Tenancy, Organized Crime, and Labor Conflict in the Pennsylvania Hard Coal Industry, 1907- 1936

Drawing on his recently published book, Anthracite Labor Wars, Professor Wolensky will discuss the reorganization of mineral rights access in the Pennsylvania hard coal industry during the first third of the twentieth century, away from large coal companies towards small tenant operators, many of whom were organized crime-affiliated.  The transformation precipitated a thirty-year "labour war" between workers and owners.  He will also examine the implications of the study for the British coal mining industry, which is the focus of his Fulbright-funded research.