Alaska Juneau Gold Mine strikers and riot, 1935

Collection

Identifier: PCA 391

Staff Only

Content Description

The eight Winter and Pond photographs show scenes from the Alaska Juneau Mine employees’ labor strike and subsequent riot, June 24, 1935. (The photographs may also be found in PCA 117, Nos. 146-155).

Dates

1935

Conditions Governing Access

The photos may be viewed, however the images may not be photocopied.

Biographical / Historical

In 1934 the Alaska Miner Workers Local No. 1 formed to give voice to the employees’ concerns over wage and working conditions. They first demanded one day per week off, and received that concession. On May 22, 1935, after four months of negotiations for better working conditions, the A.J. miners went on strike. On June 24, a riot broke out. Five people were hospitalized and 27 arrested after the melee was subdued with tear gas, fire hoses and clubs. The strike was ultimately unsuccessful. [From Hard Rock Gold, D. Stone, 1980, pp. 69, 70, and Earl Redman's “History of the Mines and Miners in the Juneau Gold Belt....,” 1988]