The Michigan Massacre
The largest mass murder in the history of the state of Michigan is a truly horrific and unique tale. Nearly 7,000 miners went on strike in Calumet, Michigan. Their strike demands were simple: increased wages, no more child labor, and safer conditions (including support beams in the mines to prevent cave-ins). The response was a stalwart “NO” because support beams were expensive and dead miners “cost nothing.” The strike had been going on for six months by the time Christmas came around and the out-of-work families decided to have a massive, community Christmas party. 500 children and 200 adults ascended the long, steep staircase at the only entrance and packed in to the upstairs of the Calumet’s Italian Hall on Christmas Eve, 1913. As the party started to wind down late at night, the children gathered at the stage to receive what would surely be their only gift that year. Just then, a man described only as wearing Citizen’s Alliance
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