1917 Copper! WWI & the War on Labor from Butte to Bisbee
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Sunday, March 5, 2017, 4:00 pm until 5:45 pm Arizona History Museum 949 E. 2nd Street, Tucson, AZ 85719
Arizona History Museum
949 E. 2nd Street, Tucson, AZ 85719
Contact Mary Ann Ruelas at maruelas@azhs.gov or 520-617-1154.
March 5, 4-6 p.m. – 1917 WWI and the War on Labor: From the Butte Disaster to the Bisbee Deportation
Nearly 100 years ago, U.S. history changed dramatically as the Government entered the European War “to End All Wars,” April 1917. In the mine fields of the West, especially the copper mines of Montana and Arizona, another war was soon brewing. The most shocking underground disaster in US history occurred in early June asphyxiating 168 miners in North Butte, Montana. Agitation throughout Arizona’s mining communities culminated July 12, 2017 in the infamous deportation of 1186 miners out of Bisbee, Arizona.
This history is recreated by award-winning recording artist and social justice activist Charlie King in a performance piece featuring dramatic readings, songs and photos from the period with the colorful industrial Workers of the World (the “Wobblies”) pitted against the powerful Phelps Dodge Corporation. This adventurous story is filled with heroism in the face of horror; solidarity in the face of repression and violence; and it carries lessons of hope for our time.