Thanks to Bob Wolensky and Bode Morin for their
recent program “Episodes in Anthracite Labor History,” held at Scranton’s
Anthracite Heritage Museum, and for including my discussion of the “Molly
Maguires” in that program.
A belated thanks to the American Conference for
Irish Studies (ACIS) for including my presentation in programs for their national meetings at University College Cork in
2018 and Boston in 2019.
My upcoming presentations include the annual
meeting of the Pennsylvania Historical Association, hosted by Indiana
University of Pennsylvania. On October
19, 2019, I will present the paper “Pennsylvania’s ‘Molly Maguires’: Fact vs.
Fiction.”
At Scranton, thanks to Bob for his reference to
Adam Smith’s admonition on the perils of monopoly. Thanks to Lucia Dailey,
prior to the Scranton program, for recounting to me the details of the
commemoration of the anniversary of the Avondale Mine Disaster, where more than
one hundred mine workers perished from asphyxiation. Lucia’s recollection included this
quote from an attendant at the event: “They knew
how to live, and they knew how to die.”
Anne Flaherty
