Beyond Body Counts: A Centennial Rethinking of the Ludlow Massacre

This article is a review of the historiography of the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, beginning in the immediate aftermath of that tragedy and continuing to the present day. During the weeks and years following the massacre, union allies played up the deaths of innocent women and children to bring sympathy to their cause. Once historians began to place the tragedy in context, the victims at Ludlow ceased to be the center of the story. Jonathan Rees suggests that this change in focus distracts from the overall cause of trade unionism because the agency that miners exercised at Ludlow, particularly during the days immediately following the massacre, can inspire a new generation of activists.