Talk:Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894

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An entry from Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894 appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 7 July 2006.

Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894 was a good article candidate, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. Once the objections listed below are addressed, the article can be renominated. You may also seek a review of the decision if you feel there was a mistake. Date of review: July 24, 2006

Contents 1 Good Article nomination 2 Colorized photo? 3 Removed external link 4 GA status 5 LabourProject Assessment

[edit] Good Article nomination

Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894 is a current Good Article nominee. The only problem I have with the article, is that many of its links are to nonexistent articles (red links). Other than that, I see absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be a good article, and some day even featured.

In fact, I accidentally relisted it on the nomination page for good articles; I didn't notice another user had already nominated a day before me! So, looks like I'm not alone on this feeling. ♠ SG →Talk 05:31, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

I think there is too much red at the moment for a Good Article Lurker 11:20, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Colorized photo?

That looks like a colorized photo. Can we collapse it back down to black and white and mention that the greyscale might be alterred?? It seems... fake. -- 67.121.112.48 07:57, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

You're right: It is colorized. A hand-colored stereopticon image from 1900. Prior to the advent of color film, hand-colored images were quite common keepsakes. See the [description of the image] for more information. Tim1965 22:50, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removed external link

I removed the external link * [http://www.iww.org/unions/dept200/iu210 I.W.W Metal Mine Workers Industrial Union 210 because there is nothing on the page which indicates it has any relationship to the article. Is MMIUW 210 the successor union to Free Coinage Union Local No. 19? Does MMIUW 210 now represent workers at the Cripple Creek mines? There's nothing which indicates MMIUW 210 has anything to do with the Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894, and the page contains no history or informatin about the 1894 strike. Rather, the link appears to be just an ad for an IWW local. Unless there's a change on the page or additional information, I think the link should come down. Tim1965 21:34, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] GA status

I'm afraid I don't share the views of User:SG and User:Lurker about this article, although the references are plentiful, (Though im not certain what "Holbrook, Suggs, and Philpott are, books maybe? Authors?) the article seems, well, riddled with a whole bunch of pro-miner POV statements everywhere. It's not that im the ressurected form of the mine owners come to seek my revenge or anything weird like that, but im afraid I just can't ignore so many of the parts of the article which just plain aren't NPOV, i'll list some below. Also, the lead seems too short, perhaps insert another paragraph concerning the impact of the strike or go into a few more details on the events, because there's lots of information in the article.

As for examples of the non-NPOV language, the intro states that it was a "successful strike" without defining how a strike even becomes successful or who's perspective it was successful in, "The price of silver crashed, and the silver mining industry was hit hard" sounds more like a History Channel special, that is, it's too dramatic, "Desperate to keep their jobs, gold miners worked longer....." starts with an unreferenced generalization which may not of been universally true, "etc. etc. etc. decided to take advantage of the economic dislocations caused by the depression." is pretty bad looking there, for all anyone here knows, their business could of had hidden internal difficulties that required more efficient gold mining, (Though I doubt that's likely, but still.) "Unfazed, the miners impozed...." who said they were unfazed? The article doesn't say, and they may of just been giving the outward impression of not being fazed, "The strikebreakers were so intimidated that few of them reported for work" sounds like another generalization, (though it's referenced this time) which might not of applied to all workers somehow, and the list of this sort of thing goes on and on and on. A good script for a History Channel special, lots of drama, but not good for a Wikipedia article. I suspect one of the problems is that alot of these statements use the same reference over and over again if at all, remember, just because you've referenced something doesn't mean it's NPOV, the source needs to be mentioned, especially when you only seem to be using 2 or 3 things. Homestarmy 03:05, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Suggs authored a book, "Colorado's War On Militant Unionism".

The POV issue relating to strikes is tricky, because labor initiates strikes, and many of the folks who write about strikes are at least somewhat sympathetic to labor, while corporations prefer to publicly ignore strikes and/or pretend they never happened. To be sure, management will facilitate the study of strikes in business school. But it is presented within the context of preventing, dealing with, or winning strikes as part of their management training.

To what extent should labor historians try to publicly balance labor history, when the companies don't want to talk about it? PR can work both ways for the companies. When Rockefeller's CF&I corporation in Pueblo was confronted with the Ludlow Massacre in 1914, they created a PR department (first of its kind) to deal with the damage. They didn't have much choice; Ludlow was a PR disaster. After CF&I went out of business and its archives were opened to the historical community, what came out was information about how that same company had infiltrated, spied upon, attempted to sabotage and provoke the union during a strike in 1927. Perhaps we should not be surprised that labor wants the history between capital and labor told, while business owners and managers generally would like the history to just go away. Thus, the business community has established a great deal of influence over local and state school boards, and over the school textbook selection process.

So, books by labor historians typically tell the history of strikes and labor disputes, with considerable input from labor sources. They are good, but do not achieve wide circulation. It is obviously not Wikipedia's fault, but we should consider that there is already a very significant level of anti-labor bias in the typical presentation of labor history in our schools over the past century or so. Many school textbooks (which are used to teach our children) either ignore labor history, or generalize about unions from a business point of view.

In its ability to reach the public and present significant labor history, Wikipedia represents a departure from the past. As such, we should all strive to insure that the history is NPOV, but also that we are free to present the truth. User:Richard Myers

[edit] LabourProject Assessment

Probably of Mid-Level importance, because it caused the backlash which forced the WFM out of the AFL, and to form the IWW—one of the most important labor unions in U.S. history. As a strike, therefore, of national importance, that pushes it above low-level status. Tim1965 02:35, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Disagree with one point. It was the strike of 1903-1905 which caused the WFM to form the IWW. That strike is dealt with on the Western Federation of Miners page, but should have a page of its own because there is so much significant history relating to that strike (including the governor's campaign to destroy the WFM, which resulted in much killing of striking and non-striking miners, and an assault by the national guard on the WFM union hall in Victor.) Richard Myers

Cripple Creek strike of 1903-05 now has an article of its own, Colorado Labor Wars — Richard Myers 22:55, 29 March 2007 (UTC)