Alexander Howat vs John L. Lewis
Alexander Howat was the president of District 14 of the United Mine Workers of America during the time period covered by the Hearl Maxwell Collection. He fought against the Court of Industrial Relations, which removed the miners' right to strike, picket, and boycott.
The need for reform was great for coal miners in the 1920s. They fought hard against coal operators and state officials friendly to mine owners rather than the workers. But the “Us vs. Them” mentality this battle fostered was not just to external threats, but internally as well.
Alexander Howat was an outspoken leader in the UMWA in the 1910s through to his expulsion in 1923, at the hands of his bitter adversary John L. Lewis, national president of the UMWA from 1920-1960. The main source of contention between the two combatants seems to be that Howat was a mastermind behind wildcat strikes, unsanctioned by the national offices, throughout Kansas. Lewis saw this as a serious breach of the national charter that every local union agreed to; so, the president had Howat, the local and regional union leadership and all members thrown out of the UMWA.
Howat saw his actions as noble, since he was leading miners against the oppressive Kansas Industrial Relations Act, which punished unions that went on strike and favored coal mine owners. The dispute between the two men came to a head at the national convention, where the majority sided with Lewis, though Howat was re-elected as a representative for the following year.
Over the course of 1922, the union leadership was reinstituted in Kansas, and coal miners affected by the struggle between the two men gradually gained readmittance into the union and went back to work. However, the bad blood between Alexander Howat and John L. Lewis never went away. By 1923, Howat had caused too much trouble, placing the entire UMWA at risk, so he was expelled from the union forever. Over the years, union leaders and members, who had originally been the home base and fiercest supporters of Howat, changed allegiances to both Lewis and the UMWA.
