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Welcome to the Pennsylvania Labor History Society Website
Founded in 1973, the Pennsylvania Labor History Society (PLHS) focuses on documenting and commemorating the history of workingwomen and workingmen and their labor struggles in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. PLHS members are volunteers, including steelworkers, coal miners, postal workers, schoolteachers, social workers, factory operators, office workers, textile workers, hotel and motel workers, and students, all of whom share a love of labor history.
Latest Updates
47th Annual Conference and 150th Anniversary Commemoration of the Avondale Mine Disaster September 6, 7, 8, 2019
At the Anthracite Heritage Museum, Scranton
Friday, September 6th, 6:30 pm – 8 pm, Richard Healey, University of Portsmouth, England, “Anthracite Coal Breakers of the Avondale Era: An Overview of the Early Stereographic Record”
Saturday, September 7th, 9:30 – 11 am, William Jones, University of Cardiff, Wales, “The Welsh of Scranton during...Read More »
2018 Annual Awards Dinner
The PLHS 2018 Annual Banquet was held at the Letter Carrier’s Hall, 841 California Avenue, in Pittsburgh, PA on Friday, September 21, 2018. We were proud to recognize the following labor activists for their lifelong interest in preserving the history of working men and women and their commitment to advancing the interests of working...Read More »
2018 Pennsylvania Labor History Conference
The 2018 PLHS Conference was held September 22, 2018 at Community College of Allegheny College -Pittsburgh Campus. This year’s program was entitled ‘Vietnam: A Working Class War’ and featured panel discussions and presentations regarding Vietnam War activism and related topics. The goal of this program was to provide an opportunity...Read More »
A Bibliography of Labor History in Pennsylvania
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Pennsylvania was recognized as a national industrial leader. Dominant industries included Iron and Steel, Coal, Coke, Textiles, Garment, Lumber and Railroads. Immigrant workers comprised a large percentage of the Commonwealth’s industrial workforce as had slaves and indentured servants in an earlier era. While its...Read More »