LANGDON, Emma F., Mrs. (1875–1937)

[Unionism] The Cripple Creek Strike, 1903-1904

Victor, Colo. Copyrighted . . . by Mrs. Emma F. Langdon, 1904. First Edition. Decorative Cloth. True First Printing (Great Western Publishing Co. editions are reprints) with "unanimous endorsement of the Colorado State Federation of Labor" on p. [5]. Demy 8vo (198 x 150mm): [12],248pp, with tissue-guarded portrait frontispiece of Langdon, folding plate of United States Reduction and Refining Plant at Colorado City, and 48 further full- and partial-page plates (mostly views and portraits from photographs, including many union officers). Publisher's forest green pictorial cloth, upper cover decorated and lettered in gilt. A superb survival, binding fresh with bright gilt, pages and plates virtually pristine. Fine. Item #BB2750

Contemporary account of the Colorado Labor Wars, one of the bloodiest labor strikes that led to the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905. Dedicated to the Western Federation of Miners, who "have made a lawful, law-abiding and manly fight against the lawless, corrupt and un-American methods of those against whom they have a grievance." Emma Florence Langdon was a linotype operator, historian, and labor leader celebrated for her defense of press freedom during the Colorado labor wars. In 1903, she worked in the Cripple Creek mining district as an apprentice linotype operator alongside her husband and brother-in-law at the Victor Record, the only pro-union newspaper in Teller County. When the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) went on strike, in August, in support of Colorado City’s smelter workers, Langdon, a member of the Typographical Union, supported the decision. “They are brothers,” she later wrote. “We are both subjected to the same conditions. He is on strike today, I may be tomorrow. We both stand for the same—unionism.” In September, Governor James Peabody sent the National Guard to Cripple Creek under the command of Adjutant General Sherman Bell. The Mine Owners’ Association paid the guardsmen, “an unholy and dastardly contract” to “stamp out the life” of the WFM, Langdon called the arrangement. On September 20, Langdon reported, the military, serving as escort to nonunion workers, “charged upon the mass of men, women and children and herded them like wild beasts upon the sidewalks.” Before the year was over, with the strike still ongoing, Langdon started writing this history. The Cripple Creek Strike is a blend of history, eyewitness accounts, and advocacy. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).

Price: $649.00