Christmas Eve, 1913: The Upper Peninsula's Italian Hall disaster

Until I visited Michigan's Upper Peninsula this summer, I hadn't heard of the Italian Hall disaster of Christmas Eve, 1913.

In July of that year, newly unionized miners in Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula called a strike. They had a number of issues with the various mining companies, the largest of which was Calumet & Hecla. Their foremost grievance was the insistence of management for the use of a one-man drill instead of a two-man unit. Of course that meant fewer workers, but there is more to it than that. Mining in the Upper Peninsula was often a family affair, and the duos using drills were often family members--or part of the same ethnic group.

As for the mining companies, they faced serious cost concerns because of competition from cheaper-to-operate mines in Arizona and Montana.

The Western Federation of Miners, which represented the miners of Copper Country, held a Christmas Party at the Italian Hall in Calumet (then known as Red Jacket). But Christmas cheer turned into a nightmare. Over 500 people packed a second story auditorium. Someone shouted "Fire," there were no flames--but plenty of panic. In a situation somewhat similar to the more recent E2 nightclub disaster in Chicago, people were trapped on the stairway--73 people, most of them children between the ages of 6 and 10, died. The victims either suffocated or were trampled to death.

No one knows who shouted "Fire," but blame quickly was placed on management and an anti-union group called the Citizens Alliance. In his song "1913 Massacre," Woody Guthrie blamed a "copper boss thug" and claimed the thugs blocked the exit door. That didn't happen.

By April, the strikers gave up--the union was busted.

The Italian Hall stood abandoned for years and was demolished in 1984. All that is left is the arch from that unhappy structure.

1913--not a merry Christmas in Copper Country.

Related posts:

Upper Peninsula Upventure: The Finale
Keweenaw National Historical Park, Calumet
Calumet, Michigan's St. John the Baptist Church
Calumet, Michigan's St. Paul the Apostle Church
Calumet, Michigan's St. Anne's Church
A brief history of copper mining