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Working Class Rhetoric: An Exploration of The Mining Rhetoric of Southeast Kansas

Letter 1925, September 23 from H. W. Burr to Hearl Maxwell

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Poverty Reduction One of the ways in which union leaders helped to alleviate the financial woes of their members was to set up relief accounts. Within the Hearl Maxwell Collection, there are numerous letters from the various local union mining camps thanking the head office, District 14, for assistance in their difficult times. Help came in the in amounts as little as $7, but every dollar helped families get food or clothing. It is worth remembering that this money was collected and disbursed by members and union officials during a difficult economic time for coal miners.

In one particular case from the summer of 1925, UMWA Local 2397, of which Hearl Maxwell was an officer, they gave aid to a local in Henryetta, OK in the amount of $146.50. The very next week, Local 2397 had to ask for assistance from District 14 headquarters. This initial request was denied, due to other locals being in much more dire circumstances, but just a few months later, Local 2397 received aid in the amount of $75.

Over the time period that the Hearl Maxwell Collection covers, mention of the union dropped while mention of poverty and families rose.

Poverty reduction was a prominent issue for union miners in the 1920s. While the economic conditions made it difficult to control the financial woes, the UMWA leadership and its members did everything in their power, including sharing their last dime, to ensure that no one person or family went without in their times of need. That is why the miners of Southeast Kansas believed so fiercely in the brotherhood of unionship and why they fought so hard for reforms.