Jun 24, 2022
THE BATTLE OF HOMESTEAD FOUNDATION presented a book discussion of “The Bootleg Coal Rebellion: The Pennsylvania Miners Who Seized an Industry, 1925-1942” (PM Press) by labor historian Mitch Troutman interviewed by cultural anthropologist Maura Bainbridge, PhD. A detailed account of coal bootlegging in the Anthracite Region of Pennsylvania in the Prohibition/Depression decades when unemployed miners took over unused mines, asserting and defending a right to mine and market the coal to support their families. A direct descendant of bootleg coal miners, Troutman shared his research into a remarkable worker-led cooperative network that created a more just and efficient parallel energy economy. The video was Zoom-broadcast June 23, 2022. https://battleofhomestead.org/