In one of the first crises to strike Theodore Roosevelt's presidency, anthracite coal miners in eastern Pennsylvania refused to go to work until they received more pay for fewer hours and the recognition of their union, the United Mine Workers of America. The strike began on June 2, 1902, and Roosevelt worried about the effect it would have on U.S. cities if it dragged on to winter, when coal was essential for heating homes. In October of that year, Roosevelt ended the strike by appointing a commission to negotiate a settlement between the mineworkers and owners. This image depicts coal miners in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, going to work around 1905, about three years after the strike's end.
