The Carbon County Historical Society met on Thursday evening for its March meeting. During the meeting, members welcomed Leland Gotfredson, who presented “The Union Comes to Carbon County.” He showed a presentation his children presented for the history fair in 1986 with the same title.
Gotfredson, Director of the Family History Library, is very knowledgable about mine history. He moved to Carbon County in January of 1971 and began working as an underground miner for the US Fuel Company in Hiawatha. Gotfredson reflected on the beginning of his work in the area, stating that he took notice on the diverse last names.
He stated that Carbon County is great because of the diversity and that he does not know of another place, especially in rural Utah, where so many different nationalities could be found. Gotfredson then asked the crowd, why did the Italians, the Greeks and others come here? For the mines.
However, Gotfredson did explain that in the early days, mining was not easy. The miners often worked seven days per week in the winter and some began work very early in life, going to work with their fathers. Due to this unhappiness, coupled with low wages and other complaints, conflicts naturally arose.
Strikes ensued. Gotfredson explained that afterward, some men were not rehired while those that were rehired received a paycut.
In both 1911 and 1922, the United Mine Workers Union attempted to organize the miners in Carbon County, though the attempts were unsuccessful. In 1933, they were able to get the miners to organize. This prompted the companies to accept the United Mine Workers of America. The difference that year was cited as a trick that union president John Lewis had.
Gotfredson also said that it was purposeful to have the diversity, as mines did not have strikes if there was not trust. If there was a gap in communication, there was also a gap in trust. In June of 1978, Gotfredson founded the Mine Safety Associates, which is a company that publishes MSHA regulation books.
The video project that Gotfredson’s children, Troy and Tiffany, created was highly successful. With interviews of miners, widows of miners and company managers, as well as a great deal of research, they were able to win their division in the Carbon School District. From there, they won at the University of Utah and traveled to Washington DC.
Upcoming, the Carbon County Historical Society will learn about the history of lynchings in the state during the April meeting. The meeting is traditionally hosted on the last Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Carbon County Senior Center.
