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This place, Southeast Kansas, with its proud ethnic mix and political
tumult, was built on a rich intense history involving coal mining. This
corner of the state was sometimes called the "Little Balkans" because
of the variety of nationalities, French, Swede, British, Italian,
German and Eastern European, who settled here to work in the areas
coalmines.
To unearth the history of Southeast Kansas, one needs only to mine the
myriad of stories from the colorful past of this region. One stirring
story is dedicated to the women who participated in a mass march in
December, 1921 where two to six thousand wives, daughters, mothers,
sisters, and sweethearts of striking miners marched in protest against
unfair labor practices and laws across the coalfields of Southeast
Kansas. They considered their cause one of conserving democratic values
rather than one of revolt.
The march made headlines across the state and the nation. This
large-scale involvement of women, christened the "Amazon Army" by the
New York Times set this demonstration apart from the labor unrest that
often disturbed the area.
The women’s actions echoed feelings of solidarity with male members of
the mining community and linked the miners struggle to American ideals
of justice and equality, which ultimately led to national social
reform. This spirited act linked men and women together in one of the
most dynamic pages in the history of American labor.
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