.

A. A. Hamilton to Arthur Capper
Creator: Kansas. Governor (1915-1919: Capper)
Date: March 5, 1915
In this letter, A. A. Hamilton of Pittsburg, Crawford County, argues that Kansas does not need a child labor law. According to Hamilton, there should be limitations on the number of hours that children can work, but he does not see why able-bodied youth should be prevented from getting an after-school job. Attached to the letter is a clipping from the St. Louis Globe Democrat regarding child labor legislation. In 1915 the Industrial Welfare Act declared that minors could not be employed in any industry or occupation that may be detrimental to their welfare.

A.B. Campbell to Governor John Martin
Creator: Campbell, A. B.
Date: April 1, 1886
A.B. Campbell, Kansas Adjutant General, of Parsons, telegrams Kansas Governor John Martin, of Topeka, stating that another railroad engine has been killed and that he is leaving to investigate. This is in response to the local authority's request for National Guard troops during the railroad strike in the three state area.

A.B. Campbell to Governor John Martin
Creator: Campbell, A. B.
Date: April 9, 1886
Adjutant General Colonel A. B. Campbell of Parsons, Kansas, writes Kansas Governor John Martin of Topeka. He informs the governor that citizens are putting together a force of fifty special police to respond to striking railroad workers. Railroad employees at Parsons were striking and the governor granted permission to provide citizens with arms to keep the peace.

A.B. Campbell to Governor John Martin
Creator: Campbell, A. B.
Date: April 4, 1886
The Kansas adjutant general at Parsons sends a telegram to Governor John Martin of Topeka asking the governor for permission to furnish the mayor of Parsons with one hundred guns to preserve peace in the city. A strike of railroad workers on the Missouri Pacific Railroad at Parsons led company and city officials to ask the governor to arm citizens and for call out the militia.

About labor trusts
Creator: Martin, George W. (George Washington), 1841-1914
Date: June 6, 1900
A letter written by George W. Martin of Kansas, to Representative Chester I. Long in Washington, D.C., on labor trusts and their economic impact on the nation.

ACME mine volunteer personnel
Date: December 5, 1919
In this document, the names of 31 volunteers assigned to the Acme Mine are listed. Included is the date they arrived for work in Pittsburg, Kansas, and the date they reported to the mine for work. These volunteers were recruited from surrounding areas to replace mine workers who refused to return to work following state takeover. In November 1919, the Kansas supreme court granted authority to the state of Kansas to operate the mines. This followed a series of strikes in the area. Court appointed receivers were put in place to operate the mines during this period. The state takeover lasted until mid- December when labor leaders in the area agreed to return mine workers to their jobs.

A common-sense view of the anarchist case, with some points apparently unnoticed by others
Creator: Clemens, G. C. (Gaspar Christopher), 1849-1906
Date: 1890s
This pamphlet, apparently, was written by G. C. Clemens. It presents the populist perspective on events related to the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, Illinois, on May 4, 1886. It is dedicated to Gov. Oglesby of Illinois who commuted the sentences of two of the men convicted in the case from death to life terms. The original is fragile but most of the text is available. A few letters or a word may be missing from what were the inside margins of the item.

A. E. Gillett to Governor Henry J. Allen
Creator: Gillett, A.E.
Date: December 19, 1919
In this letter, Mayor A. E. Gillett of Bartlett, Kansas, writes to Kansas Governor Henry J. Allen, of Topeka, asking his assistance in getting a car load of coal for the schools. Following a series of coal strikes in southeast Kansas, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled in favor of the state securing and operating the coal mines for a period of time. Coal operations were delayed following seizure of the minefields. Volunteers were called in to complete mine operations after miners refused to return to work. The court appointed "receivers" to oversee all coal deliveries and payments during this period.

Agreement with the Lapland Exhibit Company
Creator: Bull, Niels
Date: May 17, 1893
This is an exclusive contract between Niels Bull, his wife Margarita Bull, their six year old son Morten Bull of Singsaas, Herred, Norway, and the Lapland Exhibit Company of Chicago, Illinois, by P. H. Coney, President and Superintendent, and Emil Arner, Vice-President and Manager. The Bull family agrees to work, exhibit, and perform in native costume at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, Illinois or elsewhere in the United States of American for the Lapland Exhibit Company. Their family pay rate was 12 kroners per day. The contract was canceled October 31, 1893. Patrick H. Coney, a Topeka native, was the Exposition's manager. Emil Arner may have been from Salina, Kansas. See also Kansas Memory item 227115.

A. H. Gufler to Governor Henry Allen
Creator: Gufler, A. H
Date: December 22, 1919
In this letter, grocer A. H. Gufler writes the governor about the dangers of "anti-profiteering." The governor has called for a special legislative session to address labor disputes and had received many letters on the matter. In this correspondence, Gufler includes an article published in Collier's Weekly that compares the working family in 1880 and 1921.

A history of the National Army of Rescue
Creator: Culverwell, James
Date: October, 1888
James Culverwell was a resident of Dentonia in Jewell County, Kansas. He was involved with organizing the Dentonia Union Labor Club, which was a predecessor to the Populist party. This pamphlet contains information about the activities of the Dentonia Union Labor Club as well as Culverwell's ideas concerning a National Army of Rescue. Culverwell wrote about his idea for an army to rescue the men imprisoned in Illinois for the Haymarket Massacre of 1886 if the membership of the group numbered "from one hundred thousand to five hundred thousand." The original paper was circulated and caused controversy in the county. This pamphlet contains Mr. Culverwell's accounts of these events.

A history of trade unions in Kansas
Creator: Karson, Marc
Date: March 1956
Marc Karson, Associate Professor of Political Science at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, wrote this history of trade unions in Kansas for the Kansas State Federation of Labor in March 1956.

Alexander Howat
Creator: Literary Digest
Date: December 31, 1921
A photograph of Alexander Howat, "czar of the Kansas coal fields" copied from Literary Digest. Howat was chiefly responsible for the organization of a powerful and aggressive union for coal workers in southeast Kansas. In 1919, during a general coal strike, Howat and District 14 stood firm in spite of pressure from Governor Henry Allen. This is probably one of the big reasons why Allen introduced the Kansas Industrial Court Law. Howat was bitterly opposed to the law and immediately set out to discredit it. District 14 pledged full support to their president. When he called a strike in defiance of the law, he was sent to jail in Girard, then in Columbus, and finally in Ottawa. The officers of the International United Mine Workers of America ordered him to call off his strike. He refused and thus in 1921 was expelled from the Union.

Alexander Howat interview
Creator: Topeka Journal
Date: April 12 - 14, 1921
In this series of articles, Alexander Howat, president of the Kansas miners, pleads the cause of organized labor and denounces the newly created Kansas Court of Industrial Relations in an interview with Topeka Journal staff reporters. The reporters were Wm Huggins, Jr, son of the current Court of Industrial Relations judge, and Mildred Reed, daughter of a former judge.

Allen and Gompers debate letters
Creator: Colliers Magazine
Date: November 27, 1920
In these letters submitted to the Colliers Magazine, Kansas Governor Henry Allen and Samuel Gompers, of the American Federation of Labor, continue the debate over the Kansas Court of Industrial Relations and workers' right to strike. The letters were written two months after the Allen-Gompers debate on the strike issue held in Carnegie Hall New York.

All industrial disputes affect the public
Date: June 11, 1921
This bulletin issued by the publicity committee of the printing crafts is part of a series of publications issued during the Topeka printers strike. The strike centered around a dispute over the forty-four hour week between trade union printers, employers, and a newly formed association of employed printers. Trade union printers and employers agreed that a newly proposed forty-four hour week would take effect on May 1, 1921. The new printers association did not agree to the forty-four hour week. This resulted in a dispute between the two groups of printers.

Altgeld's great speech
Creator: Altgeld, John P.
Date: 1898
A speech delivered by John P. Altgeld to the working men of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Labor Day, 1897. Altgeld's idea was that government ownership is the remedy for the nation's existing troubles.

Amazon army, near Pittsburg, Kansas
Creator: New York Times
Date: December 25, 1921
This newspaper clipping, from the New York Times, features a group of women gathered during a coal mine strike near Pittsburg, Kansas. Dubbed the "Amazon Army," the women marched through the coal fields carrying large American flags to show their support for better wages and improved working conditions for their family members who worked in the camps. The caption reads: "Women Raiders Invading a Mine. Near Pittsburg, Kan., forcing the workmen to drop their tools and kiss the American flag."

Amazon army, near Pittsburg, Kansas
Creator: New York Times
Date: December 25, 1921
This newspaper clipping, from the New York Times, features a group of women marching in protest during a coal mine strike in southeast Kansas. Dubbed the "Amazon Army," the women marched through the coal fields carrying infants and or American flags to show their support for better wages and improved working conditions for their family members who worked in the camps. The caption reads: "Section of the Army Amazons. In the Kansas coal fields, captained by a woman with a three month-old baby in arms."

Amazon army, near Pittsburg, Kansas
Creator: New York Times
Date: December 25, 1921
This newspaper clipping, from the New York Times, features a group of women marching in protest during a coal mine strike in southeast Kansas. Dubbed the" Amazon Army," the women marched through the coal fields carrying large American flags to show their support for better wages and improved working conditions for their family members who worked in the camps.

A. M. Fury to Governor Henry J. Allen
Creator: Fury, A.M.
Date: December 18, 1919
A. M. Fury of the Robinson Grain Company in Palco, Kansas, writes to Governor Henry Allen, of Topeka, requesting a car of threshing coal. At the time of this writing, Kansas communities had already been without coal for a number of weeks following a series of coal strikes. In November, 1919, the Kansas Supreme Court gave the state control of the coal fields. Governor Allen set up office in Pittsburg during this period. Volunteers were called in from surrounding areas to begin coal mining operations when the striking mine workers refused to return to work following the takeover.

A.M. Meyers to Governor Henry Allen
Creator: Meyers, A.M.
Date: December 31, 1919
In this letter, Meyers outlines ten items that he suggests would "fix" the proposed industrial court legislation. The legislation would have a tribunal decide on labor problems between employers and their employees.

An address to the employees of the Missouri Pacific Railway Co.
Creator: Hoxie, H.M.
Date: March 8, 1886
In this address, H.M. Hoxie, First Vice President of the Union Pacific Railway Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, informs the employees of events that have led up to the strike involving several railway systems throughout the country. On December 16, 1885, the United States Court took possession of the Texas and Pacific Railway making the employees of the railroad employees of the agents of the court. In March, 1886 these employees inaugurated a strike and the Knights of Labor notified superintendents of the railroads down the line that they would appoint and place their own watchmen to protect railroad property from loss and damage.

An analysis of the proposed right-to-work legislation
Creator: Kansas State Federation of Labor
Date: August 1954
In 1958, Kansas voters ratified the "right to work" amendment to the state constitution. The amendment stated, in part, that "No person shall be denied the opportunity to obtain or retain employment because of membership or non membership in any labor organization..." In this pamphlet, the Kansas State Federation of Labor argues that the purpose of the legislation was to limit the power of organized labor.