COLLECTION NAME:
Colorado Coal Project
mediaCollectionId
UCBOULDERCB1~76~76
Colorado Coal Project
Collection
true
Collection Name:
Colorado Coal Project
collection_name
Colorado Coal Project
Collection Name
false
Title:
1978 interview with Mike Livoda (part 1 of 3)
title
1978 interview with Mike Livoda (part 1 of 3)
Title
false
Creator:
Margolis, Eric, 1947-
creator
Margolis, Eric, 1947-
Creator
false
Creator URI:
creator_uri
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00101170
Creator URI
false
Creator:
McMahan, Ronald L.
creator
McMahan, Ronald L.
Creator
false
Creator URI:
creator_uri
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no94033808
Creator URI
false
Subject:
Coal Strike (Colorado : 1913-1914)
subject
Coal Strike (Colorado : 1913-1914)
Subject
false
Subject URI:
subject_uri
http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1404237
Subject URI
false
Subject:
Labor disputes--Colorado
subject
Labor disputes--Colorado
Subject
false
Subject:
Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining--Colorado
subject
Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining--Colorado
Subject
false
Subject URI:
subject_uri
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85128770
Subject URI
false
Subject:
United Mine Workers of America
subject
United Mine Workers of America
Subject
false
Subject URI:
subject_uri
http://id.worldcat.org/fast/515758
Subject URI
false
Subject:
Coal miners--Personal narratives
subject
Coal miners--Personal narratives
Subject
false
Subject:
Coal mines and mining
subject
Coal mines and mining
Subject
false
Subject URI:
subject_uri
http://id.worldcat.org/fast/865355
Subject URI
false
Subject:
Coal mines and mining--Colorado--Huerfano County
subject
Coal mines and mining--Colorado--Huerfano County
Subject
false
Subject:
Coal mines and mining--Colorado--Las Animas County
subject
Coal mines and mining--Colorado--Las Animas County
Subject
false
Subject:
Interviews
subject
Interviews
Subject
false
Subject URI:
subject_uri
http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1423832
Subject URI
false
Description:
00:05:00 -- Mike Livoda's work during the Depression as supervisor of Colorado CCC camps; 00:10:00 -- Mike reads the 1913 strike call and discusses the miners' demands; 00:15:00 -- Livoda describes societal attitudes and the union's strike strategy; 00:20:00 -- September 1913: preparation and start of the strike, in Ludlow and Trinidad; 00:25:00 -- Sheriff Farr, coal companies, and state gov't. respond to the strike; 00:30:00 -- Anti-strike tactics: the "death special" armored car, the state militia; 00:35:00 -- Names from the strike: Linderfeldt, Hamrock, Mother Jones, Don MacGregor; 00:40:00 -- Defending Ludlow and Forbes, news reports from MacGregor, 00:45:00 -- Attack on Forbes tent colony, the Ludlow massacre begins; 00:50:00 -- Strikers respond to the massacre, Federal troops arrive; 00:55:00 -- Local and national outrage over the Ludlow massacre; 00:57:38 -- Mike summarizes his organizing and strike efforts; End.
description
00:05:00 -- Mike Livoda's work during the Depression as supervisor of Colorado CCC camps; 00:10:00 -- Mike reads the 1913 strike call and discusses the miners' demands; 00:15:00 -- Livoda describes societal attitudes and the union's strike strategy; 00:20:00 -- September 1913: preparation and start of the strike, in Ludlow and Trinidad; 00:25:00 -- Sheriff Farr, coal companies, and state gov't. respond to the strike; 00:30:00 -- Anti-strike tactics: the "death special" armored car, the state militia; 00:35:00 -- Names from the strike: Linderfeldt, Hamrock, Mother Jones, Don MacGregor; 00:40:00 -- Defending Ludlow and Forbes, news reports from MacGregor, 00:45:00 -- Attack on Forbes tent colony, the Ludlow massacre begins; 00:50:00 -- Strikers respond to the massacre, Federal troops arrive; 00:55:00 -- Local and national outrage over the Ludlow massacre; 00:57:38 -- Mike summarizes his organizing and strike efforts; End.
Description
false
Description Type:
timeline
description_type
timeline
Description Type
false
Description:
In the 1930s, Mike Livoda received an offer to work as superintendent of camps at Walden and Moffat County: these were Dept. of the Interior camps, with CCC men. They cut telephone poles and installed phone lines for ~36 miles from Baggs to Powderwash. Work began during the Depression, until WWII started. (The interviewers provide background and explain their process for these interviews. They want to improve their soundtrack and to settle some questions.) Livoda reads aloud the 1913 strike call with its list of demands. The operators refused to meet with miners or to reply to their demands. Mike saw the companies' attitudes as part of a larger societal attitude, that workers were like slaves. He praises FDR. Mike was not on the union's policy committee; he was vice-president of the district, elected during the strike. The union committee wrote to operators before the 1913 strike, making a last offer to keep working. [scratchy audio ] Three major companies were involved: Rocky Mountain Fuel, Victor American Fuel, and Colorado Fuel & Iron. The strike could've been prevented, but the companies refused to meet with the miners. 80-year-old Mother Jones spoke to the miners on 15 Sept. 1913 in Trinidad, urging them to support the union and strike if needed. On 23 Sept. 1913, Mike Livoda and John Lawson went to Ludlow. People were moving into the tent colony, and it was snowing "to beat the devil". The railroad failed to deliver tents that had been ordered, and families had no way to cover their belongings. The union eventually supplied one 40 x 70 ft. tent. 1200-1500 people came to Ludlow from company housing. There were also tent colonies at: Aguilar, Walsenburg, Sopris, Forbes, and Trinidad (after Ludlow was destroyed). Sheriff Jeff Farr swore in more deputies, including company men brought in from West Virginia. Farr claimed to be "king of the county". Livoda was beaten up and shot at, before the strike. The company paid for extra deputies. [scratchy audio] There wasn't a valid election for sheriff, according to evidence before Congressional investigators. Livoda claims that Republican candidates in the county were in cahoots with the coal companies. Farr died about a year after the strike, in Walsenburg. Miners and the union bought their guns. [scratchy audio] Companies wanted Colorado Gov. Ammons to send in the state militia, in order to reduce their expenses: the former company guards became militia members. Mike describes the "death special", an armored car used to terrorize the tent colony. A boy at Forbes was shot and killed by them. On 28 Oct. 1913, the militia were sent in by the Colorado governor. When the strike dragged on,"regular" militia members were mustered out and replaced by former company guards. Gen. Chase was in charge of the militia. Mike declares "Linderfeldt was the biggest murderer that ever lived!" Linderfeldt was a former company guard; Pat Hamrock in charge of the strike. In Jan. 1914 occurred the women's march in Trinidad, with Mother Jones confined to the hospital. Livoda was on the post office steps, when he saw the mounted militia ride into the women marchers. [scratchy audio]; Reporter Don MacGregor was killed in Mexico. Mike describes their attempts to defend the tent colony at Ludlow from the militia. Don (from the Denver Express) wrote fair reports, unlike the Rocky Mountain News or the Denver Post, Chronicle News, and the Picket Wire reporters. On 20 March 1914, the Forbes colony tents were burned. Strikebreakers had come to Forbes, trying to work. After a clash with striking miners, the strikebreakers burned the tents. Survivors had to move into Trinidad. Mike Livoda describes the efforts on 20 April 1914 of Louis Tikas, a union supporter. Most miners then were foreign-born; Tikas kept the Greeks together during the strike. He was at Ludlow during destruction of the tents and tried to negotiate an end to hostilities. Tikas approached the militia line, was struck over the head with a gun, by Linderfeldt, and died. During the 20 April 1914, Livoda and Lawson were in Trinidad, when they got a phone message about the Ludlow massacre. They drove toward Suffield and got ~27 guns ready to defend the miners' colony. At that time, there were only ~4 autos in the entire county. About 400 non-miners from Trinidad arrived on a Denver & Rio Grande train going to Ludlow. They gathered around Black Hills. [They view a Forbes mine photo.] Later, on 22 April 1914 -- before federal troops arrived -- about 250 men walked from Trinidad to Forbes. A company stooge had informed the company; strikebreakers were working in the mines, and strikers destroyed some of the company houses. Strikers also went to Primero. Two women and 11 children in the "death hole" at Ludlow were trying to avoid the militia. Men came from Trinidad in angry response, and there was local and national outrage at the deaths of these innocents. Mike felt that workers not treated as humans, before FDR. When recruiting in mining camps, he never came out the same way as he went in. Livoda feels that union members today don't know the sacrifices made by earlier strikers. He declares, "The coal miners' struggle was the struggle of all the working people of this country."
description
In the 1930s, Mike Livoda received an offer to work as superintendent of camps at Walden and Moffat County: these were Dept. of the Interior camps, with CCC men. They cut telephone poles and installed phone lines for ~36 miles from Baggs to Powderwash. Work began during the Depression, until WWII started. (The interviewers provide background and explain their process for these interviews. They want to improve their soundtrack and to settle some questions.) Livoda reads aloud the 1913 strike call with its list of demands. The operators refused to meet with miners or to reply to their demands. Mike saw the companies' attitudes as part of a larger societal attitude, that workers were like slaves. He praises FDR. Mike was not on the union's policy committee; he was vice-president of the district, elected during the strike. The union committee wrote to operators before the 1913 strike, making a last offer to keep working. [scratchy audio ] Three major companies were involved: Rocky Mountain Fuel, Victor American Fuel, and Colorado Fuel & Iron. The strike could've been prevented, but the companies refused to meet with the miners. 80-year-old Mother Jones spoke to the miners on 15 Sept. 1913 in Trinidad, urging them to support the union and strike if needed. On 23 Sept. 1913, Mike Livoda and John Lawson went to Ludlow. People were moving into the tent colony, and it was snowing "to beat the devil". The railroad failed to deliver tents that had been ordered, and families had no way to cover their belongings. The union eventually supplied one 40 x 70 ft. tent. 1200-1500 people came to Ludlow from company housing. There were also tent colonies at: Aguilar, Walsenburg, Sopris, Forbes, and Trinidad (after Ludlow was destroyed). Sheriff Jeff Farr swore in more deputies, including company men brought in from West Virginia. Farr claimed to be "king of the county". Livoda was beaten up and shot at, before the strike. The company paid for extra deputies. [scratchy audio] There wasn't a valid election for sheriff, according to evidence before Congressional investigators. Livoda claims that Republican candidates in the county were in cahoots with the coal companies. Farr died about a year after the strike, in Walsenburg. Miners and the union bought their guns. [scratchy audio] Companies wanted Colorado Gov. Ammons to send in the state militia, in order to reduce their expenses: the former company guards became militia members. Mike describes the "death special", an armored car used to terrorize the tent colony. A boy at Forbes was shot and killed by them. On 28 Oct. 1913, the militia were sent in by the Colorado governor. When the strike dragged on,"regular" militia members were mustered out and replaced by former company guards. Gen. Chase was in charge of the militia. Mike declares "Linderfeldt was the biggest murderer that ever lived!" Linderfeldt was a former company guard; Pat Hamrock in charge of the strike. In Jan. 1914 occurred the women's march in Trinidad, with Mother Jones confined to the hospital. Livoda was on the post office steps, when he saw the mounted militia ride into the women marchers. [scratchy audio]; Reporter Don MacGregor was killed in Mexico. Mike describes their attempts to defend the tent colony at Ludlow from the militia. Don (from the Denver Express) wrote fair reports, unlike the Rocky Mountain News or the Denver Post, Chronicle News, and the Picket Wire reporters. On 20 March 1914, the Forbes colony tents were burned. Strikebreakers had come to Forbes, trying to work. After a clash with striking miners, the strikebreakers burned the tents. Survivors had to move into Trinidad. Mike Livoda describes the efforts on 20 April 1914 of Louis Tikas, a union supporter. Most miners then were foreign-born; Tikas kept the Greeks together during the strike. He was at Ludlow during destruction of the tents and tried to negotiate an end to hostilities. Tikas approached the militia line, was struck over the head with a gun, by Linderfeldt, and died. During the 20 April 1914, Livoda and Lawson were in Trinidad, when they got a phone message about the Ludlow massacre. They drove toward Suffield and got ~27 guns ready to defend the miners' colony. At that time, there were only ~4 autos in the entire county. About 400 non-miners from Trinidad arrived on a Denver & Rio Grande train going to Ludlow. They gathered around Black Hills. [They view a Forbes mine photo.] Later, on 22 April 1914 -- before federal troops arrived -- about 250 men walked from Trinidad to Forbes. A company stooge had informed the company; strikebreakers were working in the mines, and strikers destroyed some of the company houses. Strikers also went to Primero. Two women and 11 children in the "death hole" at Ludlow were trying to avoid the militia. Men came from Trinidad in angry response, and there was local and national outrage at the deaths of these innocents. Mike felt that workers not treated as humans, before FDR. When recruiting in mining camps, he never came out the same way as he went in. Livoda feels that union members today don't know the sacrifices made by earlier strikers. He declares, "The coal miners' struggle was the struggle of all the working people of this country."
Description
false
Description Type:
summary
description_type
summary
Description Type
false
Publisher:
University of Colorado Boulder Archives
publisher
University of Colorado Boulder Archives
Publisher
false
Contributor:
Livoda, Mike, 1886-1984
contributor
Livoda, Mike, 1886-1984
Contributor
false
Date:
1978-06-01
date
1978-06-01
Date
false
Type:
Audio
type
Audio
Type
false
Format:
audio/mp3
format
audio/mp3
Format
false
Identifier:
15-95A Livoda.mp3
identifier
15-95A Livoda.mp3
Identifier
false
Identifier ARK:
identifier_ark
https://ark.colorado.edu/ark:/47540/7c2f3358s5z2
Identifier ARK
false
Language:
English
language
English
Language
false
Relation:
Title: Interview with Mike Livoda (part 3 of 4), including his wife, Kate
relation
Title: Interview with Mike Livoda (part 3 of 4), including his wife, Kate
Relation
false
Relation Type:
isFormatOf
relation_type
isFormatOf
Relation Type
false
Relation href:
relation_href
https://ark.colorado.edu/ark:/47540/q6406299s277
Relation href
false
Relation:
Title: 1978 interview with Mike Livoda (part 3 of 3)
relation
Title: 1978 interview with Mike Livoda (part 3 of 3)
Relation
false
Relation Type:
isPartOf
relation_type
isPartOf
Relation Type
false
Relation href:
relation_href
https://ark.colorado.edu/ark:/47540/j10t9j68z01r
Relation href
false
Relation:
Title: 1978 interview with Mike Livoda (part 2 of 3)
relation
Title: 1978 interview with Mike Livoda (part 2 of 3)
Relation
false
Relation Type:
isPartOf
relation_type
isPartOf
Relation Type
false
Coverage (Spatial):
Huerfano County (Colorado, United States, North America) (civil)
coverage__spatial_
Huerfano County (Colorado, United States, North America) (civil)
Coverage (Spatial)
false
Coverage (Temporal):
1907/1978
coverage__temporal_
1907/1978
Coverage (Temporal)
false
Coverage (Spatial):
Las Animas County (Colorado, United States, North America) (civil)
coverage__spatial_
Las Animas County (Colorado, United States, North America) (civil)
Coverage (Spatial)
false