A Crusading Voice for the Mining West: How the Rosslond Evening World Served Militant Workers at the Turn of the 20th Century

The Rossland Evening World, a four-page daily dedicated to the mineworkers of British Columbia's bustling West Kootenay mining town of Rossland, first appeared on May Day 1901--just in time to do battle with local mine owners in the historic 1900-01 miners' strike. The World may have owed its existence in part to William 'Big Bill' Haywood, a founder of the militant Western Federation of Miners (wfm) and the Industrial Workers of the World. On visiting the town and the prospectors' camp in the 1890s, Haywood saw that Rossland would soon grow into a thriving Pacific Northwest mountain community with a steady increase in WFM membership. He encouraged the miners to form WFM Local 38, possibly the first WFM local in Canada, and soon a dozen Kootenay locals formed WFM District Association 6. A WFM grant followed to help launch the local and the new daily. Amid growing frustration with bad working conditions and mine owners' refusal to recognize the wfm, the World became a welcome sister to the WFM's Miners' Magazine, dedicating itself to 'the Interests of Organized Labor.' By the fall of 1900, the strike of 1,400 miners was on, and the World published news and analysis throughout the region. Ultimately the strike was lost, but the World carried on until 1904. As its legacy, it showed how a daily newspaper could help build community support and provide a defence for the local unionized workforce. Keywords: Rossland, Kootenay, mining, labour journalism, 1901 strike, shorter hours, Wobblies, Big Bill Haywood, Western Federation of Miners Le Rossland Evening World, un quotidien de quatre pages dedie aux mineurs de la ville miniere animee de West Kootenay, en Colombie-Britannique, est apparu pour la premiere fois le 1er mai 1901--juste a temps pour se battre avec les proprietaires de mines locaux dans la greve historique des mineurs de 1900-01. Le World doit peut-etre son existence en partie a William <> Haywood, un fondateur de la militante Western Federation of Miners (wfm) et de l'Industrial Workers of the World. En visitant la ville et le camp des prospecteurs dans les annees 1890, Haywood a vu que Rossland deviendrait bientot une communaute de montagne prospere du nord-ouest du Pacifique avec une augmentation constante du nombre de membres de WFM. Il a encourage les mineurs a former la section locale 38 de wfm, peut-etre la premiere section locale de WFM au Canada, et bientot une douzaine de sections locales de Kootenay ont forme l'association de district 6 de WFM. Une subvention de WFM a suivi pour aider a lancer la section locale et le nouveau quotidien. Au milieu de la frustration croissante face aux mauvaises conditions de travail et au refus des proprietaires de mines de reconnaitre le wfm, le World est devenu publication soeur bienvenue du Miners' Magazine du wfm, se consacrant aux << interets du travail organise >>. A l'automne 1900, la greve de 1 400 mineurs etait en cours et le World publiait des nouvelles et des analyses dans toute la region. En fin de compte, la greve a ete perdue, mais le World a continue jusqu'en 1904. En tant qu'heritage, il a montre comment un quotidien pouvait aider a renforcer le soutien de la communaute et a defendre la main-d'oeuvre locale syndiquee. Mots clefs : Rossland, Kootenay, industrie miniere, journalisme syndical, greve de 1901, reduction du temps de travail, Wobblies, Big Bill Haywood, Western Federation of Miners
'No political movement can be healthy unless it has its own press.' --James Weinstein, founder, In These Times THE ROSSLAND EVENING WORLD first appeared on May Day 1901 as a [...]