Army of Amazons: Women’s Fight for Labor Rights in Kansas Coalfields
presented by Linda O’Nelio Knoll
87th Annual Meeting of the Members of the Franklin County Historical Society
Sunday, February 4, 2024, 2 p.m.
In Person: FCHS Archives & Research Center, 2011 E Logan St, Ottawa, KS 66067
Online: Zoom or Facebook Live
In December 1921, thousands of women in southeast Kansas rose up to fight injustice in the area coalfields. These women were immigrants from Eastern European nations as well as Kansas born. After a months-long strike by the coalminers, the women joined the cause. In the short term, their efforts crippled mine production for nearly a month; in the longer term, their continued activism impacted future statewide elections and national legislation. This talk will share the stories of these women, dubbed the “Amazon Army” by The New York Times, and their fight for democracy and labor rights in Kansas’s coalfields.
Linda O’Nelio Knoll’s presentation, “Army of Amazons: Women’s Fight for Labor Rights in Kansas Coalfields,” is the featured program during the 87th Annual Meeting of the Members of the Franklin County Historical Society on Sunday, February 4, 2024. The meeting will open at 2 p.m. with a review of 2023 and preview of 2024, with a short intermission before our featured speaker’s presentation, which will begin at approximately 2:30 pm.
Linda O’Nelio Knoll is an educator, author, and historian who researches local history in southeast Kansas. She assisted with the development of the Miners Memorial in Pittsburg and the Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, Kansas.
“Army of Amazons: Women’s Fight for Labor Rights in Kansas Coalfields” is part of Humanities Kansas’s Speakers Bureau and “21st Century Civics,” a collection of resources that invite Kansans to participate in community discussions and learn more about the history of American democracy and the shared responsibilities of citizenship. “21st Century Civics” is made possible with support from “A More Perfect Union: America at 250,” an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This event is free and open to the public. Join the 87th Annual Meeting in person at the FCHS Archives & Research Center or online via Zoom (registration required) or Facebook Live (no registration required). For more information, call 785-242-1232 or e-mail Diana Staresinic-Deane.
