15th Jul, 2025 11:00
Photographs, Optical Toys & Science
Magic Lantern Slides, Ludlow Massacre & Canadian Miners Strike
Pine box containing 49 magic lantern slides relating to the Ludlow Massacre and Canadian Miners Strikes, the slides mounted with black tape and red labels for 'RAE Makers Glasgow'
The Ludlow Massacre.
In 1914, the Ludlow Massacre became one of the darkest chapters in American labor history. It happened in Colorado, where coal miners—mostly immigrants—were striking against the Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel & Iron Company. They wanted better pay, safer conditions, and the right to live outside company-run towns.
The company wasn’t having it. Miners and their families were kicked out of their homes and set up camp near Ludlow. Tensions rose, and on April 20th, the Colorado National Guard and company guards attacked the tent colony. A fire broke out during the chaos, killing two women and eleven children who were hiding in a pit under a tent.
News of the tragedy spread fast, sparking nationwide outrage. Strikes and protests followed. It didn’t bring immediate change, but Ludlow stuck in the public memory and helped push labor reform in the years that followed.
Sold for £725
Result including buyers premium
Pine box containing 49 magic lantern slides relating to the Ludlow Massacre and Canadian Miners Strikes, the slides mounted with black tape and red labels for 'RAE Makers Glasgow'
The Ludlow Massacre.
In 1914, the Ludlow Massacre became one of the darkest chapters in American labor history. It happened in Colorado, where coal miners—mostly immigrants—were striking against the Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel & Iron Company. They wanted better pay, safer conditions, and the right to live outside company-run towns.
The company wasn’t having it. Miners and their families were kicked out of their homes and set up camp near Ludlow. Tensions rose, and on April 20th, the Colorado National Guard and company guards attacked the tent colony. A fire broke out during the chaos, killing two women and eleven children who were hiding in a pit under a tent.
News of the tragedy spread fast, sparking nationwide outrage. Strikes and protests followed. It didn’t bring immediate change, but Ludlow stuck in the public memory and helped push labor reform in the years that followed.
Auction: Photographs, Optical Toys & Science, 15th Jul, 2025
