2010 Vol. 2 No. 2 — Summer / Features

Big Mary and the Slavic Miners’ Battle with King Coal

The coal patch town of Lattimer, Pennsylvania was the scene of one of the most deadly attacks by the coal companies against the defenseless miners and their families. Vince Chesney tells this story with special tribute to “Big Mary” Steptak, an immigrant whose eloquent oratory in several Slavic languages united the miners in their struggle for basic rights.